Very sweet heartwarming novella from one of my favorite authors!
While rather different from his other titles, Hearne's The Hermit Next Door, focuses on a recently widowed mother and son, who have moved into a small quiet community.
Winnie Mae moves herself and her son Pax into a lovely home with quiet neighbors and a lovely river out back. When Pax reveals he's met the notoriously reserved (so reserved no one else on their street has even SEEN him!) neighbor, Winnie Mas is a little suspicious. But open minded enough t meet him herself.
The reclusive Mr. Fisher is a surprising delight and a wonderful twist.


Thanks to NetGalley and for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute and entertaining novella about a mom, her teenaged son, and the unusual new neighbor they meet after their move across the country from Tennessee to Oregon. Winnie Mae is a recent widow and she’s looking for a fresh start in a place where there are no overwhelming memories or constant reminders of the love she lost. Her son, Pax, is less enthusiastic about the move. He understands her need for a change but wishes it were closer to home and not in a place that is so completely different from what he’s known all of his life.

Their new life in Oregon gets off to a rocky start until Pax befriends their new neighbor, a recluse who none of the neighbors have ever seen or met face to face. Mr. Fisher is an interesting character with secrets of his own who will change Winnie Mae and Pax’s lives in ways they could never have imagined.

I don’t read many novellas and this was my first time reading Kevin Hearne so I wasn’t sure what to expect when I requested this one, but I was not disappointed. It’s a fun and creative story that keeps you entertained even when touching on more serious issues.

I loved the overall idea of the story. I only wish that it had been a little longer. The second half of the story and the resolution move pretty quickly and the end almost feels unfinished. Ultimately, it did leave me wanting more of Winnie Mae, Pax, and Mr. Fisher.

Thanks NetGally and Subterranean Press for the advanced copy.

The hermit next door is a cute novella about a mother and teenage son who move from Tennessee to Oregon following the sudden, accidental death of her husband. The son soon meets the neighbor who others in the neighborhood have never met. The neighbor’s reclusive is a cover for the fact the he is a stranded traveler from a parallel universe. He’s nearly at the point that he’s ready to return to his home, and our mother and son team endeavors to help him when nosy neighbors get in the way,
This was a quick, sometimes funny read. It feels like ET meets Back to the Future, and will work for fans of those stories. It’s also a comment on humans and climate destruction, with the alien longing for his world of clean air and water. Some adult language throughout is the only reason it might not work for younger readers.

I loved The Hermit Next Door! It is a quirky short story that was a pleasure to read. I did not know what this story was about so looking at the cover and title, I expected an icky neighbor. It is so much more. Pick up this short book and enjoy the ride/slide.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy for an honest review. #netgalley #thehermitnextdoor #kevinhearne

I love Kevin Hearne’s writing and his creative stories but this was disappointing.

After reading the entire Seventh Kennings series, as well as the Iron Druid, I know how creative Kevin Hearne is in his world-building so why are his SciFi stories kind of lackluster?

I grabbed a copy thinking this would be an E.T. type story where a widowed mother and son step in for Elliot and his family trying to help the mysterious, next-door neighbor, Mr. Fisher return home. While Mr. Fisher isn’t from here, he isn’t from space either. Mr. Fisher is from an alternate Earth universe. Oooo-kay? One where his species adapted to the intelligent life form and there are no humans. He still learned very quickly how dangerous humans are which is why he made sure he was never seen.

Mr Fisher is a traveler in his world or quantum ranger, adventuring out to other dimensions to see if there is anything interesting so he can report back to his alternate Earth. Once the traveler gets to the new dimension, he needs to build a quantum displacement matrix in order to return home. By the time he meets Mrs. Chisholm and Pax, he is almost ready to return home and has very little left to do. I know this is a short-story but he barely needs help at this point in his return home so Mrs. Chisholm and Pax are pretty superfluous for his return home. We could have sped up time with a “…this was how every day went for the next several months…”

I was thankful that this was only 90 pages since as soon as I heard what Mr. Fisher is, I began to lose interest. It’s funny how a more intelligent species from outer space, is more believable to a normally adorable fluffy creature, which is made much larger than the creature we know and vastly more intelligent than we are, which seems ridiculous. Mr. Fisher is a more intelligent than your average human, managing to sell his advanced energy producing products to sustain himself while he hides among the humans, but not realizing that selling those simple, clean energy products to gas companies would see them scraped so that companies can continuing producing their lucrative gasoline products.

While they are also top of the food chain on their Earth, they still share the planet with some types of dinosaurs and simply avoid crossing paths with them. Why didn’t they do more to contain these dangerous predators? Maybe they don’t want to eradicate another creature but he indicated that they don’t have any type of flight available since anything going higher than the treetops would come to the attention of flight-capable dinosaurs.

Sadly, this was disappointing as we don’t get much story involving working with Mr. Fisher. There is nothing too much about Mr.’s Fisher’s advanced technology. Nor do we really build any connection between Mrs. Chilholm, Pax and Mr. Fisher.

Book Review
The Hermit Next Door
Kevin Hearne
reviewed by Lou Jacobs

readersremains.com | Goodreads

An otherworldly mystery novella with a distinct element of the fantastic, as you would expect from the author of the highly acclaimed Iron Druid Chronicles series. Winnie Mae Chisholm is overcome with grief after her husband Benny’s accidental death.
With her insurance settlement, she buys a house in rural Oregon, seeking serenity and a drastic change in lifestyle. She yearns for peace, tranquility, and clean air, away from pollution and noise.
Mae desires a place on a river where she can see the stars at night without a haze and hear birds chirping instead of traffic noise and overhead airplanes. She drags her teenage son, Pax, virtually kicking and screaming from his everyday comforts in Tennessee. Their new home is in a small gated community of ten homes, with her backyard ending at the shore of the slow-moving Willamette River. The realtor assures her of the community’s quiet nature. The neighbor on one side is a retired couple, there only seasonally, while the other neighbor is a “famous” recluse not seen in years. He routinely gives large sums to local charities but never leaves his house, having everything delivered. He doesn’t even own a car and apparently lives off the royalties from patents of “some type of energy generation system.”
Pax is in a fight before noon on his first day! He has never been in a fight in his whole life.
He informs Mae that several boys mocked his accent, called him a “racist redneck,” and suggested his mother was probably his sister. He forlornly retires to the backyard. Shortly afterward, he thanks his mom for choosing this wonderful place, stating matter-of-factly that he has met their neighbor and he is the “coolest person on this planet.” Mae is astounded! Pax explains that the neighbor is a hermit for a reason: “he’s really different.” They’re going to hang out tomorrow!
Kevin Hearne proves to be a masterful storyteller as he weaves a fantastical, world-building narrative with colorful characters, not all of this world. With fun and charm, he comments on humanity’s treatment of differences. How will Winnie Mae and Pax come to the rescue of this mysterious neighbor? And what will be the limits of their endeavors to hide his secrets and motivations?
Thanks to NetGalley and Subterranean Press for providing an Uncorrected Proof in exchange for an honest review. I gobbled up this gem in one sitting and look forward to Hearne’s next offering.

The Hermit Next Door is a witty escapist fantasy novella by Kevin Hearne. Due out 31st July 2024 in a signed limited edition from Subterranean Press, it's 96 pages and will be available in signed hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

This is an engaging and fun story from page 1. Newly widowed Winnie Mae and her teenage son move from Tennessee to Oregon and try to find their feet in a new neighborhood, navigating a new school, new neighbors, and a seismic shift in culture. There's more to the reclusive Mr. Fisher next door than they were expecting.

Fans of the author's oeuvre will already be familiar with his sly and irreverent send ups of everything from talking dogs to life in suburbia (complete with "Karens"). This is more of that, along with a transportive escapist wish fulfillment fantasy and a healthy dash of Scooby Doo adventures thrown in for good measure.

Four and a half stars. Hearne can write. He can plot. It's a short but engaging read with a great denouement and resolution.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

I received an eARC of the ebook version of this title from Subterranean Press via NetGalley. The Hermit Next Door is a hopeful sci-fi story about grief. Also a meditation about our relationship with our environment, this novella was a thought provoking short book

The Hermit Next Door by Kevin Hearne is a short story released by Subterranean Press and is also available in audio. I read along as I listened to Annalee Scott deliver this fun, science fiction tale in a world I want more of. Whether you read or listen, I encourage you to come meet the neighbor.

Widow Winnie Mae Chisholm moves from Tennessee with her teenage son, Pax, to Oregon, hoping the change will allow them to heal. When Winnie buys their lakefront property, the realtor warns her about her recluse neighbor Mr. Fisher, and the elderly woman next door who travels frequently. This is exactly what Winnie Mae wants… peace and quiet. Hint… that isn’t exactly what she gets.

I loved the tale Mr. Hearne delivered and hope we get more. As with all of Hearne’s works, I went into this one completely blind with no expectations. Pax is glum about the move until he returns from the backyard, all excited about having met the neighbor. That’s right, that neighbor, Mr. Fisher. Pax seeks permission to help him with a project. Being an exemplary mother, Winnie insists on meeting Mr. Fisher and the tale that unfolds was simply brilliant.

Mr. Fisher is from another world and has been secretly working towards building a vessel to take him home. I loved the story Hearne created from where Mr. Fisher is from to the crazy neighbor across the street. The story, while whole, wasn’t nearly long enough. The author does a great job of giving us a complete story, but also kicked the door wide open for more tales. I am hoping that he and Subterranean Press bring us more and soon.

Admittedly, it was odd not having a book narrated by Luke Daniels. However, with a female protagonist, it made sense to select a female narrator. Be assured that Mr. Hearne made a spiffy choice. Annalee Scott was fantastic. She captured both the characters and tone of the tale, bringing everything to life.

The Hermit Next Door is the PERFECT audio for a family road trip or flight at just under three hours.

After a family tragedy, Winnie Mae and her teenage son Pax move from Tennessee to Oregon to start anew. They discover a much talked about mysterious neighbor.

Kevin Hearne has quite the imagination! The Hermit Next Door was an original and entertaining short story. It’s sci-fi and fantasy but also touches on current issues, such as climate and prevailing attitudes. Made me wonder what I would do in a similar situation.

I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy courtesy of the publisher. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you Netgalley and Subterranean Press for access to this arc.

There's a lot going on in a small space since it's a novella. The three main characters are nicely fleshed out and the few minor ones are also well delineated as much as they need to be. I'm trying to avoid too much description as I think readers will be better served learning things as they go. The blurb does a good job but I will admit that I was expecting something a bit different than what I got.  

The story has a darker tone than I thought it would and this carries through in multiple ways. Dark things have happened from the (prior to the story start) loss of Winnie Mae's and Pax's husband/father (who seemed, from the way they both mourn him, to have been a good man) to the loss of someone else which is discovered as the book progresses. Winnie Mae is also much more questioning and slower to accept Mr. Fisher as the super cool neighbor Pax thinks he is. Mr. Fisher's got some secrets up his "sleeve" and neither Winnie Mae nor I were overly surprised when they come out. It's also not surprising what a shit load of money can buy, get you out of, or drive someone to do something nefarious. 

I played "let's guess the outcome" as I read and ended up being correct. There were things that happened that had me shaking my head and thinking, oh sure that's not going to be noticed or questioned by the nosy neighbor. I laughed at Winnie Mae's Southern way of delivering her final opinion of this person. Bless her heart. And wow, I didn't think that an area close to Portland, in western Oregon was as full of assholes as it would appear to be. 

The end is a bit fluid with many possibilities that could eventually occur. I agree with other reviewers that on the whole the story is dark and a bit depressing in the way it depicts current times. Maybe one of the possibilities will save us.

I really don't know how to review this book without revealing the magic. I went into it without having read much about the plot, and I'm so incredibly thankful I did. The reveals are too good to be spoiled.

Winnie Mae and her teenage son, Pax, move from Tennessee to rural Oregon in a haze of grief after the death of their beloved third family member. They manage to find the perfect home next to a calm river that feels like the right amount of peace needed. When they move in, they learn about their mysterious neighbor, who hasn't been seen in years, yet still functions with plenty of deliveries and donations across the city. Pax quickly befriends the hermit next door, and thus begins a journey that I don't even really know how to describe.

This book is magic. I am also a huge fan of movies and it very much gave me "Safety Not Guaranteed" vibes. The story is told from Winnie Mae's point of view, which gives us an insight into life as a parent who worries about what the future of the world holds for their child. There is a heavy theme on environmentalism and sustainability.

Overall, the novella feels like a brief trip in a magical world that will leave you feeling a little giddy and hopeful that maybe we can just figure it out one day.

This short story/novella (long short story) is a clever fantastical tale about family and finding a happy place.
It is well written and engaging.
Short stories are difficult to write because background information and character depth must occur quickly while also providing events to move the story along. This story does that.
It is fantastical, so remember to be accepting and go with it.
I finished the book and decided to give my brain a day to think about the story.
I enjoyed reading it and recommend it to all. There are a few questions that I wish were answered, but over all, I really enjoyed it.

When I think about Kevin Hearne's writing, I think about the elaborate world-building of the Seven Kennings series, or the characters that populate the Iron Druid books. The Hermit Next Door is unlike either of those series. It's a stand-alone novella set in our world, in our time. Winnie Mae Chisholm and her son Pax are grieving the loss of their husband / father, fleeing memories. The "hermit" offers them the ultimate flight. the novella feels somewhat like a fable, contrasting our world ( and what we've done to it) to the parallel world of the hermit. I'm still digesting how I feel about the choices made by the characters in the end. I can safely say that this novella will occupy a permanent space in your brain.

Recently widowed Winnie moves to the PNW with her son and buys a house next to a reclusive old neighbor, she doesn’t realize just what she had gotten herself and her son into. Pax finds out that the neighbor no one sees is an alien. The previous owner of the house had a secret tunnel and did work for Mr. Fisher. Mr. Fisher has been working on a way to get back home and he is so close to being able to slide back into the parallel world he is from. New neighbors are an unknown quantity, and he still has to avoid being caught out by the nosy neighbor across the street.

I enjoyed this one and would like to see more about Mr Fisher and the world he comes from.

This story was told in first person by Winne Mae. After the death of her husband, Winnie Mae moves with her son Pax from Tennessee to Oregon. Pax is not excited about the move. He understands why his mom wants to move and isn’t against it, but he’s angry about his father’s death and doesn’t want to live in a place so different from what he’s used to and where he thinks others will find him offensive just because of his accent.

Winnie Mae runs an online yoga studio and is looking for a quiet place to make running her business less of a hassle. Something without dogs barking, loud lawnmowers and other sudden noises that might interfere with her creating a quiet, peaceful and natural environment for her yoga videos. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work for Pax until he meets their neighbor, Mr. Fisher. The realtor described him as a famous recluse and that no one had seen him for years. The reality of Mr. Fisher is completely unexpected. He is not of this world, and I, just like Winnie Mae and Pax, became wrapped up in his project of trying to get back home.

I found this story to be very creative. I really enjoyed the characters, which are limited in this short story to primarily Winnie Mae, Pax, Mr. Fisher and a nosy neighbor. Winnie Mae was clearly running from her memories, and I would have enjoyed seeing a little more character growth on her part before the events wrapped up in this story. I’m not sure I liked the ending. I had a few questions and while it ended on a hopeful tone, I found the overall feel of the ending to be quite the opposite. It left me with the feeling of hopelessness about the current state of our world.

Thanks to @netgalley and @subpress for a review copy

#thehermitnextdoor #bookstagram #scifibooks #sciencefictionbooks

This is probably going to be a very short review as it will be hard to talk about this novella without giving anything away. I adored this fun and wonderful look at how humanity treats others who are different and how we are treating our planet. This book has everything in such a small package, likable characters, wonderful world building and some fun yet weird little twists.

The story is told fully through the voice of Winnie Mae. She is so likable that I would love to have her as my neighbor. She is trying her best to do what is right for herself and her son, even though it means moving across the country into the unknown. I also liked her son Pax, who as a teenager was able to accept Mr Fisher easier than adults would. He was a great kid who knew how to stand up for himself, even when it got him into trouble.

I won’t say much about Mr Fisher, as that would spoil the whole story for you. But he was the best alien this earth could have been invaded by. I loved learning about his home and would love to visit there.

The story is short, only 98 pages, but it does pack quite a bit into it. Not only are the characters well developed, but the plot is full of fun and weird little twists. This is one you should really go into without knowing much, so I won’t say more, except that you really should go out and read it.

I highly recommend this sweet and fun novella, especially if you like humor and adorable characters. Fans of the author will be thrilled and I think this will attract new fans to his other books.

The Hermit Next Door
by: Kevin Hearne
2024
Subterranean Press
5.0 + 1

Where do I even begin with this amazing and unique novella?? I love weird fiction, I love off-the-wall and strange. I really love it when an author mixes the fiction with the fantasy in a way that makes it natural and you really get into the story. Its not until your done and realize .......damn, this is such a good strange. I want to go to Watercourse.

The story begins with Pax, a 15 year old and his first day at school. He doesn't make many friends, he's teased for being a "redneck". He does not like his new house, but he does like the river that runs behind it. The realtor warned Pax and his mother about the neighbor, Mr. Fisher, who no one has ever actually seen.

Pax meets Mr. Fisher, while hanging by the riverside. They slowly become friends, and Pax begins to like living in the new house. Eventually, Mr. Fisher asks Pax to ask his mother if he can come visit him, in his house. Mr. Fisher lives below ground, and we learn that Mr. Fisher is a Giant Otter that is exploring alternative universe for technology and pharmaceutical technology. His spacecraft has crashed and he needs someone to put it together again, so he can get home. Where is home? A place called Watercourse.......

Loved this......the fantsy was well done, the characters were fun and developed, very relatable. More Kevin Hearne, please.

Thanks to #NetGalley for sending this e-book ARC for review.
#NetGalley #TheHermitNextDoor

I enjoy Kevin Hearne's work and The Hermit Next Door while different from the other books I've read by him was just as delightful. This novella is a sweet, cozy sci-fi that can be devoured in an afternoon. We meet Winnie Mae and her son Pax who are escaping loss and grief by moving to a new house with a mysterious neighbor. We soon discover the neighbor's secret as Winnie Mae processes her grief and decides on how she wants to move on in her life. Winnie Mae's reflections on her life and grief were thoughtful and endearing. I enjoyed the characters, the world-building and the themes. I am a huge fan of Hearne's Iron Druid Chronicles and this novella proves to me that he can write any kind of story and I will be immersed. I'll definitely be reading his other books.

This is short but has a whole world in it. We first meet a grieving family who've moved across the country to get away from bad memories, which is probably part of how they were able to be so open minded when they met their unusual neighbor. This little book managed to be so satisfying because it really went for it -- you get a real resolution. And while the topics were serious, the tone was fun.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.