I loved Buxton’s first book, Hollow Kingdom, so much that I immediately preordered the sequel as soon as I found out about it! But my problem with sequels, especially when the first book is a near perfect literary adventure, is that my expectations can be too high – I want to relive the experience I had during the first book, and that’s often not possible. But this book? Hit. The. Mark.
It had enough from the first book to invoke the sense of love I had for the characters, while being enough of a departure from the original that the plot felt fresh and fulfilling. It made me laugh out loud – multiple times – and it made me cry (also multiple times). So much heart and irreverent snark, a perfect combination! Not quite as good as the first, but a close second. Trilogy? Please?
Apocalypse settings and animal characters usually aren’t my thing, but the Hollow Kingdom series is worth the departure. I highly recommend these books!
From Goodreads:
In this stunning follow-up to Hollow Kingdom, the animal kingdom’s “favorite apocalyptic hero”is back with a renewed sense of hope for humanity, ready to take on a world ravaged by a viral pandemic (Helen Macdonald).
Once upon an apocalypse, there lived an obscenely handsome American crow named S.T. . . .
When the world last checked-in with its favorite Cheeto addict, the planet had been overrun by flesh-hungry beasts, and nature had started re-claiming her territory from humankind. S.T., the intrepid crow, alongside his bloodhound-bestie Dennis, had set about saving pets that had become trapped in their homes after humanity went the way of the dodo.
That is, dear reader, until S.T. stumbled upon something so rare—and so precious—that he vowed to do everything in his power to safeguard what could, quite literally, be humanity’s last hope for survival. But in a wild world plagued by prejudiced animals, feather-raising environments, new threats so terrifying they make zombies look like baby bunnies, and a horrendous dearth of cheesy snacks, what’s a crow to do?
Why, wing it on another big-hearted, death-defying adventure, that’s what! Joined by a fabulous new cast of animal characters, S.T. faces many new challenges plus his biggest one yet: parenthood.
Shannon Hollinger 
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