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Kira Jane Buxton

Hollow Kingdom Kindle Edition

by Kira Jane Buxton (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

1,706 ratings

Book 1 of 2: Hollow Kingdom

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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?

Includes a Reading Group Guide.

Book 1 of 2

Hollow Kingdom
Print length

321 pages
Language

English
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Publisher

Grand Central Publishing
Publication date

August 6, 2019
File size

1413 KB
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Books In This Series (2 Books)

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Hollow Kingdom

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1
Hollow Kingdom
Kira Jane Buxton

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Feral Creatures
Kira Jane Buxton

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Kira Jane Buxton
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Claire North
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Ami McKay
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Jesmyn Ward
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Nina LaCour
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Courtney Peppernell
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From the Publisher

Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton

Editorial Reviews

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, Washington, home and spends her time with three cats, a dog, two crows, a charm of hummingbirds, five Steller's jays, two dark-eyed juncos, two squirrels, and a husband. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Review

"Hollow Kingdom is a nature book for our own age, an exuberant, glittering, hard-hitting mashup of Dawn of the Dead and The Incredible Journey. It's an adventure lit by strange myths, brand-names, television and smartphone screens, a fable with teeth and claws about animals making new lives amongst the ruins of humanity. It's transformative, poignant, and funny as hell. S.T. the irrepressible, cursing crow is my new favourite apocalyptic hero."―Helen Macdonald, New York Times bestselling author of H Is for Hawk

"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 --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07L2V6H2M
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Grand Central Publishing (August 6, 2019)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 6, 2019
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1413 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 321 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #72,287 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #84 in Humorous Literary Fiction
- #286 in Humorous Fantasy (Books)
- #845 in Dystopian Science Fiction (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
1,706 ratings

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Kira Jane Buxton

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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.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

1,706 global ratings

5 star		62%
4 star		22%
3 star		10%
2 star		4%
1 star		2%

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Kindle Customer

Unique story POV

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 4, 2023

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I liked this book. But for some reason it took me along time to read. It was interesting, the idea was interesting and funny, but for some reason I didn't find myself wanting to read it every time I had some free time. That's why it's only 4 stars

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 29, 2022

Verified Purchase

Wow just wow! This is my first book by this author. I got this recommendation in the Sarah Lyons Flemings FB group. I was kind of sceptical when I read the blurb. A crow? Animals? Apocalypse. I was enthralled from the first page.
ST is an awesome story teller. I laughed quite a bit at his and all the other animals antics, and their amazingly entirely probably POVs. I have never read a book like this. I know my review will not do this book justice. The setting so throughly described. I used all my senses on all these descriptions. The animal kingdom from air, sea and underground was just amazing. I’m going to pay more attention to earths creatures. I even had to go eat some Cheetos to rediscover their amazing flavor. I want a crow now.
Poor Big Jim the originator, and ST’s muse was so deep in this story. ST has a pure heart and warmed my heart to read his love for MoFos. He was a little rapscallion. My favorite part was when ST revived Dennis.

I was having so much angst at the high and low points in this story. The Changed Ones where truly terrible and I will have nightmares of them for sure. We still never really knew who or what caused this apocalypse.

There were so many heroes in this story. I did wish Dennis could talk. I wanted to hear his POV so bad and was disappointed. Why didn’t we get the tigers POV? My least favorite part was you know. I don’t want to spoil the story.
My only confusion was Winnie, I’m going to have to go back and reread. I wanted more of Ghengis the cat. I super highly recommend this book. It’s my top read of the year. I’m a new fan of this author. I highly recommend this book.

3 people found this helpful

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SC

One of my favorites!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 21, 2023

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What a great book with a great main character. Highly recommend this book you will not be disappointed.

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Jennifer C.

Not your typical zombie novel

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 17, 2022

Verified Purchase

I have read books with animal protagonists before, but I am sure that I have never read anything like this before.

S. T. is a domesticated crow, living with Big Jim, eating as many Cheetos as he can, and learning everything he needs to know about the mofo world from the television. And this has been a great life, even if he's had to share it with Big Jim's dumb dog, Dennis. But then Big Jim stops going out of the house. Then Big Jim develops some kind of disease, which S. T. is alerted to by Big Jim's eyeball falling out of his head and rolling across the floor.

What follows is a comedic and poignant story told from the point of view of a crow, a dog, a cat, and a whale. Each point of view is well thought out, and the descriptions and names they use for things are humorous. As different as this story is, I was hooked from the beginning and loved every bit of it.

I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by Robert Petkoff. He did a wonderful job, and the voices he gave for each of the different animals in their various POV chapters enhanced the book and made it even better. This is definitely a book that warrants listening to the audiobook, if you listen to audiobooks.

After reading/listening to this book, I absolutely want to read/listen to the sequel, Feral Creatures. I think you should read/listen to this book so that you, too, can enjoy and appreciate this book and understand why I want to read/listen to the sequel.

2 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Not your ordinary zombie story

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 28, 2022

Verified Purchase

From the moment our intrepid hero ST, a foul-mouthed pet crow, witnesses his owner losing an eyeball, I knew I was in for a hilarious ride. I didn't expect such a sweet, poetic narrative that would, at times, break me. Nature, this wonderfully written book tells us, is suffering from our abuse and neglect. Humans have devolved into hideous monsters. Amid the chaos the domesticated animals are hungry and frightened. ST and his bloodhound friend Dennis emerge as unlikely leaders, come to save them. ST is not ready to even acknowledge he's a crow - he tells other crows in a murder that he's a MoFo, a term he picked up from his own MoFo Big Jim. But he's a hero nonetheless, and he gradually comes to accept the role. In between rescues he describes for the wild animals what he loves about the world of MoFos: Seahawks games, hot dog-eating contests, TV, Jon Bon Jovi, and Cheetos. Especially Cheetos. It's clear that as much as he misses that world, he is optimistic about the future. And that optimism is one of the very special things that set Hollow Kingdom apart.

5 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

You Had Me At Foul-Mouthed Crow

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 27, 2022

Verified Purchase

S.T. is a domesticated crow living in Seattle with Big Jim, his MoFo owner, and Dennis, a goofy bloodhound. After Big Jim’s eyeball falls out, S.T. and Dennis are forced to set out on an adventure that at first is just about survival and seeking answers, but grows into so much more.

Hollow Kingdom is a beautifully woven tale of friendship, triumph, loss, heroism, cowardice, survival and self discovery…and that is just S.T. You will meet a lot of friends along the way…you’ll laugh, maybe cry, and be thoroughly entertained.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 16, 2023

Verified Purchase

Definitely one of the most unique book premises I have ever read. The last section of the book had some plot holes in it/was hard to follow, but the characters were so lovable and humorous, and the overall story arc was creative and a great new genre mix to try! I can't recommend enough for someone wanting to try something different

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Shania

Is it me jesus

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 19, 2023

Verified Purchase

I want to love this, I've seen so many fantastic reviews and I fr got about half way through before dnfing and hoping to come back and try again one day. The writing is really good but it's almost too much for me, there is so much detail for everything and I found myself a bit bored tbh. Maybe I just like a bit more from a zombie book even if it is from the perspective of a domesticated crow.

Dolly the sheep

Crow's own story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 10, 2019

Verified Purchase

I've read one other novel with a corvid point of view narrator before (Raven's End by Ben Gadd). It is not an easy thing to pull off, nor is telling a tale with an eco-morality message without sounding preachy. Ms Buxton completely masters both by keeping the tone light (while describing the most horrific scenes), making her crow narrator irresistible and giving the story lots of unexpected twists and turns. I kept reading parts of it out loud for the ascerbic rambling internal monologue of S.T. It's been a while since I have read a book cover to cover within days of buying it!

5 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

3.5 stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 2, 2023

Verified Purchase

I really enjoyed the premise of this book, particularly the foul mouthed crow. I found my attention drifting in the second half. Still very enjoyable overall.

Lorna

Very different

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 1, 2023

Verified Purchase

Although the books supposedly for children I found it a refreshing read, something a little different

K.

I am not a Zombie Fiction kind of girl, but...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 13, 2020

Verified Purchase

...this was fantastic! The characters were well-defined and relatable, and in some cases even lovable. The story was exciting and moving, and Ms. Buxton did what I most admire in an author: She was able to make the whole story lifelike by not limiting the emotional scope. Laughter, tears, butt-clenching suspense, heart-warming friendship/love... The fact that all the main characters are animals was a sell-point for me, too...

If "The World Without Us" gave you a bittersweet sense of contentment and hope, and/or you love dogs and crows, you will love this story.

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