What Feasts at Night (Sworn Soldier #2)

Lieutenant Alex Easton is back after the dramatic and creepy events involving their friends Madeline and Roderick at Usher house. In great need of rest from that and the war effort, they bring along their valet Angus and their trusty horse Hob to spend some time at their inherited hunting lodge. Truth is, Alex is mainly going because Angus wants to spend time with quirky British mycologist, Eugenia Potter, who we met in the first book!

It’s not long before the saying “No rest for the weary” comes into play! 

What begins with the mysterious absence of Codrin, the lodge’s long-time caretaker, devolves into a story of dangerous mythical creatures that have the superstitious people of Gallacia on edge - particularly Widow Botezatu, who’s taken Codrin’s place along with her grandson Bors. She clearly has no love in her heart for Alex, so is there more to the story of why she took the job?

 I’ll only say that things start to get really weird at the lodge, and this novella will make you rethink going to sleep at night!

I liked this, and the one major draw for me to T. Kingfisher’s books is her sense of humor.  She’s able to inject it into the darkest of stories and still bring a smile. I felt the tension and menace of the story, but her wit makes her brand of fantasy/gothic horror manageable for a horror wimp like me!  

I listened to this while reading along on my Kindle, and thought narrator Avi Roque did a lovely job with all the voices, giving personality to all the characters regardless of gender and dialect.

I liked the previous book just a bit more, but this still entertained me. I’ll be curious to see what Kingfisher comes up with next for this series!

★★★ ½  (rounded to 4)

Thanks to Tor Nightfire Books, NetGalley and author T. Kingfisher for this digital ARC and to MacMillan Audio for the ALC to honestly review. It’s out now.