The Butcher of the Forest

by Premee Mohamed

Overview

"A perfect mix of horror and fantasy."—The New York Times

“The Butcher of the Forest” shows exactly why Mohamed is one of fantasy’s rising stars."—The Washington Post

"The Grimm brothers can’t hold a candle to Premee Mohamed and her fever dream of a fantasy novella."—Polygon

A world-weary woman races against the clock to survive a deadly forest in this dark, otherworldly fairytale from Nebula and World Fantasy Award-winning author Premee Mohamed.

At the northern edge of a land ruled by a merciless foreign tyrant lies a wild, forbidden forest ruled by powerful magic.

Veris Thorn—the only one to ever enter the forest and survive—is forced to go back inside to retrieve the tyrant's missing children. Inside await traps and trickery, ancient monsters, and hauntings of the past.

One day is all Veris is afforded. One misstep will cost everything.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250881786
Publisher:	Tor Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/27/2024
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	32,214
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Premee Mohamed is a multiple award-nominated Indo-Caribbean scientist and speculative fiction author based in Edmonton, Alberta. She is an Assistant Editor at the short fiction audio venue Escape Pod and the author of the 'Beneath the Rising' series and other works.

Editorial Reviews

10/30/2023

Mohamed (the Void trilogy) turns from cosmic horror to dark fantasy in an enchanting, bite-size adventure that will put readers in mind of Robert Holdstock’s classic Mythago Wood. Legend has it that an otherworldly realm full of mysterious humanoid creatures exists deep within Elmever forest, but no one who’s gone into the woods has ever returned to confirm or deny these rumors—save for Veris Thorn, who, before the start of the novel, saved a child from the forest, though it was more a feat of luck than skill. When Eleonor and Aram, the children of a cruel emperor referred to only as the Tyrant, disappear into the woods, the Tyrant gives Vern 24 hours to bring them back. If she fails, the Tyrant will kill her family and raze her village. This tense quest through the eerie and atmospheric forest propels the story forward at a breakneck pace. Though the page count doesn’t leave much room for character development, lending the cast a flat, fairy tale-like quality, it’s easy to buy into the high stakes. Readers will be rapt. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

"Fast-paced, tense, fantastical and uncanny, The Butcher of the Forest is a perfect mix of horror and fantasy. The perilous dimension hidden inside the forest is full of wicked shape-shifting beings, undead deer and other monstrosities, but it’s Mohamed’s beautiful prose and endearing characters that make this a powerful story."—The New York Times

"Mohamed excels at telling the stories of ordinary people trapped by dark forces, and she infuses these characters with astounding tenderness and compassion. The Butcher of the Forest shows exactly why Mohamed is one of fantasy’s rising stars."—The Washington Post

"The Grimm brothers can’t hold a candle to Premee Mohamed and her fever dream of a fantasy novella."—Polygon

“Woven with the dark and dreamlike intricacy of a medieval tapestry, this novella implicates the reader as an accomplice in its monstrosity. It’s exactly the kind of punishment we as readers deserve.”—Hiron Ennes

"Nothing in nature matches the uncannily sweet murdermirth of Premee Mohamed. She will show you yearning in a scrap of cheese or the whole world in the rules of a game. This book is bigger inside than out... by a large margin."—Meg Elison, winner of the Locus Award

"Hansel and Gretel meet Annihilation in Premee Mohamed's The Butcher of the Forest, a fairytale that shifts into a meditation on war and grief, one that asks questions about who is innocent and who is complicit in oppression. Come for the eldritch monsters; stay, as always, for Mohamed's critiques of power."—S. Qiouyi Lu

"Mohamed puts a chilling twist on the fairy tale of the stolen child. Veris, a commoner in her late 30s with little power beyond her wits and experience, makes for a captivating heroine whose vulnerability and fear give the narrative the gasping tension of a horror movie. Butcher of the Forest is short, sharp fantasy at its finest."—Shelf Awareness, starred review

"An enchanting, bite-sized adventure. . . . Readers will be rapt."—Publishers Weekly

"Recommended for readers of magical-bargain and forest-journey novels, such as Emily Tesh’s “Greenhollow” duology and Peter S. Beagle’s The Way Home."—Library Journal

From the Publisher

12/01/2023

Veris Thorn once rescued a child from the rapacious Elmever Forest and knows better than to ever enter it again. But she's forced to relive her nightmare when the equally rapacious Tyrant forces her back to the forest to rescue his adventurous children. Veris has one day to get them out before the Tyrant burns her village and the Elmever takes all their souls. But the Elmever wants the only thing from Veris that she can't give, and the price is as monstrously high as it was the first time she escaped. In Veris's soul-searching and redemptive rescue quest, there's a constant struggle between her desire to save these children as she could not save her own and her fear that they will become just like their father the Tyrant, who is responsible for the deaths of her family. She'll have to face the past as well as the monsters of the forest. VERDICT The latest from Mohamed (No One Will Come Back for Us) is recommended for readers of magical-bargain and forest-journey novels, such as Emily Tesh's "Greenhollow" duology and Peter S. Beagle's The Way Home.—Marlene Harris

Library Journal