Book excerpt: A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR_______________'A work of extraordinary ambition, brilliantly realised' OBSERVER'A mesmerising journey down the byways of English folklore' MAIL ON SUNDAY'Verbally dextrous, inventive, and hugely entertaining' THE TIMES_______________Herne the hunter, mischief-maker, spirit of the forest, leader of the wild hunt, hurtles through the centuries pursued by his creator. A shapeshifter, Herne dons many guises as he slips and ripples through time - at candlelit Twelfth Night revels, at the spectacular burning of the Crystal Palace, at an acid-laced Sixties party. Wherever he goes, transgression, debauch and enchantment always follow in his wake. But as the forest is increasingly encroached upon by urban sprawl and gentrification, and the world slides into crisis, Herne must find a way to survive - or exact his revenge.