Urban fantasy is my absolute jam - and when I saw that they sum the vibes up with ‘Buffy meets Golden Girls’??? Sold, say less, I’m in.

Retired Chosen Ones Temple, Jenny and Annette live together in a magical house and bookstore enjoying their quiet stage of life… until a new threat emerges that threatens their home, their family and possibly the entire world. This romp was cozy but also heartwarming and funny. It works as a standalone but I would love for the author to write more books in this universe! I feel like there are more stories to tell in Salem.

Thank you to NetGalley and DAW for the opportunity to read an early copy.

When I saw the description for Slayers of Old by Jim C. Hines, I was intrigued. Tagged as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Golden Girls,” it sounded like it was right up my alley. Okay, I wasn’t much of a Buffy fan but I did like The Golden Girls, and the thought of retired people with magical powers called on one more time to save the world had some appeal. As a retiree, I know how easy it is for older people to get written off by society. I also understand the challenges encapsulated by the expression “I’m not as young as I used to be.” Coming to grips with fading powers of any sort is never easy.

Slayers of Old portrays an aging wizard named Temple, a former Hunter of Artemis, Jenny, and a part-demon, Annette, who is trying to improve her relationship with her son Blake and grandchildren Morgan and Ava. Hines varies the viewpoint characters as the chapters progress, which moves the action along and keeps the reader in the know about events as they transpire.

Along the way, there are challenges and threats, a mystery to be solved, and encounters with magical creatures like selkies and animated gargoyles. The overarching story involves a high-stakes battle against an existential threat, but there are also sub-themes about relationships, love, betrayal, guilt, and self-acceptance. The story also explores the importance of doing what we can to make things better, even if the battle seems endless or futile.

There is plenty of humor to go around, and Hines also builds in some interesting notions like a magical house that protects those within it, a ghostly parent sticking around to ensure her son gets on the right path, and magically enhanced mice.

Readers who like stories involving magical characters, mythology, high-stakes plots, and lots of laughs along the way should enjoy Slayers of Old.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A Buffy-like with menopause, a demonic GILF, and a really freaking old wizard who likes to bake live together and run a book store. And then the monsters and eldritch abominations keep showing up.

This book is a lot of fun. There are references to past adventures and witty quips, along with the pains of getting older and being part of a large paranormal community. Anyone watched Buffy The Vampire Slayer as a teen/young adult is about the right age to find these characters incredibly relatable.

Does not include nearly enough of the tenta-kitty on the cover.

This was a pretty fun read! A group of retired supernatural saviors are pulled into a possible apocalypse and they have to save the world. The characters were fun and the interactions were hilarious. The plot and acing was a bit all over the place but I did find it enjoyable. It made me interested in looking up Jim Hines’ other books. **3.75 stars**

Thanks to NetGalley & DAW for letting me read and review this book!

This was an entertaining read-the characters were interesting, and the writing was witty-However, the pacing was off and the narrative was a bit overstuffed. For example, when we finally got to the confrontation between the villain and one of the main characters-the showdown-we had another digression into backstory-killed the momentum and the details were not necessary -added nothing to the scene. The ultimate big bad was too abstract for me- I felt nothing.
I think the author has promise and I will look for more by him-but I cannot recommend this one.

If you're a fan of slightly-nutty, comedic, paranormal stories, (a la Christopher Moore, Charlaine Harris, Deanna Raybourn, etc.), you're going to enjoy this book immensely.

The characters are quirky and *mostly* endearing, semi-retired magical folk - a elderly warlock, a half-demon and a hunter of Artemis/magical healer. They're living a mostly quiet life running their bookshop and tearoom our of an old, enchanted house in Salem, Massachusetts, which is essentially ground-zero for creatures and entities both magical, mythical, and sometimes sinister.

Without giving anything more of the plot away, I will just say that this book was a charming, easy read with both heart-warming, funny and tear-jerker events and backstories that made reading this book a pleasure.

Thanks to #NetGalley for gifting me an ARC to review!

If you were ever a fan of Buffy and Angel, this book should be like a slap of nostalgia to the side of the head. This is a loving homage to those monster of the week episodes with a retired Buffy Summers — er, Jenny Winters — living in a magical house with Anette, a Codelia/Anya character who is half succubus and a grandmother of two, and a Temple, 99 year old wizard who is more Giles than Willow. There are demons, werejaguars, and worst of all, teenagers.

The writing is good and the humor is mild enough, with the story taking priority over the sass and quips. Jenny’s bond with Artemis, the goddess who gives her her powers — speed, strength, scent, and so on — is sweet, and Temple’s bond with the house is a nice touch. I especially liked the slowly evolving tribe of mice living in the attic.

There’s a lot of action here, a fair bit of magic, but the focus is more on the bond of love and friendship these three people have shared for years. The adventures they’ve been on, the sufferings they’ve endured as supernatural people in a world of all too human family and friends, and the disillusionment of realizing that just because people have powers and authority doesn’t make them the good guys, and that getting older kind of sucks.

it’s fun, it’s a quick read, well written and with excellent pacing. There are no lulls where the story drags, and no scene lasts too long. There’s enough attention given to each of the three of them to make them feel like real people, not just shadows of a TV show. Honestly, this was a lot of fun and I can see myself coming back for a re-read. (I would also kill for a continuing series set in this world.)

Thank you so much to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC!

When you're young and fighting the forces of evil with magic to keep the world safe, you feel untouchable. Several decades later, it would seem you feel tired and a little bit jaded.

Slayers of Old is a clever, amusing look at what happens when you're extraordinary, but also getting on a bit. There is a good mystery and characters that absolutely jumped from the page. A really good book!

Thank you to the publisher for sending a copy to review.

I have read a number of Jim C. Hines' novels and he never fails to bring the story to life. I admit the ending had me sniffling a little. No spoilers though. I appreciated the way Hines balanced the story and the character's relationships. Both the positive and negative relationships. I have a feeling that these will be vital in future books. I look forward to reading more installments of this world.

Thank you to DAW and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I have never read anything of Jim Hines and went into this completely blind and the cover is 100% what made me...eye this book up at first. I am a simple woman. I like both cats and tentacles so I was very happy when my request got accepted.

Slayers of Old is about a group of three people and each of them have lived their lives as "the Chosen One" at some point. Nowadays their best days are over and they have settled into a more or less quiet life in their shared house. The cast consists of one wizard, one half succubus and a former hunter of Artemis. One Squidward and a haunted van come along as star guests. And then everything goes to sheet when suddenly they have to save the world one final time.

When I started reading I didn't expect the humor part to actually make me chuckle, but I soon realised how wrong I was. There are many funny moments woven into this story and they come naturally. Although the novel claims to be a cozy comforting read (which is true) it is far from boring, but the action is well balanced. The characters Jim Hines brought to life are far more than witty; each of them has depth.

I was proven wrong multiple times throughout this book. I was afraid the cozyness might be too boring, I worried the humorous parts might be blunt and I didn't expect a funny, cozy fantasy novel to deliver gut punches through emotionally loaded prose. And I guess that's on me for underestimating Jim Hines.

“Last night was nice. It’s good to feel like you matter again for a few minutes.” He shrugged one shoulder. “For everything there is a season. I’m deep into winter, and it’s getting colder.”


This book shares such a variety of ideas that I definitely recommend checking it out.

Bonus Quote because I wholeheartedly relate to that dog:
“Our lives are fraught, full of danger and loss,” said Temple. “My mother was taken in a feud with the Wild Hunt. I only see her once every ten years. My father lost his mind during an expedition to Wonderland. The real one, not the bastardized version from Carroll’s book. My sister vanished into a mirror when she was twelve years old. My cousin Jackie was transformed into a swarm of carnivorous butterflies. My pet collie was bitten by a werewolf and spent the rest of his life turning into a very confused human every full moon.”


4.5/5
Publication date: Oct 21 2025

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 stars, no notes!

Slayers of old is absolutely delightful and one of my favourite things I’ve read this year.

It is rare to find such a genuinely different, funny and quirky fantasy and I loved every minute. A stone cat called chunk, a van possessed by the spirit of an overprotective mother, Lego portal spells and a gang of teen demon hunters with holy water in squirt guns are just some of the shenanigans you can expect from this one.

Jenny winter is obviously based on Buffy Summers right down to having a gang of friends in high school that she trained to kill monsters. It always comes across as a love letter to the Slayer though rather than a parody and I liked looking out for little references to the show.

This book is the one I’m going to buy as a Christmas present for the people that I’m not 100% sure what they like, it has a lot of humour, fantasy, mystery, plot twists and just a dash of nostalgia, I can’t imagine who wouldn’t love it.

Thank you to DAW and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This book is cosy, magical, and mysterious. Filled with magic, dangers, unthinkable happenings, mysteries and secrets. There are three former chosen ones. Each of them has a purpose. When the unthinkable begins to happen, they all come together. The mystery of the temple was intriguing. The ending was so mysterious and unpredictable. Author’s writing is exquisite. I loved reading about all the magic systems, cursed doll, cat, dying temple, portal, magical creatures and spells.

Thanks to the Publisher

I'm so glad I stuck with this one! I'll admit, the beginning was a little hit-or-miss for me, but the reviews were all raves so I stuck with it and I'm so glad I did because I loved it in the end, and am really hoping he'll decide to turn it into his next series!

This one was a riff on so many fun things - Buffy and wizards and demons of old - but the way the characters were presented is what really sold me. I loved the relationships and struggles that felt all-too-human, even when the individuals involved were not. Once I fell into the world Hines created, I was hooked. The pacing and plot kept my attention and were very entertaining, but it was the personalities that really drove this one for me. The writing is a delicious blend of snarky and dark and mysterious - and I sincerely hope to see more of it!

Jim C. Hines' excellent "Slayers of Old" mixes up a retired Buffy-esque Hunter, a half-demon, a wizard, eldritch horrors, and animatronic pirates, to give readers an incredibly satisfying stand-alone fantasy. The writing and pace are propulsive as the mystery and characters deepen with each page. Before you know it, you will be wildy invested. Other themes include found family, forgiveness, and accepting grief. Recommended for fans of Buffy, The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher by E. M. Anderson, and Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero.

The Second Life Books and Gifts shop in Salem houses three people within its sentient and sentimental walls: Jenny, the retired Hunter of Artemis who heals the paranormal; Annette, the half-succubus with a PI license and a string of complicated exes; and Temple, a ninety-nine-year-old wizard in a coexistent relationship with the house. When the bookshop begins getting unwanted visitors and the trio are attacked by teenagers with more knowledge than sense, the three must investigate Jenny's past and Annette's present to protect Temple's future.
This story blends humour and horror to provide a narrative exploring responsibility and identity. All three protagonists and narrators are in battles both internal and external, whether that is Jenny's guilt over her violent teenage adventures, Annette's complicated relationship with her son and granchildren, or Temple working to remain tethered to the material. The side characters add a great deal or humor, including the goddess Artemis, a haunted van, and the mysterious villain attempting to summon a malevolent indifferent eldritch being.
An enjoyable read that takes the group dynamic of Buffy or Scooby Doo and ages them to add the grouch and add the nuance of long-term consequences of lovable tropes (The Chosen One, the seductive investigator, and the world-saving wizard who inherited great power). My power of passive deduction is not the best, so elements of the building mystery were ignored/overlooked by me before being explicitly stated, but nothing felt forced or unreasonable. A heart-warming story of found family trying to do better, even when what they really want is to do less in more comfort.

A very entertaining cozy-ish urban fantasy spin on your typical chosen-one(s)-saving-the-world storyline, "Slayers of Old" has a heroic trio of "formers" who are suddenly forced to return to lives they thought they'd long left behind to save the world from eldritch horrors once more: Temple Finn who feels his formerly formidable powers as well as his life fading these days, Jenny Winter, formerly a Hunter of Artemis, who now tries to atone for her violent past through healing those she'd once have hunted, and Annette Thorne whose main goal these days is to reconnect with her son and grandchildren after retiring as a supernatural PI with more than a dash of succubus blood.

The beautiful thing is that this book focuses at least as much on the mundane, but extremely meaningful friendships and connections between the characters as on the plot of fighting the supernatural evil they are up against, and its minions (or thralls). And not in a fluffy, cute way: relationships (familial, platonic or romantic) with other people (human or other) aren't necessarily easy, wounds from the past don't just magically disappear after a decade or three, past mistakes can't be undone - not even by magic. Still, these characters try their best, with various levels of success, even if and when things get difficult.
The one thing that made me wonder a little is the age difference between the female and male characters classified as "old": Temple Finn could easily be that father of both his housemates Annette and Jenny because he's their senior by a good 30-ish years.

That didn't spoil all the fun for me, though. It was a very enjoyable, diverting read with very endearing characters who show that not all heroes or sheroes (or theyroes) have to be teenage or just barely no-longer-teenage masters of every martial art and magical craft to save the world.

This was incredible, and so much fun!

Slayers of Old is a tale of three retired champions who must dust off their arsenals to face evil one last time, and it’s easily one of the best books I’ve read in years. The heart, the humor, the danger, it all makes for a heady, joyful experience that put me in my feels. If you enjoy books about found family, this one’s for you.

The 3 main characters won me over immediately. Jenny, a retired Hunter of Artemis, is caring, thoughtful, and impressively badass. Temple, a fading wizard, is as crotchety as he is sentimental. And Annette, a retired PI who’s half-Succubus, is a sassy, flirty thunderstorm. I loved all three characters, but Annette Thorn was my favorite by far. Something about her reminded me (loosely) of Patsy Stone from AbFab in the very best way.

The prose was tight and effective, the plot was twisty and fun, and the dialogue was delightful. The world-building was ridiculous, and I loved every minute of it. And did I mention the humor? I can’t believe I hadn’t heard of Jim C. Hines before. This is a new fave read for me, and I can’t wait to check out his previous works!

This book has all the feelings including humour, sadness and love.

I love a found family kind of book and that’s what this was, how deeply the characters cared for each other was lovely

The plot was good, my only issue is the pacing was a little off towards the middle I was a bit bored but it picked up at the end.

There’s not much I can say without it being a spoiler as it’s such a unique book but I do recommend it

I can definitely recommend Slayers of Old to anyone who wants something different—a story with older and retired heroes, family/found family. The story is told through different POVs, so it never gets old.

I really enjoy cozy mysteries and Slayers of Old fits comfortably within that genre, albeit while garbed in the clothes of a contemporary fantasy novel. We are introduced to three former Chosen Ones---a magician, a retired Hunter of Artemis turned healer, and a half-succubus private investigator--who run a bookstore and gift shop for tourists in Salem, MA. They work together to unravel a mystery of some supernatural occurrences that hits lots of fun notes. But it also offers some thoughtful reflections on time and healing. Very enjoyable!