If your favorite part of any fantasy story is the moment the monster is revealed, then A Fable for Hollow Creatures by R.R. Schaeffer should make its way to the top of your TBR pile immediately.
Jierz is in a bit of a bind. Her family, and in fact her entire village, was hollowed out by an elusive monster that she barely escaped from. She and one other made it out alive, but it’s complicated. She has spent the last three years training and fighting monsters across the land, learning everything she can about them and their weaknesses so that when she goes after her monster, she will be ready. However as this story opens she is trapped in a cell with her team by the Zhevoi. A ghastly group of monsters that devour their prey. Each night a member of her team is viciously killed in front of them, and there seems to be no way out. Calling upon a past friend, she and the remnants of her team are able to escape and resume their monster hunt. Following trails of devastation that may lead to the monster she seeks, the team has to decide whether they want to be a team anymore, and what they are prepared to sacrifice for the hunt.
This book is devastatingly good. I was expecting a little more horror than I prefer in my books, but it had just the right amount. Enough Cabin in the Woods vibes without the terrifying Event Horizon overtones. The world Jierz inhabits is full of gods, and monsters, and everyday people just trying to get by in a world full of gods and monsters. Every couple of chapters there is a greyed out couple of pages that tells the “fairy tale” behind one of the monsters in the story. It’s a great mechanic and I am all there for new fairy tales, especially these creepy ones. Life is complicated in this world, and the story takes a couple of big twists that I did not see coming, but thoroughly enjoyed. I had thought this was a standalone story but was unusually delighted to discover an open end, and to know we would be returning to this world. I cannot wait.
One of my favorite entertainments in the world is a disaster movie. We’re talking Dante’s Peak, The Day Before Tomorrow, Twister and so on. One of the aspects of these that I spend far too much time thinking about, is what are the ordinary people doing twenty feet away, while our heroes are dealing with the extinction event or scary beastie. I work in an office, if there was suddenly a meteor strike that devastated the other side of the world, would I still need to run payroll? Schaeffer does an excellent job with assorted villagers and the like that are encountered along the monster hunt. Somehow fully fleshing them out for just a brief moment as their story crosses that of our protagonist. One of the best examples of this is their journey to the villages of the Hook. A few telegrams for help have led them to this place, and now they have commandeered a ship and are sailing past devastated villages in search of… something. The first populated village they come across is acting rather strangely, and their interactions with the people there are like a well organized ballet of ordinary, extraordinary, deceit and survival.
Gaetz’s words spark an instant reaction in the villagers. They immediately begin to whisper among themselves, and the chatter of their voices combined with the flatness of their gazes makes me shiver, reminding me unsettlingly of the way the ljomasz chittered among themselves when deciding whether or not to eat us.
Watching the team puzzle through which monster could have caused the problem they have encountered is reminiscent of the best episodes of Doctor Who. The standalone story with a weird villain, where David Tennant is listing off aliens that could be responsible, spouting off characteristics until he narrows the field down and knows exactly what is going on. There are a couple of key scenes in this book where the team is lobbying ideas around, winnowing down their options, until they arrive at a conclusion, that are simply thrilling to read. Sherlock Holmes would be proud of their ability to ignore that something is impossible when it’s the only possibility left.
If “Blink” or “The Library” remain your favorite episodes of Doctor Who then you absolutely must read this book.
A Fable for Hollow Creatures was released on October 27 and is available wherever books about monsters are sold. GeekMom received a copy for review purposes.
