Description
Discover this creepy, charming monster-slaying fantasy romance-from the perspective of the monster-by Nebula Award-winning debut author John Wiswell
Shesheshen has made a mistake fatal to all monsters: she's fallen in love.
Shesheshen is a shapeshifter, who happily resides as an amorphous lump at the bottom of a ruined manor. When her rest is interrupted by hunters intent on murdering her, she constructs a body from the remains of past meals: a metal chain for a backbone, borrowed bones for limbs, and a bear trap as an extra mouth.
However, the hunters chase Shesheshen out of her home and off a cliff. Badly hurt, she's found and nursed back to health by Homily, a warm-hearted human, who has mistaken Shesheshen as a fellow human. Homily is kind and nurturing and would make an excellent co-parent: an ideal place to lay Shesheshen's eggs so their young could devour Homily from the inside out. But as they grow close, she realizes humans don't think about love that way.
Shesheshen hates keeping her identity secret from Homily, but just as she's about to confess, Homily reveals why she's in the area: she's hunting a shapeshifting monster that supposedly cursed her family. Has Shesheshen seen it anywhere?
Eating her girlfriend isn't an option. Shesheshen didn't curse anyone, but to give herself and Homily a chance at happiness, she has to figure out why Homily's twisted family thinks she did. As the hunt for the monster becomes increasingly deadly, Shesheshen must unearth the truth quickly, or soon both of their lives will be at risk.
And the bigger challenge remains: surviving her toxic in-laws long enough to learn to build a life with, rather than in, the love of her life.
About the Author
John Wiswell won the Nebula Award for his short story "Open House on Haunted Hill." He has also been a finalist for the Hugo Award, World Fantasy Award, British Fantasy Award, and Locus Award. His work has appeared in acclaimed publications like Uncanny Magazine, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Tor.com, Nightmare Magazine, and others, as well as numerous podcasts, including LeVar Burton Reads podcast, the NoSleep podcast, Podcastle, Escape Pod, and others. He was most recently a finalist of the Hugo Award a second time in 2022 for Best Novelette. He has 9,000+ followers on Twitter and is a well-known and beloved member of the online sci-fi and fantasy community. He regularly attends sff industry cons and participates in programming.
Reviews
Praise for John Wiswell:
"Refreshing to read about heroes who aren't invincible.... D.I.Y. made me yearn for more." -Long and Short Reviews
"Just the right amount of creepiness and wistfulness combined." -Science Fiction Short Story Reviews
"Give me more warm-hearted stories about homes in search of a family, things who communicate their love in the only ways they have, and parents whose hearts go supernova and break at the same time as they watch their children." -nerds of a feather, flock together
"Wiswell takes us on a technology-filled exploration of the nature of love. Alternately sweet, scientific, and sad, this story is an exquisite orchestration of emotions that never becomes sappy or trite." -SFF Reviews
Book Information
ISBN 9780756418854
Author John Wiswell
Format Hardback
Page Count 304
Imprint DAW Books
Publisher Astra Publishing House
Weight(grams) 567g
Shesheshen has made a mistake fatal to all monsters: she's fallen in love.
Shesheshen is a shapeshifter, who happily resides as an amorphous lump at the bottom of a ruined manor. When her rest is interrupted by hunters intent on murdering her, she constructs a body from the remains of past meals: a metal chain for a backbone, borrowed bones for limbs, and a bear trap as an extra mouth.
However, the hunters chase Shesheshen out of her home and off a cliff. Badly hurt, she's found and nursed back to health by Homily, a warm-hearted human, who has mistaken Shesheshen as a fellow human. Homily is kind and nurturing and would make an excellent co-parent: an ideal place to lay Shesheshen's eggs so their young could devour Homily from the inside out. But as they grow close, she realizes humans don't think about love that way.
Shesheshen hates keeping her identity secret from Homily, but just as she's about to confess, Homily reveals why she's in the area: she's hunting a shapeshifting monster that supposedly cursed her family. Has Shesheshen seen it anywhere?
Eating her girlfriend isn't an option. Shesheshen didn't curse anyone, but to give herself and Homily a chance at happiness, she has to figure out why Homily's twisted family thinks she did. As the hunt for the monster becomes increasingly deadly, Shesheshen must unearth the truth quickly, or soon both of their lives will be at risk.
And the bigger challenge remains: surviving her toxic in-laws long enough to learn to build a life with, rather than in, the love of her life.
About the Author
John Wiswell won the Nebula Award for his short story "Open House on Haunted Hill." He has also been a finalist for the Hugo Award, World Fantasy Award, British Fantasy Award, and Locus Award. His work has appeared in acclaimed publications like Uncanny Magazine, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Tor.com, Nightmare Magazine, and others, as well as numerous podcasts, including LeVar Burton Reads podcast, the NoSleep podcast, Podcastle, Escape Pod, and others. He was most recently a finalist of the Hugo Award a second time in 2022 for Best Novelette. He has 9,000+ followers on Twitter and is a well-known and beloved member of the online sci-fi and fantasy community. He regularly attends sff industry cons and participates in programming.
Reviews
Praise for John Wiswell:
"Refreshing to read about heroes who aren't invincible.... D.I.Y. made me yearn for more." -Long and Short Reviews
"Just the right amount of creepiness and wistfulness combined." -Science Fiction Short Story Reviews
"Give me more warm-hearted stories about homes in search of a family, things who communicate their love in the only ways they have, and parents whose hearts go supernova and break at the same time as they watch their children." -nerds of a feather, flock together
"Wiswell takes us on a technology-filled exploration of the nature of love. Alternately sweet, scientific, and sad, this story is an exquisite orchestration of emotions that never becomes sappy or trite." -SFF Reviews
Book Information
ISBN 9780756418854
Author John Wiswell
Format Hardback
Page Count 304
Imprint DAW Books
Publisher Astra Publishing House
Weight(grams) 567g
