Review by Booklist Review
In a suitably atmospheric follow-up to What Moves the Dead (2022), Alex Easton is headed back to their ancestral Gallacian lodge and more trouble than they bargained for. After the nightmarish events at their friend Maddy Usher's house, all Easton dreams of is a nice, new routine on home turf. However, they discover that caretaker Codrin has met an untimely end, so Easton and old war buddy Angus are left to figure out what has occurred. Joined by the mycologist Miss Potter, they attempt to untangle the strange silence and hideous dreams that the locals claim are due to moroi, a spectre that steals people's breath in the night. Fans will appreciate a budding romance between Angus and Miss Potter as well as the addition of two new characters hired to take over for Codrin at the lodge: Widow Botezatu and her grandson, Bors. The real star is Kingfisher's characterization of Easton, whose war-torn past continually flutters into view like the mysterious white moths that herald the moroi's coming. Another damp, unearthly entry in the developing Sworn Soldier series.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In the haunting second installment of Hugo and Nebula Award winner Kingfisher's Sworn Soldier series (after What Moves the Dead), reluctant, battle-damaged hero Alex Easton, who uses the pronouns ka and kan, returns to kan childhood home in the grim and Gothic countryside of Gallacia. It should be a routine, even boring, visit to the Easton family hunting lodge. Instead, Alex arrives to find the old caretaker has died, and the village buzzing with rumors that the supposed lung disease that killed him was in fact something far more sinister. To Alex, a practical old soldier, the villagers' tales seem fanciful, the kind of thing one might tell to scare a child--until the new housekeeper's son falls ill the same way, and Alex begins to have strange nightmares. Something has awoken in the Easton hunting lodge, and it wants to steal the very breath from all of the inhabitants' lungs. Moving away from the Edgar Allan Poe story that inspired the first entry in the series, this sequel offers more surprises and just as many moments that will haunt readers' dreams. Kingfisher's winning formula of creepy folklore, affable protagonists, familiar Gothic tropes, and truly unsettling horror imagery makes this sing. (Feb.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Kingfisher's second installment in the "Sworn Soldier" series (following What Moves the Dead) finds Alex Easton returning for another descent into gothic horror. After escaping the Usher manor, Easton travels to their family's hunting lodge in their home country of Gallacia to spend time with good friends Angus and Miss Potter. All three are looking to forget the horrors they experienced together at the manor, but Easton arrives at the lodge to find the place a mess and the caretaker dead. Villagers whisper that there's something on the property that steals the breath from one's lungs. Easton isn't one to give credence to local superstition, but they've also been having some very unusual dreams. They soon discover that superstitions and nightmares can both become terribly real. Those who've read the first book in the series will recognize the characters here, and they are just as charming as ever, thanks to Avi Roque's vocal talents. Straying from Poe's universe, Kingfisher gives readers a ghost story with some truly terrifying moments and surreal dream sequences that chill the blood. VERDICT Fans of gothic horror and Kingfisher's unique blend of horror and humor will enjoy this frightfully fun slice of Gallacian folklore.--James Gardner
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