What Stalks The Deep by T Kingfisher

And with this, I finish reading a very strong novella slate for this year’s Hugo Awards!

I actually haven’t read any of the other books in the Sworn Soldier series, a deficit I should rectify but definitely don’t have the time to at present. The Sworn Soldier of the series’ name is Alex Easton, a non-binary retired soldier from the fictional European country of Gallicia. In this novella, they and their aide de camp/best friend Angus have been asked to come to America to help a friend — and fellow survivor of the uncanny — figure out what’s happening in a West Virginia mine.

Since his misadventures with Easton in Ruravia, Dr James Denton has inherited a coal mine that his favorite cousin Oscar has undertaken the exploration of. Oscar has since gone missing, but not before sending a telegram asking for Denton not to come looking for him. Denton, ofc, has no intention of obeying, and rounds up some of the stoutest hearts he knows to come with him to investigate.

Easton swears that they’re not claustrophobic, but exploring the mine is the sort of thing that they have to keep challenging themself to do. As the party uncovers the place’s secrets, they’ll have to contend with cave-dwelling biological phenomena as well as threats from without… and within.

So part of the problem with coming into this series at Book 3 is that the blend of cozy and horror feels a bit shtick-y. The horror bits are good, the cozy bits are good, but they feel weird together here, in a way I’m not entirely sure how to describe. Perhaps the dissonance from the alt history setting is asking just a little too much suspension of disbelief. I inherently like Alex — their way of thinking is extremely similar to my own — but the story doesn’t feel at all plausible with their extremely modern viewpoint, couched here as a sort of enlightened European. And no, I’m not talking about attitudes towards gender or sexuality. The parts that really had me raising an eyebrow were more to do with the ready acceptance of biological horrors that sprang less from denial than a cuddly acceptance: that Denton was the exception rather than the rule felt weirdly unearned. I think that if I had started elsewhere in this popular series, I’d be more inclined to hand wave this, but I just didn’t have enough buy-in to the characters already to wholeheartedly believe in the story presented here.

It’s still a very entertaining horror novella with interesting things to say about found family, acceptance and teratology, but it wasn’t my favorite of this year’s Hugo slate. Maybe I’ll re-evaluate my position after I finally get a chance to read the first two books, whenever that is. As it stands, I think my voting preference will be Cinder House, The Summer War, this book, The River Has Roots, Murder By Memory and Automatic Noodle, in that order. Doug will likely have an entirely different lineup.

What Stalks The Deep by T Kingfisher was published September 30 2025 by Tor Nightfire and is available from all good booksellers, including