What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher
Reviewed by Julie Nutt, Communications Specialist
Genre: Gothic horror
Suggested age: Adult
What is this book about? Book two of the Sworn Soldier duology brings the return of retired soldier Alex Easton, recovering from a terrifying ordeal with the Usher family in book one (What Feeds the Dead), along with their traveling companions Angus & Miss Potter. Hoping to find respite back home, Easton is instantly drawn into more bizarre circumstances and superstitions that seem to be coming true. A skeptic by nature, they try to find natural explanations to what is infecting people’s dreams and causing them to die in their sleep. But Easton discovers that the silence of the suspicious locals in this tiny village is deafening.
My review: Unlike the first installment, this sequel does not draw on any particular literary work, but instead leans on Romanian folklore - specifically the moroi, a ghostly, vampiric creature that drains energy from the living. (Anybody watch What We Do in the Shadows? Colin Robinson???) One way that What Feasts at Night mirrors What Feeds the Dead (and takes a page from The Last of Us) is the grim and realistic possibility of a mysterious fungal disease of near epidemic proportions. When the disease begins effecting a friend and house-mate, that reality becomes all too real for the story’s characters.
I like the addition of fictional language and locations that were a part of the first book as well. Easton, and other soldiers of the fictional country of Gallacia, are often non-binary by modern terms, using pronouns like “ka” or “kan” in place of they/them, and even referring to children and adults by pronouns like “va” and “var.” We are given the general location of Gallacia to be in Eastern Europe near Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania. That provides the opportunity for a variety of cultural beliefs and practices to sort of blend together for the sake of interesting storytelling.
I feel like this second installment also delves deeper into the very real epidemic of PTSD among soldiers, as well as thousands of civilians, who have experienced inexplicable trauma. Alex Easton experienced some symptoms in the first book, but the symptoms were not as pronounced as they are in the second. The ordeal with the Usher family clearly impacted Easton in such a way that deeper psychological wounds were exposed. Being thrown back into a fight-or-flight situation rips those wounds right open. My favorite quote: “I’d learned long ago that things you don’t see can kill you, but at least the visions don’t stalk your mind for decades after.”
(Sworn Soldier Book 3: What Stalks the Deep is slated for release in September 2025.)
Three words that describe this book: chilling, dark, eerie
Give this a try if you like: Paul Tremblay, Stephen Graham Jones, Stephen King
Rating: 5/5
Check it out at FDL, or find it in digital formats on Boundless, hoopla, or Libby!
