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Hollow Kingdom Hardcover – August 6, 2019
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A finalist for the 2020 Thurber Prize for American Humor!
"The Secret Life of Pets meets The Walking Dead" in this big-hearted, boundlessly beautiful romp through the Apocalypse, where a foul-mouthed crow is humanity's only chance to survive Seattle's zombie problem (Karen Joy Fowler, PEN/Faulkner Award-winning author).
S.T., a domesticated crow, is a bird of simple pleasures: hanging out with his owner Big Jim, trading insults with Seattle's wild crows (i.e. "those idiots"), and enjoying the finest food humankind has to offer: Cheetos ®.
But when Big Jim's eyeball falls out of his head, S.T. starts to think something's not quite right. His tried-and-true remedies—from beak-delivered beer to the slobbering affection of Big Jim's loyal but dim-witted dog, Dennis—fail to cure Big Jim's debilitating malady. S.T. is left with no choice but to abandon his old life and venture out into a wild and frightening new world with his trusty steed Dennis, where he suddenly discovers that the neighbors are devouring one other. Local wildlife is abuzz with rumors of Seattle's dangerous new predators.
Humanity's extinction has seemingly arrived, and the only one determined to save it is a cowardly crow whose only knowledge of the world comes from TV.
What could possibly go wrong?
- Print length320 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherGrand Central Publishing
- Publication dateAugust 6, 2019
- Dimensions6.45 x 1.4 x 9.35 inches
- ISBN-101538745828
- ISBN-13978-1538745823
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Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"A plucky hero, a boisterous tale, startling prose and eerie events combine for a thoroughly enjoyable account of the end of the world as we know it. The Secret Life of Pets meets The Walking Dead."―Karen Joy Fowler, PEN/Faulkner Award-winningauthor of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
"I love this book so much! I wanted to set it on fire while hugging it. I wanted to hasten the apocalypse just to see how my own pets fare in a more humane world without humans. Kira Jane Buxton's voice is fresh, like a newly dug grave, but so joyful and honest you'll laugh out loud, and then check to make sure you haven't lost an eyeball. Hollow Kingdom is a wildly original debut and a paean to my favorite city."―Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author ofHotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
"Hollow Kingdom offers a bird's-eye view of the apocalypse we all want and need-especially when the bird in question is a plucky, Cheeto-loving domesticated crow . . . With infinite heart and humor, Kira Jane Buxton's fine-feathered narrator guides us through richly imagined animal realms while braving the terrifying collapse of the human world. A dazzling, wholly original debut, revealing the great paradox of humanity's fatal flaws and resilient spirit."―Mona Awad, authorof 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl and Bunny
"Everything you're hearing about Kira Jane Buxton's Hollow Kingdom--that it's wildly original and inventive, funny and profane--is wonderfully true. But even better, this book is timely, smart, movingly written, and beautifully concluded."―Laurie Frankel, author of This isHow It Always Is and member of the Seattle7 Writers
"What a surprising, funny, terrifying, marvelous, wholly original novel! Buxton combines a vivid horror show (think zombies and the gruesome, bloody extinction of man) with a touching love story between the unlikeliest of BFFs: a crow, a hound, and a man who's had a tough go of things on Tinder, and that was before his eyeball fell out. With humor and a style that brings to mind Tom Robbins and Karen Russell, Buxton's debut is heartwarming and heart stopping, hilarious and tragic."―Amy Poeppel, author of Limelight and Small Admissions
"A hilariously exuberant and heart-bursting fable for our times, Hollow Kingdom reminds us that creativity and determination (and a whole lot of love) can go a long way toward saving the world. When Mr. Rogers said to look for the helpers, who knew that might mean a salty-mouthed crow and a faithful bloodhound?"―Jennie Shortridge, bestselling author of LoveWater Memory and member of the Seattle7 Writers
"If you've ever thought that humans were the ones in charge, Kira Jane Buxton's groundbreaking novel will have you thinking otherwise. Full of unforgettable humor, insight and beauty, Hollow Kingdom enriches our human experience by inhabiting the minds (and bellies!) of our non-human animal companions and reminding us that we're not alone here on this earth."―Ruth Ozeki, nationally bestselling author of A Tale for the Time Being
"Hollow Kingdom is a grown-up's Watership Down for our times -- or the end of them. Kira Jane Buxton has created a crow so full of personality you won't even miss the company of humans, who are devolving at hyper-speed rates into something sub-literate and grotesque. But Buxton shows there's humor in our plight and strength in tenderness, and she portrays the intelligence and astounding beauty of the natural world in a completely fresh way. This book is a triumphant feat of imagination, and it had me believing that the bonds we've formed with our pets might help them save us after all. I'll never look at a corvid the same way again."―Zoe Zolbrod, author ofThe Telling and Currency and former editor at The Rumpus
"Wow. Hilarious or horrifying? Sassy or wise? Hollow Kingdom is a surprise and a marvel: a razor sharp and satisfying warning about the coming apocalypse, told by one of the most engaging narrators I have met in a long time. Good fiction makes you think. It turns you upside down and makes you realize that you recognize the world from that vantage point. Hollow Kingdom is that good fiction, and so much more."
―Rahna Reiko Rizzuto, author of Shadow Child
"In a global pandemic that infects only humans, how would our pets and other captive animals survive? How would nature remake our environments? Remake us? Hilarious, fantastical, inspiring, and at times heartbreaking, this work could change the way you look at life around you. At the very least, you'll fall in love with the crow protagonist and narrator, S.T."―Melanie Cade, owner of independent bookstore Mojo Books & Records (Tampa)
"Buxton spins a fresh, alarming apocalypse from the perspectives of intelligent, communicative animals in her hilarious debut . . . S.T.'s complicated personality and the masterful blend of humorous and tragic make this novel an eloquent, emotional exploration of survival during an unthinkable cataclysm."―Publishers Weekly
A "joyfully original approach to apocalyptic fiction . . . S.T. ultimately gave me hope that maybe, just maybe, we still have a chance to turn things around before Nature is so fed up that she really does set her sights on destroying us for good."―NPR
"Buxton's quirky ideas and compelling nonhuman characters will satisfy literary fiction and zombie genre enthusiasts alike who are looking for something beguilingly different."―Booklist (Starred Review)
"Hollow Kingdom combines dark subject matter with an oddball sense of humor in what proves to be a winning formula . . . a surprising, funny, genre-bending novel, an environmentalist parable crossed with an epic adventure story, difficult to describe and even more difficult to put down."―Shelf Awareness
"Surprisingly tender, laugh-out-loud funny, and deliciously strange . . . a joy to read."―BuzzFeed
"Pick up this delightfully weird book for a change from the usual--we promise it's like nothing you've read before."―Good Housekeeping
"Kira Jane Buxton's hilariously philosophical and formidable first novel tackles humankind's most existential questions . . . Buxton does a stellar job of anthropomorphizing the novel's animals and adding drama, suspense, tragedy and hope. It's amazing that such a bizarre and far-fetched story can connect so deeply with our reality and its discussions about social media, climate change, immigration and self-identity. It doesn't get any weirder, funnier or better than Hollow Kingdom."―BookPage (Starred Review)
"[Hollow Kingdom] has a lot to say about humanity and the impact we are having on the planet, but it also shows that there is hope. Experiencing the story from the perspective of the animals was a pretty cool experience."―BookRiot
"Literary debuts don't get much more high-concept than this."―Entertainment Weekly
"A call to liberate ourselves from our own domestication . . . a magnum opus on environmental degradation, an expose on the impact of technological dependency, and -- above all else -- a testament to the bizarre and indelicate beauty of re-wilding."―The Nerd Daily
"The sense of place is amazing -- everything feels completely authentic and lived in . . . When I got to the last chapter I dragged my feet (metaphorically), knowing that for every page I read there was one less page to read."―Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
"Beautifully written and hilarious, science fiction and zombie horror and serious literature, and seemingly by accident kind of virtuous -- almost shockingly good-hearted and inspiring. No ordinary (you know, entirely alive) humans are featured here, but the animals, and in particular a certain domesticated crow who is our foul-mouthed narrator, are wicked funny and irresistibly endearing."―Sullivan County Democrat
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Grand Central Publishing; First Edition (August 6, 2019)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 320 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1538745828
- ISBN-13 : 978-1538745823
- Item Weight : 1.15 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.45 x 1.4 x 9.35 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #85,175 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #693 in Humorous Fantasy (Books)
- #1,788 in Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction (Books)
- #6,372 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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About the author
Kira Jane Buxton's writing has appeared in The New York Times, NewYorker.com, McSweeney’s, The Rumpus, Huffington Post, and more. She calls the tropical utopia of Seattle home and spends her time with three cats, a dog, two crows, a charm of hummingbirds, and a husband.
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I first discovered this book from @readingbeagle and I was intrigued. Who doesn’t want to read a book about the apocalypse as narrated as a foul-mouthed bird? I thought it would be a nice change up for my Rogue Book Club and chose it for the August read.
S.T. is a domesticated crow. He enjoys his life until one day, his owner, Big Jim, loses his eyeball. Big Jim is no longer the same and appears to have turned into a zombie. S.T. and Dennis the dog escape their home and start to explore Seattle to determine what has happened to the mo-fos (humans). A strange illness has taken over humans and the dynamic duo set off to try to find any unaffected humans and other domestic animals.
I enjoyed this unique story. It was harrowing at times, and I may had shed a tear and put the book away for a bit after the climax at the end of the book. I really liked seeing the apocalypse through the eyes of the animal survivors and how the world would change without humans. S.T. was the main narrator, but there were also random chapters from various creatures around the world which were interesting as well. The book was laugh out loud funny at times . . . and S.T. is profane as his owner. Even his real name is hilarious.
I also enjoyed that the book had a reading group guide with questions at the end perfect for book club.
I look forward to reading the next book in this series, Feral Creatures.
Favorite Quote: “The trauma of nearly being eaten by my best friend was the single greatest pain I had ever known.”
Overall, I loved that this was a book unlike anything I’ve ever read before. It was a great take on the zombie apocalypse and made me think about the impact of humans on the world overall.
Book Source: Purchased from Amazon.com
This book is unlike anything I’ve ever read. For someone who reads a lot, it’s quite refreshing to find something that’s so different but also enjoyable. I probably would’ve never found this if not for the PopSugar challenge that forces you to find books outside of your comfort zone. So, I’m really thankful I’m doing this challenge and the group here on Goodreads suggested this book.
I should also say that I SHOULD hate this book. Apocalypse style books are my very least favorite of all books, so when I started reading and I was a few pages in, I debated quitting. Also while being a huge animal lover and rescuing cats and dogs for 20+ years, birds are the one animal I don’t like. I put the book down and sat with that thought for a while. But I’m not a quitter and the absurdity of it had me intrigued. Silly humor, lovable animals, and the “what the hell is happening” factor kept turning the pages. I ended up staying up til 2am finishing it all in one day.
I took two highlights from the book which should be visible. One made me actually laugh at loud. The whole premise of this about technology ruining humans, forgetting nature and disconnecting from others and animals was pretty eerie because we all see that everyday. That’s our new world. So it’s a good reminder to unplug. If anyone was to ever survive an apocalypse it definitely deserves to be the animals. They are all that’s right with the world. Ask any dog owner. :)
**minor spoilers ahead** Much of the story focuses on the trials, travails, and tribulations of the heroic oft-cursing domesticated crow, ‘S.T.’ S.T. is witness to the rapid and violent disintegration of human society in his native Seattle. S.T. and fellow pet Dennis the Bloodhound are compelled to leave the only home they’ve ever known and venture out into a perilous new world where the last vestiges of humanity are devouring one another on the streets.
What I enjoyed most about Hollow Kingdom is the depth of empathy and interest I developed for S.T. and the other animals in this phantasmagorical novel. I liked that S.T. embodies many of the nobler traits of humanity in his courageous deeds and resiliency under pressure. One of the humorous things about S.T. is that he identifies as human and only reluctantly acknowledges his Corvid nature near the end of the story.
Hollow Kingdom is a remarkably entertaining and genre-defying work of speculative fiction. I’ve never read anything like it! This novel is engaging from the beginning, peppered with many unforgettable, laugh out loud moments. There are also a few tearful occasions to balance the emotional spectrum of the novel. The individual animals and their richly imagined societies were intriguing and believable, enthralling and marvelous in their inception.
Movingly written and beautifully concluded, I cannot recommend this book highly enough for fans of horror/speculative fiction. The best fiction is thought provoking and this meets the criterion. Five stars aren’t enough to reward author Kira Jane Buxton for this inventive and beguiling novel.
Top reviews from other countries
Die Geschchte ist über weiten Teilen ein Road Movie und das passt auch wirklich gut zur Geschichte. Die etwas storylastigeren Teile gegen Ende sind etwas schwächer, aber dafür spannend. Der Vorteil ist hier halt auch, dass man keine genaue Erklärung bekommt, was eigentlich passiert, weil Tiere das nur peripher mitbekommen. Das ist schon sehr gut.
Ich habe das Buch im Urlaub in zwei Tage durchgelesen, ist also wirklich schön flockig!