A review by biblio_kel
The Worm and His Kings, by Hailey Piper
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.