I am currently working my way through books I have had on my Kindle for a while, and decided to give Liches Get Stitches a try. It is a short novel at 242 pages on Kindle and difficult to pin down in terms of genre. Taken at face value, it is certainly horrific but with comedic elements. Grimdark-comedy-fantasy would fit the bill if such a thing exists.
The first-person narrator, Maud, is a hedge witch turned lich by accident when she comes into contact with a necromancer while he is holding a satanic ritual, trying to preserve his soul for eternity. Maud’s horrific new ‘life’ and abilities are explained in a matter-of-fact tone as she becomes more aware of her terrible talents and eases into her new role. This allows for quite a bit of dry humour, which I greatly appreciated.
In life, a gifted seamstress, she uses her skills to sew together the wounds of the dead she chooses to reanimate (hence the title). Her enjoyment of tapestries and appreciation for the clothing worn by her adversaries bring a lighter feel to the bloody battles and sheer amount of gore in this story. She may be a skeleton with greenish zombiefied flesh hanging off in places, but those velvet drapes would make her a gorgeous skirt!
After a while learning the extent of her new abilities, she decides to have some fun while testing her Dr Frankenstein-like skills and makes some freaky little monsters by sewing together body parts of her victims. Her personality is endearing despite her murderous intent – she reanimates her beloved flowers and bees, regretting their deaths, which were caused simply by being in her proximity. In life, her victims find her terrifying, but in death, they become her happy entourage, and she is clearly fond of them.
She wants some justice for the downtrodden peasants of the local village and decides to give the baron a taste of his own medicine. Her trusty sidekick, Roland, whom she inherited from the necromancer, was my favourite side character. He quickly switches loyalties from the necromancer to Maud when he realises she is a kind and just person who has good intentions towards the villagers.
I found the Epilogue a little convoluted as it is purely there to set up the next four books in the series, and felt very ‘tacked on’ after the main story had finished.
Will I continue with this series? Maybe. It’s the kind of thing I like to read around Halloween.
I’ve been curious about this one. I definitely enjoy the Grimdark-comedy-fantasy idea, so I think I’ll have to check it out!
I think you’ll love it then – its a quick read too – perfect for the beach. Its darker then the Adam Holcombe novellas – I guess sewing makes for a more bloodthirsty necromancer than knitting!