Review of No Man's Land by Richard Morgan

J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings famously tells the story of the end of one era and the beginning of another. The giant evil is defeated and the elves go to the Gray Havens, taking magic with them and leaving humans and halflings in a spring of mortal peace and prosperity. In jarring contrast to that pastoral idyll, Richard Morgan's new novel, No Man's Land (2026), shifts forward in time to the beginning of the next era: What if the horrors of WWI were the reintroduction of fae evil into Britain? No hobbits smoking pipes here...

No Man's Land is the story of Duncan Silver. Hired gun, woodsman, tracker, hunter—the WWI war veteran is highly experienced in the wilds of the Forest, dealing with the evil Fae who dwell there. In post-war Britain, the Forest is spreading its roots into farms and cities, giving Duncan a lot of work. The opening pages find him at a farmstead where a woman believes her daughter has been stolen by the fairy folk, the Huldu, leaving a lookalike in her stead. After performing a simple alchemical test, Duncan determines that indeed, the girl the woman thinks is her daughter is just a Fae. He agrees to go into the Forest and retrieve the woman's real daughter, and by doing so unwittingly begins a new chapter in his life that will rival WWI for horror and chaos.

No Man's Land exists within the interesting triangle of wild west, forest faery, and early 20th century industrial Britain. Dieselpunk is the word for it, I guess, but maybe Dieselfairy is better? While some readers may be quick to draw lines to The Witcher, Duncan feels more like Van Helsing, just set in a brick and concrete 20th century. There is also an emphasis on interesting weapons (given the Fae can only be killed by certain metals) and a no-shits-given cleverness that comes with monster hunting.

In terms of theme, there is not much to say. This is Action/Adventure (big “A”s) with a focus on plot. I'm sure some enterprising reviewers can wax poetic about the horrors of war, the meaning of loss, purpose in life, blah blah blah because indeed, Silver deals with the horrors of WWI trench warfare through violence. But let's call a spade a spade. Morgan wanted to write entertaining fiction, not comment on any broader psychological topics.

It's been eight years since Morgan's last novel, but nothing is done here to change the formula. It's glorified violence and sex in an entertaining setting. But one thing that has changed is the novel's backdrop. Silver is a classic gruff and gritty main character who blasts the fuck out the baddies and gets the girls. It actually feels refreshing in 2026. Morgan guaranteed himself zero awards nominations by opting for such a character, but the novel does give itself a chance at sales for it.

In the end, No Man's Land adds to the spectrum of forest faery fiction. It sits somewhere in the area of Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood, Paul Kearney's A Different Kingdom, and Ian McDonald's King of Morning, Queen of Day, but presents story through a more violent and sexual lens—Morgan's writing m.o. one man vs. the world, might makes right. Graphic to say the least, it revels in carnality but builds an interesting world maintains good pace—at least for the opening and closing thirds. Morgan may have taken a decent break from writing, but he's back with the same-old.