Hollow Kingdom

Hollow Kingdom is about a domesticated crow narrating a zombie apocalypse mid identity crisis.Our crow narrator, S.T., admires and identifies with humans—or rather, his understanding of humans based on the opinions of his owner, Big Jim. In light of society's violent collapse, S.T. struggles to see where he fits in. This is an absurd premise, and it follows, an absurd book. The humor is startling and irreverent, but there are poignant moments. Hollow Kingdom is about adapting and belonging and rebuilding. At times, it's oddly beautiful. The rest of the time, S.T. is reminding us just how much he loves Cheetos.I didn't care for the heavy-handed Black Mirror-y technology takes. I'd rather things be left ambiguous than tied up so predictably. Also, it took me forever to get through this. I think it may be the writing style. Buxton has a way with words, to be sure, but often by using a lot of them. I was into it some of the time, but other times I got bogged down in flowery descriptions. In that sense, it reminds me of [b:We Cast a Shadow 40163362 We Cast a Shadow Maurice Carlos Ruffin https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1533657073l/40163362.SY75.jpg 62303738]. Check out Hollow Kingdom if you like [b:The Humans 16130537 The Humans Matt Haig https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1353739654l/16130537.SY75.jpg 21955852], [b:Reincarnation Blues 33571217 Reincarnation Blues Michael Poore https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1500555996l/33571217.SY75.jpg 54372404], [b:Severance 36348525 Severance Ling Ma https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1507060524l/36348525.SY75.jpg 58029884], Shaun of the Dead, or Zombieland. Or check it out regardless. It's a book narrated by a crow.