Kingfisher's first book, [book:What Moves the Dead|58724626], is a retelling of Edgar Allen Poe's [book:The Fall of the House of Usher|175516], with less of an ethereal slant.

This sequel (now part of the 'Sworn Soldier' series) does not rely on gothic literature retelling to prick ears and draw more eyes. I thought I would have a problem with this (as I enjoyed Kingfisher's retelling efforts) but I did not. In this title, we find Alex Easton, kan's trusty Steed (HOB) and kan footman (Angus) as they make ka's way to an Eastman family lodge, deep in the heart of Gallacian autumn.

When they arrive, they find that the groundskeeper who had maintained the lodge had passed away, along with a town full of people with suspicions of the cause of death. They are able to find someone to temporarily take over the maintenance of the lodge, but creepy things do lurk in the woods (once again)...

I was very happy to see a cross section of Gallacian life, after hearing so much of it in Book One, and if all T. Kingfisher did for the rest of their career was add installments to the Sworn Soldier series, I would be a very happy reader.

Another horrifying delight from one of my favorite authors of quirky heroines & heroes. This one tackles PTSD, haunting, and moths in a creepy, foggy, forested landscape. The plot is simple but it’s the characters and internal dialog of the narrator that make this one so enjoyable.

What Feasts at Night was one of my most anticipated reads this year, and I could end the year happy if I blinked and it was December 31st. Being in Alex Easton's head is one of my favorite places, and the unerring forward movement, sharp wit, and well-crafted conversational tone have cemented them as one of my favorite narrators and characters.

This is a sequel (one of many? hopefully? hint hint?) to What Moves the Dead and follows Alex as they travel to their home country of Gallacia with the beloved Angus and Hob, intending to spend the autumn in their family's hunting lodge with Miss Potter. When they arrive, they find the caretaker dead with rumors that he was killed by a breath-stealing creature that walks in dreams. Alex isn't inclined to believe them, but the uncanny silence following them around the grounds and haunting them at night seems to prove otherwise...

Reading this made me wish that What Moves the Dead had been just slightly less iconic. I haven't yet mastered the art of judging a sequel on its own without comparing, and this book had a very different tone and atmosphere than the slow dread and horror of the first. The two have different bases and themes, though; What Feasts at Night did a wonderful job of building out Easton's past as a soldier and exploring PTSD. I also enjoyed the slightly less isolated setting, and T. Kingfisher has a phenomenal way with characters. I've never met one I wasn't engrossed by, even if I hated them, and I loved everyone between these pages.

While I may need time to round this up to a full five star, I still highly recommend this read and this universe. Thank you again to Tor Nightfire for approving me for this arc! I am eternally grateful. Please let me know what address you want my firstborn shipped to.

❧ 4.5 ★

This book definitely delivered some spooky vibes with some humorous moments in between. I loveeeeee some of the characters in this series and I’m glad they made a comeback from the first novella.

However, I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the first.... The mystery wasn’t as moving or engaging as the first one. I liked the idea of it, but it wasn’t as well plotted as the first novella.

Overall, I did enjoy this novella, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first story.

What a fun book! A sequel to What Moves the Dead, this new T. Kingfisher book is amazing. I highly recommend.

T. Kingfisher is easily my favorite author, butting up against the all-time favorite, Mr. Bradbury. This second in her novella series about a nonbinary former soldier in the late 1880s doesn’t retell a classic short story like the first one, but it is equally creepy and fun to read.

This time, we follow Alex and Angus (AND MY GIRL EUGENIA) to a hunting cabin deep in the heart of Gallacia. We learn the Gallacian lingo, a bit more about mushrooms, and some really fun lore.

I love these little gory nuggets that Kingfisher gives us. I love the character development. I'm in love with Angus and sweet baby Hops. I will follow this series as long as it continues. I did give this a half star less than book 1, but it was only because the heavy gothic elements in book 1 were more my vibe.

(4.5/5 stars)

What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher is a gothic horror novella and the second in the Sworn Soldier series.

T. Kingfisher is an auto-read author for me. I really love their sense of humor, and how good they are at foreboding and foreshadowing prose.

Alex Easton, our gender queer point-of-view character, is a complete cinnamon roll. I will happily continue to read their story, especially if they keep running into weird stuff.

We have the continued exploration of mental health (Alex has PTSD from their military service). There's also new pronouns for the parish priest; in What Moves the Dead we learned that their country Galacia uses tons of different pronouns.

Other ties from the first book include Alex's batman Angus and the mycologist Miss Potter (and their budding potential romance). Hob, Alex's horse, continues to be a scene-stealer, though I was worried about him for a time.

While we do have another decaying estate in this installment, it's from unuse. Alex inherited a hunting lodge but hasn't really checked up on it in at least a decade. It's in a fairly remote area, and Kingfisher delves into folklore for the "big bad" of the novella.

I really liked this one. And gosh, these covers have phenomenal art.

T. Kingfisher’s What Feasts at Night, the second novella in the Sworn Soldier series, captivated me from start to finish. With a returning cast of great characters, a new chilling gothic mystery to confront, and delightfully grotesque prose, What Feasts at Night is a worthy follow-up.

While giving too many details would spoil the nightmare of a journey, I appreciated the subtle shift in tone in What Feasts at Night. This is very much a slow, creeping story of dread, the particular kind of dread that comes with doubting your reality. Alex continues to be a delight with bright spots of chuckle-worthy humor amongst the Horrors (TM). The plot itself wraps up nicely while leaving room for further entries in the series.

You could read this as a standalone, but if you’re interested in the series, you’d get more of it by starting at the beginning. And if you’re a fan of tightly written, evocative horror with a dynamic protagonist and gruesome imagery, this is definitely a series you should pick up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for an advance review copy. All opinions are my own.

Wow, I was lucky enough to get this one on audio too and I flew through this! It was so captivating, I finished in a day!

This one was okay. But after the masterpiece that was the first book, I expected it to be stunning wonderful fantastic incredible, and instead I got pretty decent okay fine I didn’t hate it. So I’m a bit disappointed.

Book one was so spooky creepy horrible that I was thinking about it for weeks. It felt chilling and weird and the ending felt like a clean resolution and like all of the scariness came to a point and was dealt with. This one was just kind of there. It was a little spooky but it wasn’t chilling. I wasn’t shivering reading it. I was just like hmm. Okay. I guess that’s the ending then.

Overall: disappointed it wasn’t more like the first one :/

In "What Feasts at Night," T. Kingfisher delivers another atmospheric tale with Alex Easton and company. While not quite reaching the heights of its predecessor, "What Moves the Dead," this sequel still offers a satisfying blend of snarky commentary and foreboding atmosphere. The pacing might feel a tad slow, and the horror elements slightly less pronounced, but fans of the first book will still find much to enjoy here. Plus, it's always a treat to spend more time with Kingfisher's witty characters in their eerie surroundings.

Slightly (but only very slightly) less enjoyable than What Moves the Dead. I love the combination of snarky commentary and the foreboding atmosphere.

What Feasts at Night (Sworn Soldier #2) by T. Kingfisher is a great historical fantasy horror sequel. Honestly, I'm just happy to read more to read from this author as she's quickly become a favorite. I didn't quite stick with me and I don't think I quite liked it as much as What Moves the Dead though. It wasn't quite as creepy and it's a bit too slow even if it's a fairly short novella. Either way, if you were a fan of book one you'll have to give this one a chance as well.

I loved being back with Alex and company! This story had some funny cozy vibes which I adore and some dream horror things which was so cool to read. Something about this story didn't quite win me over like the first one did though. I wonder if it's because What Moves the Dead was a Poe retelling that I adored and rereading the twists and easter eggs in relation to the inspired work was what really won me over.
There was also a scene in here where Alex was told straight up about this town legend and when presented with it, they were like "what on earth could this be??" It was so bizarre that it was actually a bit funny, and to be fair Alex ended up making fun of themselves for fumbling that. But still it had me wondering if those mushrooms caused some permanent damage.
That being said, I will definitely be continuing on in this series because T. Kingfisher has such comfy witty characters [Alex is a legend] and the little bite of horror we got here really grossed me out [that is a compliment lol].

I will be including this in an upcoming reading vlog and I will post here once it's uploaded.

I absolutely adore T. Kingfisher and I’m so excited about this sequel. It would be a dream of this series continued and I would keep going with it no matter what. There were many things I enjoyed about this story, most importantly, coming back to Alex. Their humour combined with some real, raw emotions, really worked in this story and made me appreciate them even more. I also loved the setting, the atmosphere and all the side characters. However, I am slightly disappointed with the book. I felt like some of the brilliant horror imagery we saw in the first novel were completely gone in this one. The horror elements didn’t make me feel much. Although the premise was interesting and themes were very well executed, there were many moments where the story stood still and felt as if the content was more of a filler than a valuable element to the story. Overall, 3 stars but I would most definitely still recommend it.

Thank you NetGalley, Tor Publishing, and T. Kingfisher for the beautiful eARC of What Feasts at Night.

In a fabulous next chapter following What Moves the Dead, Kingfisher delivers on the promises made in the first book with this fabulous gothic horror novel. The characters are splendid and the reader puts down the finished novel after having spent time with dear friends, albeit in less-than-desireable circumstances. I look forward to what comes next!

What Moves the Dead was one of my favorite novels of the last few years so I was eager to read the second installment in the Sworn Soldier series. Hmmmm…. How did I feel about it? It was okay. What I loved about the first novel in this series was its brooding gothic atmosphere laced with horror elements. Unfortunately for me, the new book leans more towards fantasy and that just isn’t my thing.
Also, the PTSD element is explored in-depth in this novel and there is nothing wrong with that, but this is a tough subject for me. I have someone close to me that struggles with it and seeing it in real life is enough for me- I don’t want it to invade my happy reading life.
This wasn’t a bad book, I just wanted the magic I felt when I first read What Moves the Dead. Kingfisher has talent but she is often hit or miss for me. Still I’ll be interested to see what she does next.
Thank you to @netgalley and @tornightfire for an arc of this book.

This is a worthy successor to T. Kingfisher's What Moves The Dead. A great read, and excellent use of the main character's PTSD. As always, Kingfisher plots and builds characters brilliantly.

T. Kingfisher is one of my favorite authors and I love everything she writes when it comes to fantasy. I am a bit of a wimp with horror, but I make an exception for Kingfisher, because her writing is so good. This book did not disappoint. I love Kingfisher's sense of humor and that it always comes through even in her horror writing. Alex is one of my favorite main characters that she has written and I enjoyed the side characters in this novella as well.