What Stalks the Deep
Clever, loyal, and (mostly) brave soldier Alex Easton is back in T. Kingfisher’s What Stalks the Deep, and they are bringing all the snark and relatability we’ve come to expect from the Sworn Soldier.
To put it bluntly, I love this series. I loved the first two, and I’m excited to get to this one.
It takes place around the turn of the 20th century (the first book, What Moves the Dead, is a retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher) in a world much like our own, bringing elements of sci-fi, horror, fantasy, and folklore.
The narrator, Alex Easton, is a retired soldier from the fictional European country of Gallacia, therefore uses ka/kan pronouns (reserved for the military). For simplicity, because Easton - as they are usually called - is non-binary, I will use they/them.
Their friend, Dr. James Denton, invites them to America because his cousin Oscar is missing, and he wants Easton to go with him to a (probably haunted) West Virginia coal mine where he was working at the time.
Always full of sarcastic humor, Easton decides to go - their disdain of most Americans notwithstanding - as it rescues them from the dreadful fate of being asked to hold their sister’s baby.
Easton’s longtime servant/trusted companion since their active duty days, Angus, accompanies them as they journey - with all appropriate snarky commentary - to Boston, then on the long train journey to West Virginia.
We follow them as they pick up one or two more companions and set out to explore the abandoned mine in search of Oscar.
As expected from the series, the group encounters horrors mundane and seemingly supernatural - including the claustrophobic feeling that a mountain is waiting to crush you and the appearance of a mysterious red glowing light of some kind - which they must face in order to discover Oscar’s fate.
Like What Feasts at Night (#2 in the series), What Stalks the Deep can be read as a standalone (but why? They’re all novellas - you can be caught up before you know it.)
What Stalks the Deep is a worthy entry in the Sworn Soldier series, continuing the themes of the importance of found family and having a sense of humor in the face of unknown horrors. I can’t wait to see where Easton goes next.
Note on the audio production: As with the first two in the series, this was narrated beautifully by Avi Roque.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advance copy for my honest review. Pub. date: 9/30/25
Support your favorite indie bookstore (and me) by using my link to order the audiobook from https://libro.fm/referral?rf_code=lfm60355 OR if you prefer using your eyes to read, support your favorite indie (and give us both 20% off if it’s your first purchase) by using my link at https://refer.bookshop.org/candidanorwood.
