znnys's review against another edition
5.0
It is often said that humans, in all their destructive behavior, are not killing the world - they are killing themselves, and the world will just adapt after they are gone, as it always has. This book is essentially an exploration of that concept.
I loved this book. The imagery was so vivid to me that I could see it playing out in my head like a film - a bit like a darker Homeward Bound, or a slightly more lighthearted Plague Dogs. ST was a hilarious and adorable narrator, inherently birdlike but convinced that he was meant to be a human, or, one of the many unique colloquialisms he adapted from his eccentric owner, a "MoFo." And for someone who is not quite a MoFo, he has an impressive degree of character development. It was especially a pleasure to see his relationship with Dennis go from him thinking Dennis was an oafish nuisance to him loving Dennis as his dearest friend.
In the hands of any other writer I would find the revelation that the "zombification" of humans came from to be heavy-handed and preachy, a bit on the level of Black Mirror's more on-the-nose episodes. However, through the perspective of the human-loving ST, the book feels like less of a condemnation of humanity's faults, and more of a celebration of it's virtues - and a mourning of what was wasted, and what could have been. But beyond humanity, it's a celebration of life in all forms. Birds, pets, zoo animals, bugs, fish, trees... everything has a conscience that thrives and survives even after humanity's downfall. I was surprised by what a genuinely hopeful book this was, considering it's subject matter, but ST is a hopeful narrator. And as he himself says, "The crow in me had loyalty and passion. The MoFo in me, hope."
I loved this book. The imagery was so vivid to me that I could see it playing out in my head like a film - a bit like a darker Homeward Bound, or a slightly more lighthearted Plague Dogs. ST was a hilarious and adorable narrator, inherently birdlike but convinced that he was meant to be a human, or, one of the many unique colloquialisms he adapted from his eccentric owner, a "MoFo." And for someone who is not quite a MoFo, he has an impressive degree of character development. It was especially a pleasure to see his relationship with Dennis go from him thinking Dennis was an oafish nuisance to him loving Dennis as his dearest friend.
In the hands of any other writer I would find the revelation that the "zombification" of humans came from
Spoiler
excessive cell phone/screen useSpoiler
Besides, as the ending reveals, humans didn't COMPLETELY drive themselves to ruin. So... Sequel hook?queenknight34's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
zlizzyv's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
chromeorange's review against another edition
3.0
Meh.
This book is better understood if you treat it as a young adult novel, with some swearing. For me, that's a huge strike against it since I really do not like YA books.
Like one person in my book club said, it's like the author had an interesting idea but didn't know what to do with it. This is a zombie novel written from the perspective of a crow, primarily with animal characters.
It's a bit hard to explain why I wasn't a huge fan of this one, because the entire book is a bit sub-par and poorly written as opposed to having things I can easily list off. I'll try to categorize a few, though:
1) I didn't really care about the characters, nor were we shown why they were so special (despite repeated claims otherwise)
2) The humor mostly fell flat. Lots of attempts, few successes. (Referring to humans primarily as "mofos" throughout the entire book got obnoxious quick. I did like the cat, but he only got 2 short scenes.)
3) The brief, albeit VERY heavy-handed, moral of the story was basically that humans look at their phones too much.
4) No obstacle really stayed an obstacle very long, so the whole story becomes the crow and his dog walking around accomplishing objectives...like a video game. There's no tension, no build-up, no time to really take a breath and figure out what's going on. I'm still super confused on what the virus does.
5)
That's the big stuff, leaving out a lot of smaller things like plot holes and unresolved plot lines.
Why didn't I rate it lower? Honestly, writing this review makes me question that myself. But, I guess it's the same reason as always: it was entertaining enough to hold my interest. The only thing I was actually impressed by in this book was her idea of "aura" (basically, a vast over-land communication network using bird chirps as repeaters).
In the end, I think she could have done some real cool things with her concept, but it fell super flat, having no real meat or substance to it.
This book is better understood if you treat it as a young adult novel, with some swearing. For me, that's a huge strike against it since I really do not like YA books.
Like one person in my book club said, it's like the author had an interesting idea but didn't know what to do with it. This is a zombie novel written from the perspective of a crow, primarily with animal characters.
It's a bit hard to explain why I wasn't a huge fan of this one, because the entire book is a bit sub-par and poorly written as opposed to having things I can easily list off. I'll try to categorize a few, though:
1) I didn't really care about the characters, nor were we shown why they were so special (despite repeated claims otherwise)
2) The humor mostly fell flat. Lots of attempts, few successes. (Referring to humans primarily as "mofos" throughout the entire book got obnoxious quick. I did like the cat, but he only got 2 short scenes.)
3) The brief, albeit VERY heavy-handed, moral of the story was basically that humans look at their phones too much.
Spoiler
That's what gave them the zombie virus - their phones. (Yes, I do realize that makes zero sense.)4) No obstacle really stayed an obstacle very long, so the whole story becomes the crow and his dog walking around accomplishing objectives...like a video game. There's no tension, no build-up, no time to really take a breath and figure out what's going on. I'm still super confused on what the virus does.
5)
Spoiler
The dog dies in the dumbest, most pointless way possible. He decides to chase after a UPS truck and zombies get him. It's like the author thought it would be a funny joke, but it's not funny and it's a real dissatisfying and disrespectful way to kill off one of the two main characters in the book - on the whim of a joke that serves no plot purpose.That's the big stuff, leaving out a lot of smaller things like plot holes and unresolved plot lines.
Why didn't I rate it lower? Honestly, writing this review makes me question that myself. But, I guess it's the same reason as always: it was entertaining enough to hold my interest. The only thing I was actually impressed by in this book was her idea of "aura" (basically, a vast over-land communication network using bird chirps as repeaters).
In the end, I think she could have done some real cool things with her concept, but it fell super flat, having no real meat or substance to it.
austenr3ader's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
annieb123's review against another edition
5.0
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.
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.
miloblueberry's review against another edition
the humor in this book was just so painful
nova_lumen's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
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
5.0