I LOVED LOVED LOVED What Moves the Dead, but did not expect there to be a sequel since it was wrapped up so nicely at the end. So the excitement I felt when I found out I could get more in this spooky world and poetic narration is indescribable, and this book did not let me down. I think this one is actually even better that What Moves the Dead. The characters are much more thorough, the imagery is just as intense and effective, and the story is just as exciting.

T, Kingfisher is ALWAYS a delight. I've enjoyed every book I've read of hers and What Feasts at Night is no different. Any fan of What Moves the Dead will love this follow up story on the tracks of Alex Easton who feels like both the Final Character of traditional horror as well as old world sleuth. This dark mystery is perfect for the winter months. Highly recommend for cozy mystery fans that want something darker, The Shining fans that want something cozier, and T. Kingfisher fans (like me) who are always craving more from this author.

I loved What Moves the Dead, so I was a bit wary about this -- it can be hard to follow-up what (I felt) was perfection. But T. Kingfisher if nothing if not incredibly talented. This rocked. This is dark, tragic, it felt like being wrapped up in an uncomfortably wet blanket. I can't recommend it enough.

I loved What Moves the Dead and so I think I was maybe too hyped up for this follow-up. Because it didn't quite live up to the first Sworn Soldier book for me. I mean, it's still T. Kingfisher so it's fabulous and well written and creepy and weird. But just not....something. It was missing the spark the first book had. For me anyway. Still! Very very good!

This is the second novel by Kingfisher in the Sworn Soldier series. I was so excited to see the author bring back the adventures of retired soldier Alex Easton and his trusty companions Angus and Miss Potter. Easton arrives at his hunting lodge in the Gallacian woods to find his caretaker has died and the lodge and grounds in shambles. He starts to hear whispers around the village that the death may have been due to something evil that is lurking in his lodge. Stories of a “monster” stealing the breath of its victims begin to surface and Easton struggles to find the answers and protect and save himself and his friends. This was a quick read that I really enjoyed. I look forward to more in this series!

After the events taking place in What Moves the Dead, Alex Easton and Angus are looking to relax and recharge at Alex's hunting lodge. But once they arrive, it's quickly obvious that the caretaker hasn't been doing his job in keeping up with the property. Alex and Angus soon learn that the caretaker has died mysteriously. Not so coincidentally, rumors of a breath stealing monsters is circulating around Gallacia.

The atmosphere and writing of this book was AMAZING. Think dark, dreary, wet, moldy, etc. I loved the characters and was so pleased to see Miss Potter return to book 2! I don't know if there will be more books in this series but I would be really happy if there were.

While What Moves the Dead worked perfectly well as a standalone, I was happy to see there would be further stories following Alex Easton and Angus. This time Alex is returning home to Gallacia to meet Eugenia Potter, the mycologist who helped resolve the uh… fungal situation in the previous book.
Alex and Angus are taking up residence in a hunting lodge that Alex inherited years before so that Eugenia can study the Gallacian fungal population. They arrive in Gallacia only to find the caretaker deceased and the lodge supposedly haunted by a moroi - a creature that haunts dreams and steals the breath from your lungs. The locals all seem to know what’s going on, but no one really wishes to speak of it and so Alex and Angus fumble around blindly trying to fix the situation that released it in the first place.
I think I overestimated how spooky this book was going to be because it was not at all scary. It lacked the unsettling dread and sense of wrongness that made What Moves the Dead such a win for me. I feel like too much of the horror is internalized thanks to the nature of the beastie in question and also happening to someone too distant from our main characters. That remains the case right up until the very end of course, but the ending was a wonderfully dark look into Alex’s time as a soldier and the scars that leaves on the psyche.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read, but the first installment remains my favorite of the pair. I hope there are more stories following Alex and their supernatural misadventures. I mean really, Alex just wants to lounge about Paris and live a comfy life, and everytime they leave the city of starlight some supernatural boogeyman pops up!

The creepy cover and it being a T. Kingfisher book sold me. I didn’t need to know more to know I needed to read this. Apparently I really did. It took an embarrassing amount of time for me to realize this is book two, a sequel to What Moves the Dead and now that I know it I can’t help but see the obvious signs I miss. I don’t recommend reading this without first having read What Moves the Dead, which luckily I had previously devoured (not read, devoured as is the case with any T. Kingfisher book).

The most prominent being that we continue to follow retired soldier Alex Easton on his adventures. This time Alex is in need of calm so he returns home after a long absence to his family’s hunting lodge to discover that nothing is the same and a creature of sorts is haunting the grounds.

I’ll take a haunted house any day but mention mushrooms and I’m done. I can thank horror/fantasy novelists for unlocking that fear in my brain. So if you too have been traumatized by what books have done to mushrooms, I can assure you that you’re okay but surely bound to unlock an entirely different kind of creepy in this one.

This series is a fantastic blend or historical fiction, fantasy and a dash of horror. It’s a short novella that certainly packs a punch while maintaining a delightfully albeit creepy atmosphere. It’s characters are certainly relatable and Kingfisher certainly puts Alex through his paces in only a short 160 pages.

Thank you Tor Books for providing an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received this ARC from NetGalley.

I liked this one more than What Moves the Dead, partially because it didn't have the fungi reveal. I really like T. Kingfisher's writing style. It feels interesting even when not much is happening. Maybe there wasn't as much suspense as I would've liked, but I liked the story overall, and I connected with Easton more than I did in the first book. Reading the first one isn't necessary to read this one, although there are a lot of references to it. But the storyline is completely different other than the carryover of some characters.

What a joy to receive another installment of Easton’s Terrible Adventures! This one starts off slowly eerie, and then suddenly kicks things into gear in the second half, much like the first book. I truly admire Easton’s dedication to remaining skeptical even after the events ka experienced in at the Usher house. Would love to see another one of these and explore this world even more!

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Tor Publishing Group, Tor Nightfire for an advanced copy of the second installment of a series featuring a retired soldier just looking for peace and quiet, and some mushrooms for a friend, and yet mysterious incidents surround them constantly.

One sometimes can't go home again, but if one is lucky there might a family hunting lodge that one can travel to, to rest from previous adventures, for sightseeing, and for drinking of local vintages. Even if it is Gallacia at the end of the nineteenth century, in the rainy autumn, and the lodge is not quite like one remembers. A little more rundown, than expected, due to the sad passing of the caretaker. One whose shoes are hard to fill, with people not wanting to stay at the lodge. So begins the second adventure of Alex Easton, in T. Kingfisher's Sworn Soldier series, Alex his servant and friend, and the mycologist Miss Potter, again dealing with strange goings-on, and an enemy that will take your breath away.

Alex Easton is tired, tired enough to journey to his family's hunting lodge in Gallacia during the off months for peace, quiet, and for his friend Miss Potter mushrooms. Easton along with their servant Angus arrive at the lodge to find the caretaker missing, the house disheveled, and the springhouse in ruins. Word comes to them that the caretaker died of an illness, a breathing disorder. Attempts to find a new caretaker come to naught, even in this poor community, except for an older widow with her grandson. Rumors have spread about a nocturnal creature that might be stealing the breath of people, something Alex does not believe, until strange things start happening. A woman's face in Alex's dreams, and a sickness that invades the widow's grandson. Alex is not afraid of a fight, but how does one fight a creature that attacks only in one's dreams?

Another great read from an author that I never doubt I will enjoy. All of T. Kingfisher's stories have been very good, however I really enjoy the Alex Easton stories most of all. Easton is a fascinating character and this book does a very good job of filling in a bit of Alex's life, as well as being a creepy novella. Actually even without the creepy aspect this story works well, as Kingfisher really makes the characters readers want to know more about. The atmosphere, the feeling of the lodge all seem real, even the supernatural creature fits the story well. Plus the humor. One doesn't expect to laugh out loud reading a horror story, but this happened quite a few times. "Does no one sleep with their hands under a pillow?", still makes me smile.

One does not have had to have read the first book, but one would be denied a very good story also. The characters are unique, funny and will quickly become favorites. The story is well written, and very tense near the end, with a lot of moments that surprise, make one laugh, and sniff a little bit. A very good series that I can't wait for further adventures in.

What Feasts at Night is the follow up to What Moves the Dead. Alex Easton and Angus are traveling to Alex's home in Gallacia. Upon arriving they discover the caretaker of the hunting lodge is missing. They are also preparing for a visit from Miss Potter, an academic researching mycology. People local to the village are avoiding the home and Alex while whispering about a creature that can steal your breath. Easton is also dealing with the emotional scars from the war and from their previous experience at Usher manor.

I loved this book so much. It is relatively different from What Moves the Dead. This story is more focused on Alex's personal journey. It is so moody and atmospheric but also very funny. It has really great queer representation. T. Kingfisher is an auto buy author for me and this was another big hit. I would love to get more books about Alex Easton!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightmare for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What Feasts at Night is the second novella in T. Kingfisher’s Sworn Soldier series. The first book, What Moves the Dead, is a retelling of The Fall of the House Usher. Both follow Alex Easton, a sworn soldier from the country of Gallacia. What Feasts at Night sees Alex returning home after kan* time abroad, only to discover horrors are not the sole province of the English.

*A quick primer if you are new to Kingfisher’s Gallacia: sworn soldiers use the pronouns “ka” and “kan” as opposed to a “he”, “she”, or “they.” Gallacia, due to various laws, has multiple such genders. It’s a complex culture and language in general, which provides many instances of humor thanks to Kingfisher’s wit.


Cover of What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher, book two in the Sworn Soldier series.

Unlike the initial novella, What Feasts at Night is not a retelling. Instead, it leans into folklore. While the term “moroi” does exist, I could not find specific tale references; particularly not including the details we find here. Also, Kingfisher is delightfully open about where she finds inspiration. She is an author I enjoy partially because her works are often in dialogue with others. If this was a retelling, I am confident we’d know.

So, it’s not a retelling. Alex Easton is standing tall on kan own feet, in kan own country. If Kingfisher intends to write more in this universe (and I believe she does) this is an important step. How do these characters and settings hold up without the draw of a beloved classic? What ideas can be explored in Gallacia, with Easton, better than in a new standalone novel? As a reader, I’m thrilled. As far as sequels go, What Feasts at Night established a pattern and opened the door to the unexpected.

That sounds a tad paradoxical, but it’s true. Book series, I find, have two main options. They can follow set characters through an overarching story or through separate formulaic type stories. The Sworn Soldier series is now firmly in the second category. Readers can now expect that one of these novellas will involve a gothic style mystery steeped in nature. But we have also learned the source and location of that mystery can vary from book to book. It feels like a classic monster of the week setup, but in novella form.

Most importantly, we know more of Easton as a narrator. This is someone who survived rather unbelievable events. Yet, when presented with more unbelievable events—ka does not believe. Rather than this being a glossed over plot hole or weak narrative tool, this discrepancy is directly addressed and handled comedically. Looking back on events, Easton knows that ka could have (and should have) handled the situation better. Humans don’t tend to enjoy dwelling on tragedy. Alex Easton is no exception.


Cover of What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher, book one of the Sworn Soldier series.
This brings me to the last point I want to address with this sequel. Soldier’s heart, the Gallacian term for PTSD, colors many of Easton’s responses. We see ka deal with the trauma of the experiences detailed in What Moves the Dead. They aren’t glossed over, they aren’t a new normal. Faced with horrors again, what does our sworn soldier do? Ka goes back to the war. There’s a passage in What Feasts at Night that describes war as a place; a place outside of time. Soldier’s heart, as a condition, is a return to that place. As someone who has never been in a war, it’s the most poignant and succinct empathy I’ve come across.

I’ve addressed all the ways that this sequel furthers and benefits the series as a whole. What I haven’t done is discuss the plot. If you want to see how Alex Easton and friends deal with a creature who steals your breath while you sleep, pick up What Feasts at Night when it is released on February 13, 2023 from Tor Nightfire. In the meantime, you can read (or reread) What Moves the Dead. There are mushrooms, it’s wonderful.

Thank you to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was not what I expected. This was leaning more character-driven than plot-driven with the horror, so I kinda grew bored around halfway through. Nonetheless, once the horror came in, I was seated and the novella grew on me. I got to learn more about Alex and their experience with "solider's heart" (aka PTSD). That was the most interesting part of the story. This was a worthwhile sequel, but come into it knowing the novella leans more character-driven.

Content warnings: PTSD, death, war

What a great follow up to 'What Moves the Dead'! I loved the focus on local tradition and superstition (with some extra love for the superstition as I am a big fan of superstitious characters being proven right!) in Alex's homeland, and the final confrontation was perfectly eerie. As usual Kingfisher moves easily between horror and humor, with great character development. I could picture clearly each new character and felt I could understand them deeply even in novella form.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

What Feasts at Night is a worthy follow up to Kingfisher’s gothic novella What Moves the Dead.

This is best enjoyed after reading the first novella because there are relevant parts of the back story which will help you to understand this one.

As can be expected within any Kingfisher novel; a pervasive atmosphere of unsettling dread runs through. Kingfisher knows how to create a creepy story and this is no exception. I never fail to be impressed by how Kingfisher can do this in such a short amount of pages.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for my gifted ARC!

A delightful, dark, gothic creature feature that will make you question what goes bump in the night. Once again, Kingfisher gives readers an atmospheric tale stemming from folklore around the world. It’s cool to learn about different monsters for different cultures. This novella is dripping with gothic vibes. The characters are relatable and there are a lot of supernatural elements that make the story even more interesting, highlighting the authors talents to deliver the creeps in such short amount of pages.

One of my most anticipated releases. Didn't enjoy it quite as much as What Moves the Dead, but I appreciated that this one had a more traditional climax.

Still loving the (more overt in this sequel) queer undertones, the gothic horror, and the tongue-in-cheek humor. Immaculate vibes. Can't wait to see the physical copy.

Will be eagerly awaiting all of Easton's future adventures.

The sequel to T. Kingfisher's "What Moves The Dead" is simultaneously heartwrenching, horrifying, and deeply moving. I couldn't put it down. I felt fully immersed in Kingfisher's latest novel, and was delighted to spend more time with the protagonist of the previous book.

I loved What Moves The Dead and was ecstatic that it was going to have a second book. What Feasts at Night was a great continuation of the first. I only wish there was more that was out right now!