Reviews

Sworn Soldier - What Moves The Dead by T. Kingfisher

crloken's review against another edition

2.0

It's the year 1850 and Alex Easton, an Oathsworn from Galatia, has received a missive from Madeline Usher to come visit her at the house of Usher at once before her death. There, Alex is dismayed at how the Ushers have aged and seem a shadow of themselves.

About halfway through this modern retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher I decided I was in good hands. The simultaneous explorations of gender, duty, responsibily, and decay felt confident and well reasoned. I was excited to see this author expertly weave them all together.

And then she didn't. It gets lost in its own climax and, despite some appropriately creepy imagery, never manages to really live up to the early promise. Most frustrating for me was a trope in the climax that has never worked for me.

Spoiler

The antagonistic fungus uses Madeline's body to declare its evil plans, similarly to the ending of Prey and The Troop

In the end is it kind of reminded me of Prometheus, it's not that it can't live up to its own hype, it's that it can love up to the promise that the early parts of the story evoke. I want to love this. I wish it was better.

jbrownleo's review against another edition

5.0

First T. Kingfisher book I’ve ever read and it definitely won’t be the last. This was everything I love in a horror novel! And all packed in a length that was actually reasonable. The fungus element was amazing and really brought some of the spookiness to the story for me. I feel like there is so much unknown about fungus that it really worked. The characters were developed really well. I became invested in them and where their stories were going. I didn’t realize there was a second novel to go along with this one, which is great because I would love to revisit these characters. I did get spooked a little at different parts and there were plenty of tense and suspenseful moments, but I wouldn’t classify it as super scary. Kingfisher’s writing flows so nicely, and the story had excellent pacing. Such a great book, I wish I would have picked it up sooner, but I will absolutely be reading more of her work.

taylors_escapism's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

alexandraslagle's review against another edition

3.0

Probably closer to a 3 1/2. I feel like it dragged a bit at times and there were some cheesy inner monologues, but I did enjoy it! I love the main character. I think I will read the next book in the series as well.

sean1994's review against another edition

5.0

Refreshing to read a good story
Reminded me of lord of the rings met ww11
With the protagonist not what you think or who you think

ghastlycoffee's review against another edition

5.0

Slow build to an extremely uncomfortable and extremely well written story

es431412's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

oinkopig21's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

It’s nice, but I like the original Poe telling more.

kristinconnolly's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

When a mushroom infects the animals and people of this town a previous solider saves the day. This had a non-binary main character which was great and they didn't make it a big deal. If you like mushrooms then you wi like this book. Its a really quick listen and really entertaining. 

lexhuffy's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

Eh I’m going to give this 2.5 stars. It was a quick read. A little skin crawling but I don’t think I’d label it “horror”. Honestly it was anticlimactic and a little boring but not bad.