The Sworn Soldier series made me its fan when I started reading 'What Moves the Dead' last year. This perfectly paced novella was a treat to read, with a story that is hooking to say the least. And Alex Easton was a great character to follow. A very good read!

First of all, this cover is just fantastic.

I loved the first installment to this series. What Moves the Dead was so creeptastic! While this one was a fun, quick read, it didn't have the same effect as the first book.

I love Alex Easton and really enjoyed getting more from this character and of course we can't forget Miss Potter. The characters in Kingfishers books always hook me.

As always the vibe that this author delivers is atmospheric with all the creepy undertones she is famous for. I wanted more action though as this was lacking until the last bits of the story. I needed things to get moving a lot quicker than it did.

That said, I'm glad I read it and will continue with more in the Sworn Soldiers!

Alex Easton returns

What Feasts at Night is the second of T. Kingfisher's Sworn Soldier books. It is thus the return of Alex Easton, who is the sworn soldier after whom the series is named. It is also Alex's return to kan homeland Gallacia. (Remember that Gallacian has special pronouns, ka/kan, for soldiers.) Although Alex returns to kan homeland in What Feasts at Night, Gallacia is not kan home. If home is where the heart is, then Alex's home is Paris.

Indeed, the book begins with Alex riding through Gallacia and complaining, which is something of a Gallacian core competence, Gallacia being a nation uniquely suited to the pursuit of complaint as a full-time occupation. Alex and kan batman Angus are on their way to a hunting lodge that Alex owns, having inherited it some years ago. Alex's principle complaint is that ka doesn't want to be here. ka would rather be in Paris, and ka claims that Angus blackmailed kan into this visit. Angus of course stoutly denies this, then proceeds to reapply the blackmail. As we learned in What Moves the Dead, Angus admires Eugenia Potter. Mrs Potter (Beatrix Potter's aunt) is a formidable Englishwoman and avid mycologist. Angus leaned on Alex to invite her to visit kan lodge in Gallacia in order to experience Gallacian misery, molds, and mushrooms firsthand. Potter saved Alex and Angus from a horrible fate at the Usher mansion in Ruravia, so Angus argues that they owe her gratitude.

This plan runs into some hitches, and a plot ensues. You will not be surprised to learn that the plot involves sinister things wot feast at night.

For my money the plot serves mainly as a vehicle to illuminate Alex's character. Alex is a retired soldier. ka fought in a war with Bulgaria. Although Gallacia is fictional, "Alex’s war is a very real one, the Serbian– Bulgarian War of 1885."* as Kingfisher informs us in her Acknowledgments. She adds, "I can’t possibly do it justice in a paragraph, but it’s worth reading about if you ever want an object lesson in how not to invade Bulgaria. (Please do not invade Bulgaria under any circumstances.)"* That sounds like excellent advice to me.

The ambiguity of the preposition in the phrase "fought with Bulgaria" is intentional. As a result of these experiences Alex suffers from Soldier's Heart, an old and more evocative name for what we now call PTSD. The events of What Feasts at Night give Alex cause to display extraordinary courage and generosity, in kan characteristically understated way. To my mind, kan debt to Mrs Potter is paid forward with interest.

If the author were anyone other than Kingfisher, I would describe What Feasts at Night as an unusual combination of sensitivity and humor. But it is not unusual for her -- this is what Kingfisher does!

I thank NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for an advance reader copy of What Feasts at Night. This review expresses my honest opinions. Release date 13-Feb-2024.

*Quotes come from an advance reader copy and may change before publication. This review will be corrected on the release date if necessary.

Time and time again, T Kingfisher solidifies herself as my favorite writer in the genre. A lyrical, haunting return to her Sworn Soldier series, Alex Easton's newest adventure takes place in ka's own home, where another mysterious danger awaits. (And I LOVED the Widow)

Wow. I don’t know what to feel!

I have been looking forward to What Feasts at Night since reading What Moves the Dead last January. And let me tell you. This book serves.

I felt so much reading this story. I laughed out loud, I felt deep personal connections with Alex, my heart pounded with delight and fear. T. Kingfisher's take on the mare folklore was incredible, but honestly more so, the way PTSD was captured and portrayed was heartwrenchingly perfect.

Alex is witty and delightful. To be inside their mind (even as a fictional character) was an honor.

Thank you for allowing me to be a part in the ARC reviews of this book. I hope it will reach as wide, or wider, an audience as its predecessor. What Feasts at Night is plain and simple a horrific and wonderful piece of art.

The writing is downright magical, pulling you into the story effortlessly. My only gripe? It ended way too soon, and I was left craving more. On the bright side, it sets up a solid next chapter in the series. Can't wait to see what comes next! If you're into fantasy worlds and characters that stay with you, definitely give it a shot.

Another Alex Easton story with a dark, suspenseful atmosphere. This story finds Alex returning to Gallacia with Angus and Miss Potter, to stay at their family hunting lodge. The focus is very much on the unfolding events, steeped in folklore and superstition. I was worried this would not be as good as What Feasts at Night, and while I enjoyed the premise and outcome of that first book, this book still satisfied that desire for an eerie read.

It was so good to see Lt. Easton again! Reading this definitely had the feeling of catching up with an old friend, even though it hasn't been that long since I read the prequel, What Moves the Dead. Alex's internal monologue is always so much fun. Ka really tries kan best to get everything right, to fix what ka can about any given situation. You can see that happen again and again, in this book; Alex trying kan best to do what is good and right and helpful. Not to mention the relationship between Alex and Angus, which is always a hoot to read. This book is the perfect combination of funny, moving, and chilling.

As always, T. Kingfisher is a master of creepy and really unsettling imagery. There were things in this book that made me shudder, visions of decay and rot and skin that will never leave my mind's eye. Kudos to her!

I want to see more of Alex, and of Angus and Miss Potter and Hob. I can't say that I wanted this book to be longer, because it was the perfect size, just right to bring me into Gallacia for the first time, introduce me to the flavor of the town of Wolf's Ear and the people who live there, scare the bejeezus out of me when I stayed up too late reading it in bed, and then wrap everything up so perfectly. It was just the right length. But I do want to see more of Alex and Angus and everyone. I can only hope there will be many more Sworn Soldier books to come.

I truly wish I liked this more, but I struggled to get through it—I adore T. Kingfisher's writing style, and Alex Easton's voice is so quirky and funny, but this sequel fell a bit flat for me. What Moves the Dead was such an exceptional interpretation of Poe's House of Usher, this made me wish the author had attempted another Poe retelling instead of writing an original story. The pacing was slow, and while there were some nice key connections between the two narratives and a few fun folkloric elements, this follow-up ultimately felt unnecessary. Gratitude to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

What feasts at night felt like such a drastically different book than its prior. While I did like continuing on with Alex Easton's adventures, this one left much to be desired.

I was excited to for the story to go to Easton's home country, and to learn more but I had a hard time getting invested in this one. I did enjoy the addition of side characters in this and I do think the breath stealing monster was an interesting aspect.

Overall though, I wished for a lot more from this but I would love to read more about these characters adventures.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

If you want a scary story that creeps up on you, this is it. It's a sequel to What Moves the Dead; even so, it's also a perfectly good read all on its own. I daresay I like it even better than the first. The characters are a little more fleshed out, the story is even more foreboding, and it's good to see the main character in their homeland.

I enjoyed the way the local superstitions feed the story, and just the pervasive sense of dread. You can tell something is Very Wrong, and that adds to the suspense and atmosphere. And of course, there are the little bits of humor thrown in here and there that Kingfisher excels at using that only make the horror scarier in contrast.

What Feasts at Night is the second book (novella) in the horror series that started with What Moves the Dead. Alex Easton is a sworn soldier and is returning to the place that she grew up. While there, Alex learns of a creature that steals breath away from people who are sleeping. Alex does not believe in ghosts or this creature but things quickly go down hill.

I really enjoyed this book! I liked it better than the first one. I think the first one was a bit slower and more gothic. Where this one was more fast paced and got on with the horror much quicker. It is a novella so it was very short and I read through it quickly. I liked all of the fun characters as well. We had a few from the first book that appeared again and a few new ones as well. The fun characters helped me connect better with the story and I had people to cheer for.

This novella felt a bit like a dark fairy tale (which I typically don't like). I think it worked very well with this story. The horror was not super in your face or scary but it was dark and you felt a sense of danger throughout. I liked how everything wrapped up in the end. I think the cover of this book is also super unique and cool.

I would recommend this to people looking for a short horror novella. I think people who don't read a lot of horror will like this one since I don't think it was super scary. I think people who like fairy tales will enjoy this as well. Thanks so much to netgalley and Tor for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

What Feasts at Night is a sequel to What Moves the Dead and follows the same soldier as they return home with their friends. It had a similar feeling to What Moves the Dead but in my opinion the pacing was much better with What Feasts at Night. The story pulls you in quickly and the characters are easy to connect to when reading.

What Feasts at Night was a fantastic second book in the series. I loved Alex Easton, and was excited to see their return. I was pleasantly surprised by how good this one was a follow up to What Moves the Dead. It had the same classic gothic horror setting, with atmospheric and tense tones.

I expected the fungi plot to continue in this story, but T. kingfisher surprised me with a new enemy and side characters that made an impact. I loved this story, and you will too, you’ll just be scared to sleep.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this story before its publication.

T. Kingfisher's writing is so delicious and entrancing, and this was such a good sequel to What Moves the Dead!

ARC provided by NetGalley.

What Feasts at Night was a remarkably enjoyable follow up to Kingfisher’s previous title, What Moves the Dead. Nestled in another dilapidated abode in relative seclusion, Alex Easton must contend with more supernatural forces attempting to claim the lives of ka and kan friends. We continue to gain insight to Easton’s life before and during kan time as a soldier, wrestling with the effects of trauma on the mind. Dark, mysterious, and humorous, the plot builds wonderfully through this novella.

I only wish it had been as consistently dark as the first.

*Mild spoilers ahead*

While we are witness to the slow deaths and reanimation of Madeline and Roderick through What Moves the Dead, we do not read anything as disturbing and twisted, nor shocking in this follow-up. Yes, the former caretaker is dead from the start, but we didn’t witness his decay into death. Everyone we truly got to know and who played a part in the story was fine in the end.

This entry also felt less grounded than the first. There are indeed mushrooms/fungi that take over the nervous systems of certain bugs and control them. While this doesn’t happen to animals or humans, the fact of these mushrooms/fungi existing and operating in this same way gave credence to the horror.

Haunted/cursed remains of unmarked graves are a common horror element, as are dreams that affect reality. However there was nothing tangible or tangentially real that caused any of this. I had hoped that Miss Potter’s presence and the odd mushrooms in the spring house would have provided another avenue of explanation to make the haunting more real. Or that the body below the spring house would have been the source of some leaking toxin. But no, it was far more straightforwardly a haunting. A gruesome and terrifying one, but nothing more.

Don’t get me wrong, a straightforward haunting isn’t a bad thing, but that extra heft of reality made the previous title all the more impactful.

T. Kingfisher is such an atmospheric writer. Whenever I open one of her books, I know I am going to be totally submerged in her world, in this case Gallacia. If you have read the first Sworn Soldier book (which I highly recommend), you will be reunited with Angus and Alex Easton as they arrive at Eason's family Hunting Lodge, only to find the caretaker absent. I don't want to spoil the story for you, so let's just say there are rumors of a moroi, who takes the breath from sleeping humans. I love the way Kingfisher blends old country folklore into her stories. I read this book in one sitting and loved every word. I truly hope there is a third book in this series! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

What Feasts At Night was not a sequel I was expecting to have, but I'm so happy to have it.

T Kingfisher has quickly become one of my favorite authors, I'll pretty much read whatever she puts out. What Moves the Dead was such a delightfully creepy read, and as a retelling of Edgar Allen Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher, I really wasn't sure what to expect of this sequel. Would it be another Poe retelling? What gruesome horror was Alex Easton going to have to face in this installment? Why is that horse on the cover unraveling??

I was delighted to discover this was a take on European folklore, seemingly a mix of vampiric creatures called moroi and the night hag. Kingfisher adds her own frightfully disgusting flair to it, of course, and the result is a terrifying nightmare creature that our poor Sworn Soldier has to deal with.

This novella was both punchy and eerie. I think it can be difficult to properly build atmosphere in so few pages, but Kingfisher did a great job. It's immediately clear that something is afoot at this lodge and that Alex is in over their unsuspecting head. The pacing was perfect, the characters had a lot of charm despite the spooky setting, and overall this story was very enjoyable if you're in the mood for something hair-raising and a bit gross. Highly recommend!

I love that this author really sets the mood in a slow burn entrance then slaps you in the face with suspense and thrill! Great read with easily likeable characters.