They Mostly Come Out At Night by Benedict Patrick

Blurb

He locked himself away from the dark, but in the Magpie King’s forest nowhere is safe…

Lonan is an outcast, accused of letting the monsters that stalk the night into the homes of his fellow villagers. Now, he will not rest until he wins back the heart of his childhood love and reclaims the life that was stolen from him. However, locked safely in his cellar at night, in his dreams Lonan finds himself looking through the eyes of a young prince…

Adahy has a destiny, and it terrifies him. How can he hope to live up to the legend of the Magpie King, to become the supernatural protector of the forest and defender of his people? But when the forest is invaded by an inhuman force, Adahy must rise to this challenge or let the Wolves destroy his people.

Watching these events unfold in his sleep, Lonan must do what he can to protect his village from this new threat. He is the only person who can keep his loved ones from being stolen away after dark, and to do so he will have to earn back their trust or watch the monsters kill everyone that he holds dear.

They Mostly Come Out At Night is a Dark Fantasy novel from Benedict Patrick’s Yarnsworld series. If you like Neil Gaiman and Patrick Rothfuss then you will love this captivating, dangerous world in which ordinary people struggle to find their place in a land ruled by stories.

Start reading today to discover this epic tale of dreams, fables and monsters! 

Review

I’ve been seeing this book mentioned in of the facebook groups I belong to and on Goodreads as well for a while when I finally decided to give in. I was looking for something unique, something with a distinctive style which leaves me amazed. I read this book right after Devil’s Night Dawning, which was a totally different experience and I needed something lighter in tone. Yes, lighter, altough They Mostly Come Out At Night is no fluffy fairy tale, mind you. The rest, as they say, is history. Throghout the year I read the next two Yarnsworld book and was included in a circle which changed things for me. All of this thanks to that I ended up on Benedict Patrick’s mailing list. I still have no idea how did I manage that, because usually I don’t join to those things. I guess it was because I required the short stories accompanying the first Yarnsworld book, and which I still haven’t read yet (oops, you don’t know this from me, I will deny it if someone asks). Anyway, I don’t believe in coincidences, so I’m fairly sure this was supposed to happen. And I’m grateful for it. All in all, Benedict had crawled up his way on my favorite authors list within a year. And that’s an accomplishment, since I’m very picky about favorites.

Apart from the e-book, I’m also a proud owner or a paperback copy, which I won from Benedict, I think with a recommendation of Darkshine. Talk about small world. I only mention this, because I am absolutely in love with this cover. The colors, the art, the feel of the paperback one. When I recieved it (dedicated, no less) I was walking around with it in the office, showing it off. Not that many people cared about it, but whatever. I just loved parading around the city with it 😀

Since I reread this one in January, my memories are pretty fresh about They Mostly Come Out At Night. I have to say, this is a very unusual book. It starts rather slowly, and I was afraid it will end up bad, because the story was similar to the movie The Village which was just stupid in my opinion. In both of them people lived in fear, and shut themselves up after dark to get away from the nightmare roaming the wild near them. First what saved this book to end up on my ‘never again’ list was Adahy’s story parallel to Lonan’s. I was intrigued by the Magpie King and how the young prince tried to live up to his heritage, especially after a rather unfortunate turn of events. Lonan on the other hand wasn’t my favorite in the beginning because of his constant self pity and that he let others degrade him. I might have felt a little kinship with him too… Fortunately he grows a lot as a character and shows his true colors as the two storylines merge together eventually. Fighting for those he loves and standing up against the whole village, even the world when necesary.

And this is the point where the pace picks up and events begin to unfurl, secrets are revealed and jaws drop. Some people struggles to arrive to this point which I think is because of the pace and the editing, but when you hit this mark, you won’t be able to put it down. The writing itself is good, and the world building is very interesting. It lays heavily on myths and Benedict created a whole universe on these mythical fairy tales, adding a really strong fundation to the Yarnsworld series. This is mainly thanks to the short stories added at the end of every chapter. They introduce these myths and stories making us understood this world better, making it vivid and full of life. Reading them carefully we can also get answers to who Artemis is and why does he hate the Magpie King so much. I only put together the picture when I read it a second time. I guess I was so absorbed with the story the first time around that I didn’t pay enough attention. Plus I needed time to get over the fact that the trickster (a male character) is called Artemis. Until this book I was certain it’s a female name. No wonder, since thanks to my studies I spent a huge amount of time with Greek mythology, where Artemis is a prominent member of the Pantheon. Go figure.

But what made a this book unforgettable to me is the ending… now that was a good one! Not exactly a happy one but not tragic either (well, depending on your point of view anyway). I highly recommend this one for those who like their fantasy a bit dark and bloody, who search for something unique and have a passion for mythology.

Reviews of the other Yarnsworld books Where The Water Turns Black and Those Brave, Foolish Souls from the City of Swords will come soon!

For those, who liked the Magpie Kings story, I would strongly recommend the Lost Lore anthology, which is free and contains a story about that particular character 😉