Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton
Hollow Kingdom is a highly original post apocalyptic fantasy story with a real sense of heart, an incredible sense of humour and a foul mouthed crow as it’s protagonist.
Shit Turd or ST is worried. His owner Big Jim who has taught him everything he knows about communicating with humans, including quite a large vocabulary and calling all of them ‘mofos’ and the delights of Cheetos, has begun losing his will to live. Also his basic motor functions, his fingers as he scrapes them against the wall and any semblance of humanity. Big Jim and everyone else is becoming a zombie and ST, who wants nothing more than to help the humans and preserve the amazing world they have, is on a mission to do just that. Don’t worry though he’s not alone. He has Dennis, Big Jim’s faithful bloodhound, who is a genuine friend, handy for the muscle element and somewhat controllable because of ST’s ability to perfectly mimic their former owners commands. Picture a crow riding a dog and swearing blindly at zombies and you’ll have an idea of the sort of book you’re getting into. If you still have any doubts one particularly thoughtful moment ended with this which had me laughing so hard I woke up my wife.
“We pondered the implications in utter silence, except for the rhythmic masturbation of a nearby squirrel.”
There is a nice sense of magic within nature at work. Voices that whisper through the air for the birds, through the water and through the ground, each one having different information and different connections to the earth and each one offering ST a chance to rescue the world he loves so much. As he explores these opportunities we learn of other creatures known only by their actions, The One who Spits, The One who Opens Doors and The One Who Keeps as the world turns from a domesticated paradise into an unpredictable and much more wild jungle than he is used to. The mass escape from a nearby zoo seems to speed this process up nicely. We also get small tastes between some of the chapters about other animals world wide and their own personal stories including a polar bear, a camel, a poodle and even an armadillo. It helped to expand the world and as a reader I found myself focusing so much on the small scale world ST was traversing that a taste of the bigger picture was refreshing and welcome and often quite eye opening.
The Hollow Kingdom is a tough one to nail down. It is delicate and light but also contains flesh-eating zombies. It’s told from a completely unique and distinct birds eye perspective yet feels very human. I laughed and I cried. Overall this is an absolute gem of a book and if you’re out there in a reading funk, needing a change from your normal genre or just in search of the next truly memorable read pick this one up. 9/10
Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review
