I recently started paying attention to the issues of Publishers Weekly that we get at the Barnes & Noble where I am so thrilled to be a bookseller. And that is how I became aware of this book. It sounded fascinating and scary and so here I am telling you about it.
Ring Shout is on the surface a science fiction story, really it is a novella. In its 181 pages is packed so much more. Maryse hunts monsters with a mystical/magical sword. She visits three "women" she calls Aunties in a realm apart from the "real world" she lives in, 1922 Macon, Georgia. This is where we cross from straight forward monster sci-fi into something so much more. Her partners in hunting these monsters, called Ku Kluxes, who look like regular people. But unlike regular humans who are Klan members those with "the sight" can see that some of the Klans aren't, they are "Ku Kluxes" and really are monsters. Like classic monsters, with scary teeth and odd shapes and lots of parts that they shouldn't have....
They are using the people in the Klan for something, and the Butcher is part of it somehow...
There is a message in here about what hate does to us. What happens when we begin to let go of hate. Like I said, there is more than a monster story here. The figurative and literal monsters being part of the KKK seems more timely than ever, though they surely have always been a vile and even force.
All told this was a well spun and scary tale. There is some gore, but it's a monster hunting story so that is expected. There is a blurb on the back cover that calls this a "cross between Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man and Buffy the Vampire Slayer." and this feels accurate. And doesn't it sound awesome?!?!
(Finished October 20, 2020)
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