itcamefromthepage's review against another edition
4.0
This was absolutely captivating.
It would have been an easy 5 star if not for some clunky scenes of exposition that drag down the third act just the tiiiiniest bit. Would have preferred to be left in the dark a bit more.
I need to read more of Hailey Piper's work as her writing style was really really great. Cosmicy cosmic stuff through a trans lens.
Highest recommend.
It would have been an easy 5 star if not for some clunky scenes of exposition that drag down the third act just the tiiiiniest bit. Would have preferred to be left in the dark a bit more.
I need to read more of Hailey Piper's work as her writing style was really really great. Cosmicy cosmic stuff through a trans lens.
Highest recommend.
bookwyrm55's review against another edition
5.0
The Worm and His Kings manages to be both an intriguing, Lovecraftian story with plenty of darkness, strange creatures, and a wealth of lore, but also a very human piece touching on important themes and issues without letting them disrupt the story.
I felt Monique's frustration with so many things, followed the interactions and relationships as they developed, and found her to be a true hero by the end.
And that ending... trust me when I tell you you won't see THAT one coming.
The narration by Allyson Voller is smooth. The characters are well-defined, and though it seemed at times a little happy / perky, it lent another level of weird to the story and worked.
Highly Recommended.
I felt Monique's frustration with so many things, followed the interactions and relationships as they developed, and found her to be a true hero by the end.
And that ending... trust me when I tell you you won't see THAT one coming.
The narration by Allyson Voller is smooth. The characters are well-defined, and though it seemed at times a little happy / perky, it lent another level of weird to the story and worked.
Highly Recommended.
bookwisp86's review against another edition
dark
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
shawn_of_the_read's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bravesirtoaster's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
biblio_kel's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
There's a lot to love about this short cosmic horror by Hailey Piper.
It has all the elements that you would expect - cults, fanatics, sacred geometry, beings from across time and space - as well as some unexpected, and welcomed, character depth and backstory.
Usually when authors don't follow Lovecraft's approach to describing cosmic horror (by describing how indescribable a thing is) the writing starts to become messy and confused but Piper manages to describe the collision of space and time and the unexplainable in a very poetic, and understandable, way.
My only criticism is that the final third of the story felt a little slow, with the story lingering on some scenes for longer than felt necessary.
I listened to the audiobook version of this book and I found the narration and performance by Allyson Voller very good. There was a little bit of confusion towards the end with two distinct sounding characters sounding like each other at times, but otherwise, it was good.
It has all the elements that you would expect - cults, fanatics, sacred geometry, beings from across time and space - as well as some unexpected, and welcomed, character depth and backstory.
Usually when authors don't follow Lovecraft's approach to describing cosmic horror (by describing how indescribable a thing is) the writing starts to become messy and confused but Piper manages to describe the collision of space and time and the unexplainable in a very poetic, and understandable, way.
My only criticism is that the final third of the story felt a little slow, with the story lingering on some scenes for longer than felt necessary.
I listened to the audiobook version of this book and I found the narration and performance by Allyson Voller very good. There was a little bit of confusion towards the end with two distinct sounding characters sounding like each other at times, but otherwise, it was good.
dirckjaa's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
andrew_j's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
nory276's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
versmonesprit's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
0.25
The Worm and His Kings, despite its silly little title, starts off with a properly strong chapter. It sets a bleak, desolate tone, and gets right into the story. That is the last time good writing and good pacing will be found in this book.
For one thing, the story drags and drags and drags, even though it doesn’t have enough substance to be spread this thin. This is a short story stretched into a novella, which causes the terrible opportunity for the writer to fill it with unnecessary backstories and with too many details that take away from the obscurity that needs to cast a shadow over any cosmic horror for it to land. Too much exposition is the main issue, but the blame is also on the comically amateurish writing present both in dialogues and in the prose too . . .
. . . which is why I can’t believe some people have compared this to Clive Barker, who is a master of prose, who writes evocatively without drenching his stories in unnecessary details that add that unmistakable tinge of Wattpad. I saw fewer comments about this being a lovecraftian story as well, and I find it equally preposterous. Listen, Lovecraft was a horrendous man, but he knew how to write cosmic horror: he purposefully omitted details because the unknown will always be scarier than silly worms, and he kept the main character’s own personal story to a minimum because that just makes the story clunky. Piper unfortunately did not realise any of these.
Instead, her story is overly clogged with unnecessary background stories, and she unfortunately over-explains the ‘lore’ which is bound to sound childish when said lore talks about Pangea being smashed by a worm (and not without having to include facts about Pangea because apparently the American education system is this much of a horror within itself that Pangea needs to be explained). Another issue is that Piper reaches for concepts that are beyond her understanding — the concepts being quantum physics and space/time. Even accomplished scientists acknowledge the complexity of quantum physics, so it’s no surprise that using it in a story without no real grasp of it will sound, sorry to say, stupid.
Oh and the “twist”? Yeah, you go into the story having already deciphered it, because though the blurb writer seemingly believes “nothing is as it seems,” both branches of the alleged twist are so over-done that they’re almost.. formulaic?
I’ve had an insupportable headache all day, so I listened to the audiobook. The narrator speaks a bit nasally, but thankfully she isn’t the sort to over-dramatise the reading so I had no issues with it. That said, the narration is very slow, to the point 1.8x sounds completely natural, and some dialogues continue to be at a regular pace even at 2.5x. The real reason I eventually sped up to 3x was not the narrator, but the story itself. One complaint I had about the narrator is that she voiced certain creature sounds, but it sounded nothing like described in the text. And still I find this a shortcoming of the text, as it just adds another layer of silliness when you add in “sound effects” as if this is a comic book.
I think this book might have worsened my headache due to the severe annoyance it caused.
For one thing, the story drags and drags and drags, even though it doesn’t have enough substance to be spread this thin. This is a short story stretched into a novella, which causes the terrible opportunity for the writer to fill it with unnecessary backstories and with too many details that take away from the obscurity that needs to cast a shadow over any cosmic horror for it to land. Too much exposition is the main issue, but the blame is also on the comically amateurish writing present both in dialogues and in the prose too . . .
. . . which is why I can’t believe some people have compared this to Clive Barker, who is a master of prose, who writes evocatively without drenching his stories in unnecessary details that add that unmistakable tinge of Wattpad. I saw fewer comments about this being a lovecraftian story as well, and I find it equally preposterous. Listen, Lovecraft was a horrendous man, but he knew how to write cosmic horror: he purposefully omitted details because the unknown will always be scarier than silly worms, and he kept the main character’s own personal story to a minimum because that just makes the story clunky. Piper unfortunately did not realise any of these.
Instead, her story is overly clogged with unnecessary background stories, and she unfortunately over-explains the ‘lore’ which is bound to sound childish when said lore talks about Pangea being smashed by a worm (and not without having to include facts about Pangea because apparently the American education system is this much of a horror within itself that Pangea needs to be explained). Another issue is that Piper reaches for concepts that are beyond her understanding — the concepts being quantum physics and space/time. Even accomplished scientists acknowledge the complexity of quantum physics, so it’s no surprise that using it in a story without no real grasp of it will sound, sorry to say, stupid.
Oh and the “twist”? Yeah, you go into the story having already deciphered it, because though the blurb writer seemingly believes “nothing is as it seems,” both branches of the alleged twist are so over-done that they’re almost.. formulaic?
I’ve had an insupportable headache all day, so I listened to the audiobook. The narrator speaks a bit nasally, but thankfully she isn’t the sort to over-dramatise the reading so I had no issues with it. That said, the narration is very slow, to the point 1.8x sounds completely natural, and some dialogues continue to be at a regular pace even at 2.5x. The real reason I eventually sped up to 3x was not the narrator, but the story itself. One complaint I had about the narrator is that she voiced certain creature sounds, but it sounded nothing like described in the text. And still I find this a shortcoming of the text, as it just adds another layer of silliness when you add in “sound effects” as if this is a comic book.
I think this book might have worsened my headache due to the severe annoyance it caused.