The Cunning Man

De: D.J. Butler, Aaron Michael Ritchey

Narrado por: Stephen Bel Davies

It's the depths of the Depression, and a mining town in Utah is shut down. Something has awakened underground, and now a monster roams the tunnels. Along comes Hiram Woolley.

Hiram is a man with mystical abilities derived from the commonsense application of Scot-Irish folk wisdom and German Braucher magic. He possesses an arcane Bloodstone that allows him to see a lie the moment it is spoken. Behind the played-out farms and failed businesses are demons, curses, sorcerers, and unatoned wrongs. Bags of groceries and carpentry won't be enough this time. The job will take a man who has known sorrow. A man who has known war. A man of wisdom. A man of magic. The job will take a cunning man.

©2019 D. J. Butler, Aaron Michael Ritchey (P)2021 Tantor

Interesting and unique

This was a fun story with a unique setting not often used. I look forward to reading more Hiram Woolley stories.

A fun adventure back in time.

This story is a joy ride through mining times and mysterious happenings. The writers artfully combine religion and spell casting (just don't call it magic 😁) for one hell of an adventure.

what an amazing trip back to another time.

Dave hit it out of the park with this one.

This book, besides the amazing storyline and strong , well developed characters took me back to my roots.

I grew up in coal country. Southern West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky. So very many things about this book took me home to the people I met growing up and the stories my papaw would tell me about his days working the mines.

Then there's the cunning man bits that were all part of mountain medicine and hedge witchery back in those hills.

I really loved everything about this story and look forward to many more following Hiram Woolley.

~Hillbilly

Couldn't Stop

This has been on my "to read" list for a bit and I was ecstatic that it came out in audiobook. I started it Friday and finished Saturday, then went right along with the 2nd in the series. It's that good. The setting is unique, Utah during the depression. The authors do a great job laying it out. And the protagonist, along with his adopted son are great characters in this historical fiction, mystery, dressed up as fantasy.

If Harry Dresden was a Mormon

It has been a while since I have read a book so perfectly formed to my taste. The two sentence “meme” pitch for this book is that it’s Harry Dresden as a Mormon wizard during the Great Depression. In reality the book is almost nothing like it.

The Cunning Man is a novel about Hiram Woolley, a man who many see as nothing more than an unremarkable beet farmer. However Hiram knows and practices a simple, unglamorous folk magic that many would disbelieve and even more would condemn. Some would call him a wizard, some a magician, he prefers to be called a Cunning Man. Between exorcising demons or praying for blessings upon this years crops, Hiram does his best to look out for the widows and fatherless (and whoever else may need help) and keep himself unspotted from the world. And one day, what was supposed to be a grocery run to a group of miners that are out of work turns into something much darker and more sinister.

I’m sure this book won’t work for some people, but it was pretty incredible to me. When’s the last time you read a fantasy novel where the main character saves the day through his patience, humility, compassion and generosity? I literally can’t think of one. One of the most interesting conflicts in this book is where does religion end and magic begin? It’s a question for which Hiram doesn’t have a clear answer. Some of what he does, such as prayers or blessings are clearly in the realm of religion whereas other things, such as divination so called or charms are the realm of magic. All are the realm of faith. Some would condemn Hiram for his Mormon faith, many Mormons would condemn him for his magic. All Hiram knows is that there is suffering that he sees all around him, and as far as he can tell, God has placed him on earth to try and alleviate the suffering of both his friends and his enemies.

And while we’re on it, the magic in this book is fascinating. It feels truly arcane. A lot of it I suspect comes from actual practices, and to be perfectly honest I don’t know how comfortable I would be actually practicing these charms, but as fiction it sure is entertaining and raises some fun and good questions.

All in all I really enjoyed this book. It moves at a good pace and always keeps the story interesting. Hiram is one of the most interesting protagonists I’ve read about in months. I may jump into book two right away. This is a really odd book compared to most of fantasy today, but I love it for that.