THE FOREST PERILOUS

A college graduate reunites with his Traveler friends in Gallagher’s sequel to Lowlands (2017).

It’s been seven years since James Ward had any contact with the Dragons, an itinerant group of Travelers with Irish and British roots. He’d initially befriended them as a high schooler in New York City; now out of college, he hears from Vivien Widdershins, the Dragons’ queen. With no job prospects, James heads to Pennsylvania where the Travelers have taken up residence. He makes himself comfortable at their wooded settlement, which he dubs “Dragon Town,” but the person whom he’s most excited to see is at another nearby tribe’s encampment: Cornelia Parsons, who’s around the same age as him and was the first Traveler he met, all those years ago. As days become weeks, James helps with laundry and landscaping but he’s rather lacking at other jobs that require manual labor, such as woodwork and repair. He spends most of his time contemplating his future. He’s sure that his classics degree won’t lead to a viable career, so he seriously considers Vivien’s offer to be the Dragons’ exclusive solicitor. A permanent home with the Travelers wouldn’t be so bad; he has a fondness for their way of life, and others already think of him and Cornelia as an “item.” Before he can make a decision, though, a sudden police raid leads to the shocking deaths of two tribe members. The Dragons are distraught and worried, as there’s a possibility that one of their enemies made a false report of drug activity that led to the raid.

Gallagher delivers a winsome portrayal of Travelers in this second series installment. The Dragons are shown to display a natural kindness and welcome James into their community. Although the story centers on Dragon Town, there are some signs of discrimination from outsiders, despite the fact that Travelers do their best to keep mostly to themselves. However, the story often feels stagnant; James is essentially on vacation, and as a result, there’s minimal action. Readers may find the protagonist’s lackadaisical attitude off-putting; he boasts of a near-full-ride scholarship and being debt free, but he also deems his college major impractical without even bothering to look for work. Still, James at least appreciates his leisure, as aptly expressed in Gallagher’s unadorned prose: “I was always glad for a day’s rain or an afternoon’s downpour, to take the time to doze and listen to the heavy drops. Not to exaggerate; they didn’t work me all that hard. But it wasn’t the life I was used to.” Dragon Town, nevertheless, isn’t completely uneventful before the raid; for example, at one point, an unknown dog storms the property and seemingly targets a 4-year-old boy. In a more comical turn, James joins a Traveler to collect an overdue bill—which, in practice, necessitates stealing something of equal or lesser value. The startling deaths unsurprisingly send the plot in a new direction in later sections, which include time jumps and a clear setup for another installment.

An enjoyable, if rather leisurely, tale of Traveler life.