What Feasts at Night (Sworn Soldier, #2) in SpecFic Buddy Reads

Jul 12, 2025 Nataliya rated it liked it

Shelves: 2025-reads

T. Kingfisher’s writing both fascinates and soothes me. She’s great at perfectly setting the scene, reliably delivers gentle yet sharp humor, and you can always count on her for a few of delightfully quirky tidbits about the strangest things. Basically I like how she writes sometimes more than what she writes.

And this was certainly the case here. I liked the entire set-up, the easy feel of the place filtered through somewhat snarky perception of our protagonist, and the easy humor that’s not try T. Kingfisher’s writing both fascinates and soothes me. She’s great at perfectly setting the scene, reliably delivers gentle yet sharp humor, and you can always count on her for a few of delightfully quirky tidbits about the strangest things. Basically I like how she writes sometimes more than what she writes.

And this was certainly the case here. I liked the entire set-up, the easy feel of the place filtered through somewhat snarky perception of our protagonist, and the easy humor that’s not trying too hard (“may he shit pinecones in hell”), as well as the unexpected coziness to which I’m usually quite allergic - but not when it’s the charm applied by Kingfisher. Plus, I was relieved that it was not another retelling since the first novella in the series for some reason retold Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher, a story in no need of reimagining. Instead of retelling we get a folklore flavoring from an invented Central European-ish country of Gallacia in the late 1800s, where nightmare creatures may be more real than we’d like to think.

“Angus sat back on his heels and began unloading his pack, setting out bread and cheese and a bottle of wine that was, fortunately, not from Gallacia. (You really don’t want to drink our wine. We export it because we don’t want to drink it either.)”

But despite the promising set-up it remained just okay. Perhaps because it felt a bit too short even for a novella, with the resolution both abrupt and vague. It needed a bit more meat on its bones, more examining of why’s and how’s to feel more than a quick sketch of a story. Maybe some space could have been made by not bringing in a few characters from the previous novella* that were fun to see but did not add much to the story itself.

* Although without our friendly mycologist Miss Potter here we would not be treated to this gem:

“Perhaps it was easier when you were a mycologist and saw the whole world in shades of fungi, and could easily differentiate between those that went into an omelet and those that consumed dead women’s brains.”

It’s a light relaxing read, and other than very slight occasional creepiness there’s nothing really of horror here, which may be a hit or a miss, depending on what keeps you excited. The lack of gore is a plus for me, certainly. But the relaxed coziness sacrificed any narrative tension, with too many things obvious from a mile away and too soothing of atmosphere making the stakes quite low.

3 stars and a few Gallacia-related smiles.

“(Most of the wooden shutters had carved turnips on them. No, I don’t know why, it’s just a thing we do in Gallacia. In Switzerland, they carve flowers on the shutters, but nobody ever asks them why. We just like turnips, okay?)”

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Also posted on my blog.
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Apr 28, 2025 Bradley rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, horror, 2025-shelf

I want to say that I liked this even more than the first Sworn Soldier Novella, but alas, no. The first had slightly more wry humor and the true horror aspect was superior.

The COVER for this novella, however, had me expecting a LOT more. So yeah, you might say that I may have judged this book by its cover. *sigh*

That being said, it IS a very solid, short horror with compelling characters and a very historical setting, complete with war flashbacks, modern sensibilities, and rampant superstition. ...more

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Feb 18, 2024 Susy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

3.75 stars
Another great story by Kingfisher. Loved the characters, the eerie vibes, the humor. Though I think I liked What Moved the Dead better. Maybe I should reread that one, physically instead of doing audio. I think I may need to revise that rating…

Characters 8
Atmosphere 8
Writing Style 8
Premise 7
Execution/Plot 6
Execution/Pace 7
Execution/Setup 6
Enjoyment/Engrossment 8

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Mar 22, 2024 Lata rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-f-h, 2024-read, auth-f

From the absence of sound when Alex and Angus arrived at Alex's hunting lodge, to the superstition about the frankly terrifying spirit called a moroi haunting the area, this was creepy.

Alex will be hosting the mycologist Miss Eugenia Potter, and needs Angus to hire someone local to help them prepare the lodge for their visitor, as it has fallen into disrepair and dirtiness after the previous caretaker died, seemingly of an illness of the lungs, but whom the locals feel was a victim of the moroi. ...more

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Mar 25, 2025 Cathy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2025

Alex Easton has survived the horrors of the House of Usher and stumbles into the next horrible thing back home. If you liked What Moves the Dead, you will probably like this one.
Dare I call it cosy horror?

Link to the spoilerish painting this story reminded me off:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nig... ...more

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