Once Was Willem

De: M. R. Carey

Narrado por: Joe Jameson

Presenting an enthrallingly dark medieval fantasy—a fable of twisted folklore, macabre magic and the strangest of found families—from M. R. Carey, author of the million-copy bestseller, The Girl With All the Gifts.

Eleven hundred and some years after the death of Christ, in the kingdom that had but recently begun to call itself England, I, Once Was Willem, rose from the dead to defeat a great evil facing the humble village of Cosham. The words enclosed herein are true.

I speak of monsters and magic, battle and bloodletting, and the crimes of desperate men. I speak also of secret things, of that which lies beneath us and that which impends above. By the time you come to the end of this account you will know the truth of your own life and death, the path laid out for your immortal soul, your origin and your inevitable end.

You will not thank me.

©2025 M. R. Carey (P)2025 Orbit

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Carey crafts an empathetic portrait of a medieval monster as a young man in this revelatory dark fantasy... Wit and compassion, building to a wonderfully satisfying climax. Powerful, captivating, and occasionally stomach-churning, this quintessential tale of good and evil is sure to win fans." —Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

“In Once Was Willem, M. R. Carey’s gorgeous prose weaves a fable full of dread and wonder, a deeply intelligent and emotionally gripping story boasting one of the nastiest sorcerers you’ll ever meet, and a narrator as inwardly gentle as he is outwardly monstrous. A masterpiece of medieval dark fiction. I love this book. Highest recommendation.” —Christopher Buehlman, author of The Blacktongue Thief

"It's so absurdly fun and readable, you nearly miss the incredible use of language and lore. Lovable grotesques and ghastly villains populate a compelling folk-tale. Absolutely wonderful."—Gareth Hanrahan, author of The Sword Unbound

Great read

I never checked what this was about before starting it. What a fun read. Just as good as The girl with all the gifts!

Outstanding story and performance!

Loved it all! Highly recommend this story, you won’t be disappointed. Looking forward to the sequel!

Next Level Storytelling!

I have over 300 books in my library and this is one of 3 that I finished and immediately started a re-read. Outstanding!

I don't usually listen/read fantasy books, but this one... WOW! Exquisite writing in the style of an old Euro folk tale with cleaner focus.

There are echoes of the Frankenstein story when Willem sees his father for the last time and asks those questions; What have I become? and, Will I be loved and accepted? Tender and sad within the larger scene of a horror story.

I'll be looking for more of this author's books!

The narrator is great and delivers a variety of accents and brogues.

Brothers Grimm goes Seven Samurai

“There is a saying: call no man fortunate, until he is dead. Wait a little longer, is all I’m saying.”
It took a bit of effort to get into this, mostly because the entire first half takes us down ten or so different paths, only a few of which cross over. Then, around the midpoint, the paths start to converge and seven magical beings bring their skills to a fight on behalf of a lowly village against a powerful villain.

“When men were not meat, they were our tormentors.”
The seven beings were uniquely magical and the payoff for trudging thru the first half was worth it to see them as a collective force to be reckoned with. The villain was a little too hyperbolically evil, with zero redeeming qualities, keeping this in the shallower end of YA fantasy.

This was sex free, with light cussing, moderate religious / Christian themes, heavy bouts of superstition caused hate, and innocents (especially children) meeting violent fates. It was still at the Grimm Fairy Tale level, however, so I wouldn’t call this grimdark and would let my teenagers listen.

A stunning surprise!

This showed up on my list - one of my favorite authors, an unusual story, and my son shares the name of the title character. Well, just Willem. I found the narration brilliant, the story unexpected, and the characters well developed. Absolutely a well written book performed/read well. Thank you Mr’s Carey and Jameson.

Excellent narration of a gripping story

The writing strikes a good balance between ‘medieval’ and legible to modern sensibilities, and the resolution and overall world view is reminiscent of Phillip Pullman

A tale worth telling and listening

This is story telling at its best. The author offers morsels of story and weaves them into a rich and satisfying meal.

Outstanding

This story is everything you should want. There has never been a better narrator to do true justice to such a story. Loved this so much!

Wonderfully original story

The story was filled with sad and unfortunate stories and yet it was also sprinkled with hope and love in a way that kept the reading from being drudgery. The deeper into the story I went, the more I couldn’t put it down. I had to know what happened to each character. The story was so original and unique and the character development so well done that I will have to wait a while before I can start another book. This one stays with you.

Another masterpiece from M.R. Carey

Such a wonderful story, and performed beautifully! Mr Carey never disappoints and this is no exception! This one is so different tonally from his recent Pandominian series, but has all that classic Carey charm and wit. Don’t hesitate!