Hollow Kingdom

If I were to survive an apocalyptic world-changing event, there is no one I would rather have by my side than S.T. (Shit Turd), a brilliant, belligerent, and loyal crow. Of course, being human, I would be one of the Hollows whose feckless disregard for the natural world led to our extinction event in Hollow Kingdom.

Hollow Kingdom combines the buddy book with the endearing friendship between Dennis, the bloodhound, and S.T., the crow, a road trip story with their relatively short journeys around Seattle, and the epic science fiction apocalypse novel with some sort of zombifying tech virus infecting humans. And it’s hilarious.

S.T. and Dennis start out looking for MoFos (humans) hoping to find someone to fix things. They adapt their show more quest to saving domestics, animals trapped behind doors and windows and starving to death. The ally with an impressive variety of animals and birds with the help of supportive trees.

I loved Hollow Kingdom. I loved it so much, I read portions of it aloud over coffee and donuts to a friend who loved it and is eagerly waiting for its publication. I passed my kindle over so she could read a few examples of how beautifully Kira Jane Buxton could imagine a taxonomy for each different species. The cat chapters are hilarious, so hilarious they should have a warning that reading in a waiting room could lead to embarrassing eruptions of laughter. These short interstitial chapters featuring a polar bear, a camel, an elephant, and other various animals are genius. They each have their own vernacular and I love it.

The story is compelling and full of risks and revelations. There are daring break-ins to homes where domestics are trapped and battles against impossible odds. There are sacrifices that will break your heart. Hollow Kingdom is both hilarious and heart-breaking and I loved every bit of it.

Hollow Kingdom will be released August 6h. I received an e-galley from the publisher through NetGalley.

Hollow Kingdom at Grand Central Publishing
Kira Jane Buxton author site and on Twitter

https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2019/07/19/9781538745816/ show less

Hollow Kingdom taught me more about crows than I ever really thought I would want or need to know, but I’m glad I know it now. Because it’s all about murder (or family). It’s a funny, clever, cautionary tale told from the perspective of a domesticated crow named Shit Turd, but he goes by S.T. for short. When his humans eyeball suddenly falls out of his head, S.T. sets out on his mission to save the mofos from extinction. He becomes The One Who Keeps. The one who keeps the memory of the mofos alive and makes it his mission to save all the pets trapped indoors after their mofos, or humans, succumb to the virus.

I love a book with a unique perspective – and this definitely has one! S.T. and his murder are a mixed bunch – there’s show more a bloodhound, Big Jim, his mofo with the eyeball, and a really smart cockatiel. It’s an apocalyptic story with heart that brings to mind Homeward Bound if all the humans disappeared from the Earth. show less

fiction - a smart-mouthed domesticated crow leaves home (taking charge of his human's much less smart but lovable dog Dennis) after an apocalyptic virus turns all the humans into zombified corpses; takes place in what used to be Seattle.

Aaackk! Loved this so much, read the whole thing in a day. Lots of fun bird/animal behavioral factoids sprinkled in among a very colorful cast of (animal) characters-- the author has lived with 2 crows but her love for dogs and other animals is readily apparent (check out her suggested reading in the interview with the author included at the end). Beware: some of these dogs will die.

I was utterly enchanted when I read this book while I had COVID. I'm a corvidophile, so S.T. and I were always likely to be besties. Still, the narrative voice was a real pleasure to read and the idea of the book carried me from start to finish...not like a lot of fun, funny ideas that kinda...slack off...after a while. Nope. There was a central idea, what happened has happened and now what? and the whole story explored that central idea. Still, I was tempted to round down my rating for a few slightly slow spots...but in the end, it works too well to do that.

A book I urge on others. I think, sometimes, they wish I wouldn't. But I still will.

Shit Turd (or, mercifully, S.T. for short) is a crow, formerly the pet of a colorful redneck called Big Jim, although he considers himself more human (or, to use Big Jim's terminology, MoFo) than crow. But something has gone very wrong with Big Jim, and so S.T. sets out into a changed world with his friend Dennis the bloodhound to look for help, only to find himself with a much bigger mission.

This is a weird book, even more so than the premise might suggest. Initially, it seems like a black comedy version of a zombie apocalypse novel, and as such I found it utterly delightful. But it seems to turn into something else as it goes along, and ultimately it feels more like some sort of fable or fairy tale, complete with the talking animals. show more It's also laced with a lot of odd philosophical musings. I'm not sure quite what all of that adds up to, and there were aspects that worked much better for me than others, but even during the times when I sort of found myself wondering what the heck it is I was reading, I was still interested and kind of impressed by its audacity.

Rating: Despite flaws and uncertainties, I think I have to give this one 4/5, if only for its sheer creativity. show less

This book has re-defined the post-apocalyptic/zombie genre for me and I couldn’t be more thrilled!

Ok, I’m a shit turd for taking a million years to review this amazing book.

I took notes like a good noodle, but they’re not exactly expressive or clever. At this point though, I just want to say literally anything about this book so that y’all know about it and know I love it. So I’m just going to write my notes, almost verbatim.

+ Thought it was middle-grade (not sure why) and it’s definitely not! And I’m ok with that!

+ I instantly loved S.T’s foul mouth, descriptions, and casual tone

+ “And then Big Jim’s eyeball fell out. Like, fell the fuck out of his head.”

+ His fucking name is Shit Turd xD

+ “…hambeast-bellied show more egg timer commonly known as a penguin.”

+ Winnie the Poodle’s POV is charmingly in third person and her grammar is poor

+ S.T. is ostracized, he just wants to be let alone, feels he shoulda been born a MoFo (his terms for humans). FEELS.

+ Genghis Cat OMG – hilariously insulting. “Dildo-nosed potatoes” LMFAO (I didn’t put a note to what he was referring to, but I’m pretty sure it was humans)

+ “He’d been ambushed by an invisible assassin, which had blown into his body uninvited and was slowly eating his heart from the inside out. It drank his hope and anesthetized his feelings. Depression.” Holy shit, S.T. is deep.

+ …because if you aren’t allowed to love freely, a part of your heart breaks.” Damn, S.T., being deep again.

+ “I was stressed-stuffed, a Hot Pocket of angst.” HARD SAME

+ I am SO invested in S.T. and Dennis.

+ My face hurts from smiling and laughing. Every page is funny, painful or both.

That’s pretty much it. If none of that intrigues you enough to read this book, I don’t know what else to say. You want a book about animals, told by animals? Read this. You want a book that’s somewhat about the start of an apocalypse, but is really about finding your way in the world, forming relationships, defining yourself, and what you want in life? Read This. Do you love foul-mouthed narrators who defend themselves with sarcasm and wit but are actually soft cinnamon rolls inside? READ This. Do you love ugly crying like a little bitch? (We know I do!) READ THIS.

Once I started crying, somewhat near the end of the book, I continued to cry throughout the remainder of the story. (This is a good thing, btw.) I just kept thinking about things – this book gave me so many emotions! The ending itself was great and went in a direction I never would have guessed. The reason for the zombie outbreak was maybe a little heavy-handed, but honestly, I’ll buy it.

Seriously, this book is funny and sad and amazing and it’s full of animals!!! I read this in e-book format, but knew I needed to own a physical copy so that next time I read it I can cry directly onto the pages causing my tears. One of my friends was good enough to gift me a copy for Christmas! (I was just too lazy to take a picture before posting this.) So again, if you find any of this interesting, check out this book! show less

One afternoon, S.T., a domesticated crow, is hanging out in the backyard with his best friend, Big Jim, and Big Jim's idiot bloodhound, Dennis, when Big Jim leans forward and his eye falls out. This begins the story of the zombie apocalypse, as told by S.T. as he struggles to take care of his radically altered friend, and then to find a solution before human civilization is gone.

The real delight of this book is the voice of the crow, a foul-mouthed aficionado of the MoFos*, who is so desperate to hold his world together that he just might join forces with Dennis and go forth to figure out what exactly is going on and maybe find some delicious Cheetos along the way. This novel takes an often told tale and turns it on its head; while the show more victims of the virus are human beings, the story is told entirely from the point of view of animals, with S.T.'s chapters interwoven with chapters told from everyone from a self-involved poodle to a polar bear (the chapter told by a cat named Genghis is especially good). Kira Jane Buxton takes the story in new directions, where there are changes happening far beyond what is happening to the humans.

S.T. was raised by Big Jim, a beer-drinking, fast food-eating guy with outsized opinions and a solid devotion to the local sports teams, and S.T. has modeled his behavior and language after his friend. S.T. firmly believes himself more of a MoFo than a crow but along his journey he needs the help of the very creatures he has to adamantly shunned. And, it turns out, they need him. This is not my genre. At all. And yet I couldn't wait to spend more time with S.T., whose love of human kind and distinct crow-ness may just hold the key to survival in this new world.

* Humans show less