From New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award–winning author T. Kingfisher comes an enthralling contemporary fantasy seeped in horror about a woman trying to escape her past by moving to the remote US desert―only to find herself beholden to the wrath of a vengeful god.
With only a few dollars to her name and her beloved dog Copper by her side, Selena flees her past in the city to claim her late aunt’s house in the desert town of Quartz Creek. The scorpions and spiders are better than what …
From New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award–winning author T. Kingfisher comes an enthralling contemporary fantasy seeped in horror about a woman trying to escape her past by moving to the remote US desert―only to find herself beholden to the wrath of a vengeful god.
With only a few dollars to her name and her beloved dog Copper by her side, Selena flees her past in the city to claim her late aunt’s house in the desert town of Quartz Creek. The scorpions and spiders are better than what she left behind.
Because in Quartz Creek, there’s a strange beauty to everything, from the landscape to new friends, and more blue sky than Selena’s ever seen. But something lurks beneath the surface. Like the desert gods and spirits lingering outside Selena’s house at night, keeping watch. Mostly benevolent, says her neighbor Grandma Billy. That doesn’t ease the prickly sense that one of them watches too closely and wants something from Selena she can’t begin to imagine. And when Selena’s search for answers leads her to journal entries that her aunt left behind, she discovers a sinister truth about her new home: It’s the haunting grounds of an ancient god known simply as “Snake-Eater,” who her late aunt made a promise to that remains unfulfilled.
Snake-Eater has taken a liking to Selena, an obsession of sorts that turns sinister. And now that Selena is the new owner of his home, he’s hell-bent on collecting everything he’s owed.
I wanted something light and easy that would be engaging, and this was. If I were to make a bingo card of this author's go-to tropes, I would no doubt have gotten bingo more than once.
I found it a little too precious, and the main conflict felt like an afterthought. The setting got the most narrative attention, and it was different and fun but simplistic, and feel-good to a fault.
All that said, I enjoyed reading it, and I go back again and again to this author, clearly not because I expect to be challenged and surprised.
"An enthralling contemporary fantasy seeped in horror" says the back of the book. Well, no, there's no actual horror in it. But magic! It takes a good while before strange things happen, and a few twists come along. But most important, this novel (or rather novella?) feels cozy und our protagonists are very likeable. While it is less thrilling than I expected it to be, I very much enjoyed the ride.
