Hollow Kingdom

De: Kira Jane Buxton

Narrado por: Robert Petkoff

In this hilarious, "dazzling" romp, a foul-mouthed crow is humanity's only chance to survive a zombie apocalypse–think Watership Down meets Dawn of the Dead (Mona Awad, author of Bunny).

S.T. is a bird of simple pleasures: hanging out with his human owner, Big Jim, trading insults with Seattle's wild crows (i.e. ""those idiots""), and enjoying the finest food humankind has to offer: Cheetos ®. But when Big Jim's eyeball falls out of his head, S.T. starts to think something's not quite right.

With no choice but to abandon his old life and venture out into a frightening new world with his trusty steed Dennis (a loyal but dimwitted dog), S.T. discovers that the neighbors are devouring one other. Humanity's extinction has seemingly arrived, and the only one determined to save it is a cowardly crow whose only knowledge of the world comes from TV–What could possibly go wrong?

Includes a Reading Group Guide.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Hollow Kingdom is a nature book for our own age, an exuberant, glittering, hard-hitting mashup of Dawn of the Dead and The Incredible Journey. It's an adventure lit by strange myths, brand-names, television and smartphone screens, a fable with teeth and claws about animals making new lives amongst the ruins of humanity. It's transformative, poignant, and funny as hell. S.T. the irrepressible, cursing crow is my new favourite apocalyptic hero."—Helen Macdonald, New York Times bestselling author of H Is for Hawk

"A plucky hero, a boisterous tale, startling prose and eerie events combine for a thoroughly enjoyable account of the end of the world as we know it. The Secret Life of Pets meets The Walking Dead."—Karen Joy Fowler, PEN/Faulkner Award-winningauthor of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

"I love this book so much! I wanted to set it on fire while hugging it. I wanted to hasten the apocalypse just to see how my own pets fare in a more humane world without humans. Kira Jane Buxton's voice is fresh, like a newly dug grave, but so joyful and honest you'll laugh out loud, and then check to make sure you haven't lost an eyeball. Hollow Kingdom is a wildly original debut and a paean to my favorite city."—Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author ofHotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

"Hollow Kingdom offers a bird's-eye view of the apocalypse we all want and need-especially when the bird in question is a plucky, Cheeto-loving domesticated crow . . . With infinite heart and humor, Kira Jane Buxton's fine-feathered narrator guides us through richly imagined animal realms while braving the terrifying collapse of the human world. A dazzling, wholly original debut, revealing the great paradox of humanity's fatal flaws and resilient spirit."—Mona Awad, authorof 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl and Bunny

"Everything you're hearing about Kira Jane Buxton's Hollow Kingdom--that it's wildly original and inventive, funny and profane--is wonderfully true. But even better, this book is timely, smart, movingly written, and beautifully concluded."—Laurie Frankel, author of This isHow It Always Is and member of the Seattle7 Writers

"What a surprising, funny, terrifying, marvelous, wholly original novel! Buxton combines a vivid horror show (think zombies and the gruesome, bloody extinction of man) with a touching love story between the unlikeliest of BFFs: a crow, a hound, and a man who's had a tough go of things on Tinder, and that was before his eyeball fell out. With humor and a style that brings to mind Tom Robbins and Karen Russell, Buxton's debut is heartwarming and heart stopping, hilarious and tragic."—Amy Poeppel, author of Limelight and Small Admissions

Irreverent and Clever

A very irreverent take on the zombie apocalypse genre, told from the viewpoint of a domesticated crow. Corvids as a species are very intelligent, but also deviant, so the shoe fits, so to speak. Lots of foul language and violence. Narrator Robert Petkoff did a fabulous job with voices and timing.

Unique in a beautiful blend of humor and poetry.

Its hard to describe a story like this because...I've never experienced a story like this. But let's review what those who read reviews are after: exceptional narrator, fast moving story, delightful characters and perfect format.
The story follows a particularly charasmatic crow who is a mega fan of all things human. His own human( we sadly don't meet but understand and love through the eyes of his pets) becomes apart of the downfall of humanity. This, in it's essence, is a dystopian story. Not a story of the human condition, but of what we leave behind. I found most of the story to be laugh out loud hilarious, with some true heart break scattered throughout. I want to assure you that the writing is true poetry, even if it comes from a main character named Shit Turd. Where this really shined for me( and forever placed Dennis in my heart) is in the narrator. While I probably would enjoy this just as much in written format, the narrator brought it to life!!
So if you're wondering about spending a credit, do it.
PS to the author: I hope you have a real life inspiration for Big Jim. He is my new literary crush.

Cute and clever at times but meh overall

Started off strong but weak storyline that kept dragging on. Had to put it on 1.2, then 1.5 speed just to get to the end. Hate not finishing things and was hoping the end would take a strong turn but was disappointed. Wish I hadn’t spent my free credit on it to be honest.

Life After Mofos

Big Jim isn't feeling well lately. He's walking funny, not talking, shuffling around aimlessly. He's not eating, or masturbating, or complaining about the economy, or going on Tinder dates. Oh, and one of his eyes fell out. After an emergency trip to Walgreens, his crow buddy S.T. realizes that it's not just Big Jim. Everywhere, all the Mofos are suffering from the same horrifying illness that even Monistat can't cure. Something must be done. So S.T., a crow well-versed in all the wonders of Mofo culture from both educational and reality television, and Dennis, Big Jim's big dumb loveable slobbery dog, set out into a world gone mad. A world without Mofos and all their wondrous inventions. A world bereft of Cheetos! Guided by Aura, the communication network of the birds that S.T. has until now disdained in favor of the Mofo Internet, these two unlikely companions set off on a quest for the mysterious being known only as The One Who Opens Doors.


This is a hilarious story of animals dealing with the zombie apocalypse. The perspectives on the fall of Mofo-kind are deliciously twisted, peppered with amusing turns of phrase (including a certain amount of fowl language). Nothing is quite what it seems, and if you let yourself think about what's actually happening there's a whole other level of horror beneath the laughs, but it's a fun ride. The ultimate explanation for how the mass zombification started is derivative of other zombie stories (not like any of them are really that original) and detracts a bit from the wonder of S.T.'s journey, but overall the book is unique and entertaining, and a perfect start to a spooky October.

This is a fantastic read/listen

I loved this book. Funny, witty, charming, heartwarming, and thrilling. I reccomend to anyone.