Jierz lost everything when a monster killed everyone in her village except for her and her friend Halesz. But then she lost him too when she found out that he wasn’t human either. Jierz vowed to kill the monster who ruined her life, so she joined up with some monster hunters, and now, after three years, she might finally have her chance, if she doesn’t end up dead first. Join the hunt in A Fable for Hollow Creatures by R.R. Schaeffer, available October 27th, 2026.
[Note: While I am reviewing this novel independently and honestly, it should be noted that it has been provided to me by Ace for the purpose of this review. Warning: My review of A Fable for Hollow Creatures contains some spoilers!]
Monsters come in all shapes and sizes in A Fable for Hollow Creatures
Three years ago, Jierz lost her entire village to the ruseizhe, a monster that eats humans’ brains and turns their bodies into puppets. Jierz herself only just escaped along with her friend Halesz. But it turns out Halesz isn’t quite human. While he claims to be peaceful, Jierz can’t forgive him for his deceit, and they go their separate ways. Jierz joins a monster hunter group in the hopes of eventually finding and killing the ruseizhe, thereby avenging her village.
Monster hunting is a dangerous line of work, and before every hunt Jierz leaves a telegram at whatever inn she’s staying at with instructions to send it if she doesn’t return in a few days. She hopes it will never need to be sent, but still she always leaves it. And it’s a good thing because the day comes when she needs it. She’s already watched most of her companions die at the hands of a monster den that is holding them prisoner. Just her and three others are left when Halesz shows up to save them. Well, not quite in time to save them all, but three out of four isn’t bad when it looked like they were all going to die.
When her fellow monster hunters find out that their savior is in fact a monster himself, they aren’t exactly thrilled. But out of respect for Jierz, and since he did in fact save them, they allow him to join their group. They catch wind of a potential monster out in the boonies that might be the ruseizhe that Jierz has been searching for for so long. They decide to check it out, but what they find is so much more than they bargained for. It’s no longer a matter of killing a monster; it’s a matter of survival. And they might not all make it.
A Fable for Hollow Creatures is as much about the monsters within as the monsters without
Jierz fights monsters, and she has a very black-and-white view of them, as you would expect. Monsters are always bad and need to be dealt with accordingly. Which leaves her with some very conflicted emotions when it comes to Halesz. When she first met him, she didn’t know he wasn’t human. By the time she found out, she counted him as her closest friend, maybe even something more. But kerzin, which Halesz is, has the power to steal and manipulate human emotions. This means that Jiersz doesn’t trust anything she feels around Halesz, even after he’s promised to never mess with her emotions.
But that’s not to say she doesn’t trust Halesz. She knows that he cares about her, and she knows that he’ll do whatever he can to help her. She can’t forgive him for the past, but she still wants him close. She has to find a way to move past this quagmire that she finds herself stuck in. It’s going to take some real soul-searching that she doesn’t really have time for in the middle of a monster hunt. But eventually she comes to some realizations and recognizes some hard truths about both Halesz and herself. Her sudden insight changes everything for her, including how she sees the monsters they’re trying to find. It might be just what they need to survive, both this hunt and what comes next.
Don’t think this is just a story about feelings
Just because Jierz has to do some hard thinking about herself, and just because Kerzin are all about emotions, don’t think that this book is all about touchy-feely stuff. This is a monster hunting book first and foremost, and there is a ton of action in A Fable for Hollow Creatures. The team fights many different monsters, and there’s plenty of guts and gore along the way. The fables Schaeffer sprinkles throughout the book add even more death and destruction (and blood, so much blood). You see, most of the information that monster hunters use to do their job comes from fables that are passed down through generations. So every time a relevant monster or event is discussed, the corresponding fable is included to help us readers understand what’s going on better.
These fables are actually really fascinating. I have always loved folklore, and these fables are great examples of that (even if it’s folklore for an imaginary world). And they really do help you to understand what’s happening better. It’s an eloquent way to give us readers pertinent information without the characters needing to discuss things in a clunky or unnatural way. And it drives home just how terrible the gods in this world are, which ends up being very important later on in the story.
A Fable for Hollow Creatures is just the beginning
Schaeffer uses A Fable for Hollow Creatures to set up an intricate world and introduce us to a set of characters that work well together. The little band of monster hunters are a sweet, if slightly dysfunctional, found family (who’s family isn’t) that you really feel attached to by the end of the story. Or I should say “end of the book”, because A Fable for Hollow Creatures is a set up for a longer journey that is going to take at least one (although I’d guess two because writers love trilogies) more books to wrap up. Luckily, Jierz and her monster hunters are lovable enough that I’m looking forward to the rest of their adventure. But first, the adventure starts on October 27th, 2026, when A Fable for Hollow Creatures hits bookstore shelves.
Rating: 8/10
A Fable for Hollow Creatures by R.R. Schaeffer is available for Preorder!
Learn more about the book at the official website for the title.
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