Book links: Amazon, Goodreads

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mike Carey is the acclaimed writer of Lucifer and Hellblazer (now filmed as Constantine). He has recently completed a comics adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, and is the current writer on Marvel's X-Men and Ultimate Fantastic Four. He has also written the screenplay for a movie, Frost Flowers, which is soon to be produced by Hadaly Films and Bluestar Pictures.

Also writes as Mike Carey

Publisher: Orbit (March 4, 2025) Length: 310 pages Formats: audiobook, ebook, paperback

Finally, something fresh. Once Was Willem is part medieval horror, part dark fairy tale, part found-family adventure.

Our narrator, Willem, was once a regular 12-year-old boy. Then he died. His grieving parents let a sorcerer bring their dead son back to life. Since Willem has been in the ground for a while, what rises from the grave is… not ideal. He’s stronger, uglier, and-despite still having his memories-not exactly welcome back at the dinner table. His parents panic, the village does what angry mobs do best, and Willem, now Once-Was-Willem, finds himself on the run.

Banished from the only home he’s ever known, Willem finds a new life in the deep woods, where he befriends a group of monsters who, like him, have been cast out. Meanwhile, the sorcerer, Cain Caradoc, is busy setting up shop in a fortress built on the bones of a sleeping angel and preparing a mass sacrifice of children to fuel his quest for godhood. Eventually, the terrified villagers realize that only “monsters” they ran off can save them. Oops.

This book is dark, and it has some truly stomach-churning moments, but it never feels dreary. It’s sharp, self-aware, and laced with a dry, biting humor that makes even the bleakest parts go down easy. Willem himself is an excellent protagonist/narrator: a lonely, tragic figure with a surprising amount of warmth. You want him to find belonging. You want him to win. And when the time comes to face Caradoc, you really want him to rip that smug sorcerer apart.

If you like your fantasy a little twisted, your heroes a little ugly, and your villains really vile, Once Was Willem is absolutely worth your time.