Alix E. Harrow is an absolute expert when it comes to short stories. Between The Knight and the Butcherbird and The Six Deaths of the Saint, she has demonstrated a masterful ability to
convey complex worldbuilding and an engrossing, meaningful story in a mere 30-minute read. Each of these stories have distilled such a grand narrative down to its most essential, most compelling parts. I cannot recommend either story enough.

The Knight and the Butcherbird takes place in a postapocalyptic world, devastated by environmental collapse, microplastics, and radiation. It tells the story of Shrike, a young woman whose wife has transformed into a demon, and of the knight from the rich, protected enclave who arrives to slay it. The story revolves around themes of transformation; of what we will do to protect ourselves from loss and change, and how far love can drive us.

This is the sort of short story that gives you a peek into a wildly interesting world and leaves you longing to see more of it: though we are given only glimpses, the societies we see are richly complex and compelling takes on a postapocalyptic existence. I would love to see an entire series written amidst this backdrop, though perhaps the brief impression of the world we are given is more powerful a message. Moreover, the characterization is deep. Even as brief as the story is, the characters feel multidimensional, and their motivations are clear and fascinating. The emotions are visceral.

This is an easy 5-star read for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A smart and somewhat cynical telling of what it means to be in love and what you would do to keep that love around. Although short, it manages to a presence behind with its manner of storytelling and how the characters interact with each other. Overall a fantastic short story from Alix E. Harrow.

Alix e harrow never misses. This is an interesting little post apocalyptic short story about when a knight comes to town.

It’s a short exploration of community, faith and horror. We get to see a demon hunting knight and a town secretary who have her own motivations and aspirations.

It reminded me a bit of annihilation/ the southern reach quartet in its way to describe horror. I found it both unsettling and beautiful.


I definitely think it’s worth picking up for anyone who might even have the slightest interest since the book is only 36 pages.

( but lets hope America have a brighter future than this. )

Thank you NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the ARC.

Alix E. Harrow has such a way with words. The prose is lovely, and so is the story itself. Despite being set in a post-apocalyptic environment and violence is common as people succumb to their monstrous transformations, Harrow manages to weave such a romantic tale that leaves you wanting more. In just 32 pages, one might put aside any cynical notions of love only to appreciate how it perseveres despite the horrors from external forces and from within. I loved that we got not one but two love stories in this.

"She knew me then, at the beginning of ourselves, and she knew me now, here at the end, when she did not even know herself."

Alix E. Harrow has already proven her talent for writing short stories with "The Six Deaths of the Saint", and "The Knight and the Butcherbird" just showed it again. It’s about these demon-hunting knights in a rough post-apocalyptic world, and by demons I don’t mean the biblical kind, but the people-get-corrupted-and-grow-fangs-and-feathers-and-claws-and-antlers kind, which is my favorite kind. But it’s less a story about body horror than about the tragedy of losing a loved one to this kind of transformation. Very intriguing and it really made the most out of its 30-something pages. A perfect short story for me.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for providing a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

Alix E. Harrow knows how to write short stories!!! She manager to make me cry in 30 paged and feel so many emotions some 400+ books never could. I’ve read all her shorter works, really need to give her novels a try

Once again, Alix E. Harrow stuns me with her writing and her ability to craft such an expansive world in under 50 pages. There's definitely a lot to like here and the central themes are very timely. I wish it were a smidge longer and I'm a little unsure about the central reason for the demons. I do think it was mostly explained well, but there are certain implications that might come across because of it and I'm not sure the story addressed them fully? I'm trying to be as vague as possible, even though it's almost impossible to not spoil a short story, especially in a review. Regardless, like anything Harrow writes, I do think this is worth the read.

This was fantastic, I read it in under an hour. I don't love apocalyptic stories but my god can Alix E. Harrow write a novella

I really loved this little story, I reread it and I can’t wait to see it in the wild.. Such beautiful pacing.

I really like Alix E. Harrow's short form fiction, and this was no exception. It combines a fuzzy near-future apocalyptic setting with medieval imagery, and has an underlying social message about change and power. Also, like all of the Harrow I've read, it's about the importance of storytelling and narrative, about whose story gets told and why.

Shrike is a storyteller, and her town is being threatened by a demon. Sir John of Cincinnati arrives with his hawk to vanquish it. But Shrike knows the demon is her wife - used to be her wife? Still is her wife? - and Shrike has already committed violence to protect the demon. Sir John has his own purpose in hunting demons, and while his and Shrike's purposes may ultimate dierge, they may also run alongside each other for a bit...

Look, I've read For My Lady's Heart by Laura Kinsale twice in the past 6 months, so I might be a tad obsessed. But I got major FMLH vibes from The Knight and the Butcherbird. From Sir John's archaic language to his devotion to his lady, from the hawk to his quest, I was into it. (Yes, this is an absolutely giant compliment, to be clear!)

But this is no romance with a guaranteed happily-ever-after. It's a story about survival and change, the longlived few versus the diseased many, about how love can flourish despite many obstacles, and about how that might be the way forward anyway.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the story.

This short story by Alix E. Harrow is a gift, and we should all be happy that she chose to share it with us.

the knight and the butcherbird is a hozier song in short story form.

shrike is her town’s historian—or she was, until her wife turned into a demon and the townspeople tried to kill her. now she cares only to protect the creature that was her wife—the creature she is certain still recognizes her.

in this post-apocalyptic fairytale of a short story, alix e. harrow weaves together the modern and medieval to tell the story of a young woman, the demon who was her wife, and the knight hunting it. it’s a story about survival and love and transformation in a world wracked by climate change, where resources are hoarded within enclaves while outlanders either die young or turn into demons.

oh, i loved this. poignant and anxiety-inducing yet somehow still hopeful, harrow can pack more of an emotional punch in 30 pages than some authors can in 500. i can’t wait to read her lady knight book later this year!

I loved Harrow’s previous short story, Six Deaths of the Saint, so I was so excited to read The Knight and the Butcherbird!

I found the writing here to be just as beautiful and evocative, but perhaps not as emotionally impactful as I’d hoped.

The world building was fascinating, though, and done really effectively in the short page count. I could read a lot more stories set in this world!

When I saw who the author was I knew I had to read this one! And bonus points that it’s a short story which just happens to be the perfect palette cleanser for the end of the months reading wrap up!

The story is definitely unusual, I will admit for the first half of the book I definitely pictured the world being in a historical setting giving the inclusion of knights, I was thinking along the lines of kingdoms castles and medieval times, but then I got to the half way mark and modern technology was mentioned and I was like wait a second?! This book definitely has a timeless feel where you are trapped somewhere between present day, futuristic apocolyptic and at the same time way in the past.. but somehow everything makes sense and feels right 😂

This was definitely a fast read (about 30 mins) but there is a lot of action packed in along with some philosophical almost metaphorical, deep and thought provoking conversations happening.

The book has a mixture of everything so it’s hard to go wrong. It was definitely a fun quirky read.

Thank you to Amazon original stories and alix e barrow for the EARC!

Publish date: March 11th 2025

The Knight and the Butcherbird is a beautiful and strange story about how far we will go for those we love, and about starting over at the end of the world. Filled with Harrow's signature blend of beauty and darkness, this is a must-read for new and existing fans of her work. Don't underestimate it for being a short story; Alix E. Harrow can pack more world building & character development into a 30 page story than you would find in most books. I would recommend this story to all readers; the themes are universal, and I will be thinking about The Knight & the Butcherbird for a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc! The thoughts & opinions in this review are my own.

Clever and dark - are they demons or shifters, good or evil, the anomalies or a new normal. A quick and entertaining read, onw that will make you think on it for a while.

What a wonderful story! An apocalyptic fairy tale that packs a punch despite its short length. Alix E. Harrow weaves a tale of flawed yet intriguing characters and a world transformed—because sometimes, change is necessary. I look forward to exploring more of Harrow's work.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Divine and magical storytelling. A dystopian future with traces of our current times, where medieval and modern collide in a horror story about surviving and love. I read this in an hour, couldn’t put it down, it’s a short story so the less you know, the better. Knowing this is written by Alix E. Harrow should be more than enough. If you think The Six Deaths of the Saint was good, you’ll be blown away by The Knight and the Butcherbird.
Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me with the ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley for the preview. All opinions are my own.

Alix E Harrow is a master at giving you a emotional and impactful tale in just a few pages. This is a strange little post-apocalyptic story. It's about change and survival and love and the power of stories.
It didn't wreck me the way Six Deaths of the Saint did but I'd be lying if I said my eyes didn't well up at the end.

I will always read something by Alix E. Harrow, and her ability to write well-crafted worlds and evoke feeling in short stories is astounding. The Six Deaths of the Saint is one of my favorite short stories.

The Knight and the Butcherbird didn’t disappoint, highlighting several themes appropriate for our current times: impact of climate, crafting narratives as propaganda, wealth disparity and its effects on communities, and the importance of storytelling to keep history. But it also made one think of the lengths we would go to protect our loved ones and get answers.

I enjoyed the dystopian setting, the prose, the emotion, and the characters. Harrow packs a punch in few pages. I definitely recommend picking this up, and I wish that I could purchase her short stories.

Much thanks for Amazon Original Stories and NetGalley for the ARC. All views are my own.

Instagram post to come at or around publication date, and the links will be updated to reflect that.