Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton

Hollow Kingdom

by Kira Jane Buxton

A humorous romp through the apocalypse, where even a cowardly crow can become a hero. Perfect for fans of Dawn of the Dead, Sean of the Dead and Isaac Marion's Warm Bodies.

'A thoroughly enjoyable account of the end of the world as we know it. The Secret Life of Pets meets The Walking Dead.'
KAREN JOY FOWLER

S.T. is a domesticated crow. He is a bird of simple pleasures: hanging out with his owner Big Jim, trading insults with Seattle's wild crows (those idiots) and enjoying the finest food humankind has to offer: Cheetos.

But when Big Jim's eyeball falls out of his head, S.T. starts to feel like something isn't right. His most tried-and-true remedies - from beak-delivered beer to the slobbering affection of the loyal, but dim-witted, dog Dennis - fail to cure his owner.

S.T. is left with no choice but to venture out into a frightening new world, where he discovers that the neighbours are devouring each other, and the local wildlife is abuzz with rumours of dangerous new predators roaming Seattle...

Humanity's extinction has arrived, and the only one determined to save it is a foul-mouthed crow.

Readers love Hollow Kingdom...

'It's transformative, poignant, and funny as hell. S.T. the irrepressible, cursing crow is my new favourite apocalyptic hero.'
HELEN MACDONALD, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF H IS FOR HAWK

'Part ecological fable and part adventure story, but it's all very good'
SCIFI NOW

'A quirky zombie apocalypse romp'
SFX

'A funny and heartwarming book that stays with you long after you finish it'
GILL SIMMS, AUTHOR OF WHY MUMMY DRINKS

'One of our favourite wacky reads this year'
MAGIC BOOK CLUB

'A wholesome and humorous tale of unlikely heroism'
DAILY EXPRESS

'Funny and sad, Buxton's fable is also full of purpose and meaning, and ultimately hopeful'
MORNING STAR

'Beguilingly different'
BOOKIST (starred review)

'...wildly original and inventive, funny and profane'
LAURIE FRANKEL, AUTHOR OF THIS IS HOW IT ALWAYS IS

'I love this book so much! I wanted to set it on fire while hugging it.'
JAMIE FORD, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR

Reviewed by annieb123 on

5 of 5 stars

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Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Hollow Kingdom is a post-zombie-'pocalypse debut novel from Kira Jane Buxton. Released 6th Aug 2019 by Hatchette on their Grand Central Publishing imprint, it's 320 pages and available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats.

The narrative follows S.T. the domesticated crow and his intellectually challenged bloodhound sidekick Dennis on their epic quest to find any lingering humanity and to save as many of the domesticated animals as possible. The prose is moving and lyrical, despite the horrific descriptions (there are formerly human zombies). There is panoramic and profound violence and despite the descriptive power of the author, and her ability to horrify, it was a joy to read. The actual dichotomy between the perfect writing and *what* was being described often lifted the whole to a new level. This book was really genuinely funny in a lot of places.

It's mostly set in Seattle, and the sense of place and description of well known landmarks in that area gave the book verisimilitude. There are chapters set in other places with other narrators and those are well delineated in the chapter headings. The author did a superlative job of altering the narrative voice of the narrators so it wasn't difficult to follow at all. The technical writing is to an impressively high standard

I generally actively dislike horror and zombies. This one combines both with actively gross bodily functions (farts, diarrhea, vomiting, dismemberment, other body horror). Despite this, it was one of my year's best reads. This is a cautionary tale which manages to do so without being preachy or strident. It's an epic quest fantasy, and it's a good one.

As a debut novel, Ms. Buxton knocked it out of the ball park. Kudos to her agent and editor for recognizing her skills with novel length fiction. I would recommend this to any fiction readers (with the violence and language warnings taken into consideration). Because it's impossible to categorize, I hope it gets a much wider readership than just horror or speculative lit. I was drawn in from the first paragraph and read it in one sitting. (I just wrote "devoured" and couldn't bear to leave it there).

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

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  • 17 August, 2019: Reviewed