A story set in an apocalyptic future in which two girls have to choose between their love for their warring parents and their love for each other.

The story was a quick read, but it just wasn't really my style - I'm sure there are people who like this type of story, but it's just not my thing. The author often uses somewhat archaic language in the conversations, which to me felt somewhat artificial and unnatural. She also puts in 'interludes', humorous commentaries on the story, which I felt only broke up the story without really adding anything.
Aside from this, I found the story rather predictable. There are really no surprises, you can almost guess the story right from the first chapter. It would have been nice had there been some more twists, some unexpected events. The way the story is now, it's not really a bad read, but it isn't very exciting either. ( )

This dystopian novella is set in Texas after the collapse of organized society.
We find out that Texas is divided into several fiefdoms based in the cities with less organized areas in between. As we follow the exploits of the two main protagonists, two young women who say they can't live without each other, we consider the structure of society and many types of human love. The characters are very interesting and I would love to see them developed more deeply in a full novel or series of novels. The author could then commit to a more well described society and develop the characters more fully. I enjoyed the interludes that allow the reader to get an idea of the author's thinking.
I received this book free from librarything.com. ( )

This dystopian novella is set in Texas after the collapse of organized society.
We find out that Texas is divided into several fiefdoms based in the cities with less organized areas in between. As we follow the exploits of the two main protagonists, two young women who say they can't live without each other, we consider the structure of society and many types of human love. The characters are very interesting and I would love to see them developed more deeply in a full novel or series of novels. The author could then commit to a more well described society and develop the characters more fully. I enjoyed the interludes that allow the reader to get an idea of the author's thinking.
I received this book free from librarything.com. ( )

After The Collapse, Texas is now governed by local governors. Guy Gisborn ousted Robin his wife seizing control and holding Robin's daughter Rosa hostage. He wants to dispose of Rosa keeping her away from Cecily at all costs. Robin wants to rescue her daughter from her ex husband clutches but cannot make a move against that would hurt Rosa. Guy's paranoia increases as his control slips away from him steadily. Can Rosa and Cecily get out of Gisborn's sight? Will Rosa contact Robin? Your answers await you in Ardent Forest.

Interesting take on divided country. This book had dystopian feel to it. I didn't like Guy or his actions. The characters were honest, real, and likeable. The story was quick read. I'd be interested in this author's work in the future. ( )

I couldn't finish this book; it didn't hold my interest. Too bad, I love Shakespeare. I think the temptation to update his timeless tales is sometimes too great to overcome, and it's not always a great result. ( )

I received an ebook copy of this book from Early Reviewers.

This novella is billed as a retelling of Shakespeare's As You Like it in post-Collapse Texas that has splintered into almost feudal societies each with their own ruler, and it is that, from what I gather, not being terribly familiar with the source material. But it is not only a retelling of As You Like It- there are changes and many other layers of reference here as well.

Rather than brothers, the exiled Governor and usurping Governor were married- we have ruling Governor Guy Gisborn and exiled Governor Robin La Capucha (yes, Robin the Hood). Rosa is Robin's daughter, and her companion is Guy's daughter Cecily. Rosa disguises herself as not Ganymede, but Gamelyn- which seems possibly a reference to [The Tale of Gamelyn], which may have provided source material for Shakespeare via another story, Orlando, son of an enemy of Gisborn (and ally of La Capucha) is here Roland, and the person who goes with Rosa and Cecily into exile is not the fool Touchstone but The Sprite, who works- unhappily- for Gisborn.

Moore plays with gender in changes beyond Robin and Guy as well. Rosa and Cecily are step-sisters by their parents' marriage, but they later become lovers when Rosa realizes she does not love Roland but Cecily- I wasn't completely comfortable with this, given how they keep referring to each other as sisters. Roland has, in the meantime, overcome his crush on Rosa and fallen deeply in love with Gamelyn, the man Rosa has disguised herself as- for a similar treatment of a man falling in love with the man a woman has disguised herself as in a longer work with more room to explore the consequences, see Delia Sherman's Through a Brazen Mirror.)

The Sprite is a bisexual gender-fluid intersex person who is referred to as he or she alternately throughout the story and courts a woman as a man and a man as a woman offscreen- these identities are conflated to some degree, most cringeworthily when a shepherd comes looking for The Sprite, asking Rosa and Cecily the whereabouts of their "heshe."

(A heshe, we are told, is "something born both made and female"- the shepherd is familiar with the concept because heshes occur frequently among sheep since the Collapse. Rosa later thinks to herself: "Heshe. It was a good word. And it explained a lot.")

The stories of Rosa and Roland are intercut with whimsical interludes where a down-to-earth narrator speaks directly to the reader. These and the fable-like tone of the story remind me strongly of Eleanor Arnason's work, and I suspect readers who like Arnason may like this.

I found the ending pleasantly open, with an epilogue from the narrator that neatly caps it, though a couple of things felt unresolved such as The Sprite's fate in courtship. Overall, it was not without flaws, but there was enough here that I may pick up future works of Moore's as I come across them. ( )

Having read an excellent previous work by Moore, I was badly disappointed by Ardent Forest. It reads like an undeveloped draft of a story. The interludes were interesting as a format, but only deepened the sense of underdevelopment. ( )

Moore is inspired by Shakespeare, and it is entertaining to track how she uses one of those famous dramas to retell in novella form: two friends who are like sisters, one the daughter of the king, the other, her best friend, daughter of a former enemy - the friendship is authentic and loving, and so the trials of the outside daughter as she defends herself from the king is genuine - trying so hard to stick to the trajectory of the play sometimes makes the plotting seem thin but the writing is intense and smart. It would be diverting to follow other of her novels that also track Shakespeare - an enjoyable project. ( )

I enjoyed this delightful little romp, styled as a classic Medieval kingdom tale. Stock characters turned out to have surprising characteristics indeed. It could have benefitted from a more generous length, or more ambitious narrative plan. However, it was well done. Recommended for light, quick fare of a winter's evening.

I feel quite ambivalent about this novella. The story is simple. The author insists on switching between telling the story and telling me about the story. The part that really got to me was that I feel like the author was telling me how to think and what I should think about the story. I would have really enjoyed the book a lot more if I had been given the option of thinking critically about it. ( )

Ardent Forest by Nancy Jane Moore
This was a nice, if not overly complex, quick read that did not take much effort to get through.
The two privileged girls, Rosa and Cecily, are the step daughter and daughter, respectively, of the governor of Texas in a post economic meltdown of the US (and apparently that means the world too.)
The Governor, Guy Gisborn, seized the governorship from Rosa’s mother 5 years before the story takes place and in a fit of paranoia exiles Rosa from the city.
This sets up the rest of the story but I felt that everything came to the girls without the hardship and trials that make a good science fiction/ fantasy story. It had all the elements and the set up but the complexities were not there. The people or things they were looking for were found almost effortlessly.
If Moore was trying to also make a statement about sexuality and gender stereotypes in the modern world, that was also done poorly as the characters that were addressing these issues did not face any sort of judgement or hardship because of who they were, which is unfortunately the case at this point in time.
I gave this 2 out of 5 stars.
I received this book to review through Library Thing Early Reviewers ( )

A short, slightly strange novella. I unfortunately did not really get into this novella. The interludes I found disconcerting and the story not particulary exciting. Interesting twist which I will not spoil but average overall. ( )

i was never a fan of shakespeare so the likeness to As You Like It was lost on me. but i did enjoy this short story immensely. the humor was great. and as i live in texas, i can relate to the bbq and potato salad served by robin, the wild flowers who's names are not all known, the allergies to cedar and definitely the temperature!!! i would definitely take the short time it takes to read and try this one. oh, yes, i did love The Sprite!! ( )

Ardent Forest by Nancy Jane Moore, is an short update of William Shakespeare's As You Like It. She's twisted the story to place it in a near future after the major collapse of normal governments. In between chapters of the story she adds tidbits of how the Collapse happened. She's also twisted the romance into same genders. My one complaint is the language was neither Shakespeare's or modern. It seemed to be something out an earlier age which really didn't suit the venue it was in. Other than that it was an interesting twist on an old classic. ( )

A lightly written novella with a Shakespearean overtone landscaped in Texas in an apocalyptic future featuring two half sisters who escape from a tyrannical father and discover their love for each other. ( )

A strange little book (I usually prefer to read a BIG book and this is a novella. Got this as an early review copy from Librarything. Financial collapse leads to anarchy.. so the Doomsday Peppers were right! LOL. Didn't really enjoy the book but gave it 3 stars due to its haunting quality and it is well written. I won't forget it in a hurry - just not my cup of tea. ( )