Mothtown by Caroline Hardaker

(Angry Robot, 2023)

Reviewed by Niall Harrison

It begins After. The narrator of Mothtown, David Porter, is “a human knot”, falling. He hits his head, lies in the earth awhile, then forces himself upwards. He is looking for “the two shadows”, but they seem to be hiding. He’s running, sliding, scrabbling down a craggy valley that is “coated in dead brown grass like hair on a giant”. The sky is “a dirty chalkboard”. It’s quiet. Michale had told him it hadn’t been that kind of town for thousands of years, but David is still amazed by its emptiness, “its naked hills burning beneath the stars.” And it shouldn’t have taken this long to reach the door. But perhaps—he hopes—he can still get there before the shadows catch him.

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Review from BSFA Review 23 - Download your copy here.