contemporary fantasy
Marketed as Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets the Golden Girls there was no doubt I would read this book.
In Slayers of Old, Jim C. Hines introduces us to three former monster hunters who have chosen to spend their retirement years living together and running Second Life Books and Gifts in Salem, Massachusetts. Jenny is a Hunter of Artemis, once sworn to hunt down and destroy monsters and demons, Annette is a half-human, half-succubus former private investigator, and Temple is an old and powerful wizard with a symbiotic relationship to the home and store where all of them live. Now the three of them protect the nonhuman community of Salem while trying to live as normal a life as possible.
When supernatural trouble starts to find them, however - because of course it does - the three of them have to work together to do what they do best, save the world!
This was a fun and clever book that held my attention from beginning to end and I loved the idea of older heroes. They were imperfect, they were tired, and frankly, they were kind of over it. I loved how well they knew one another and were able to cut through some of typical hero grandstanding and just support one another, offering what each other needed no matter the cost. They make mistakes, they apologize and they keep trying. There are good lessons for all of us in these pages.
In Slayers of Old, Jim C. Hines introduces us to three former monster hunters who have chosen to spend their retirement years living together and running Second Life Books and Gifts in Salem, Massachusetts. Jenny is a Hunter of Artemis, once sworn to hunt down and destroy monsters and demons, Annette is a half-human, half-succubus former private investigator, and Temple is an old and powerful wizard with a symbiotic relationship to the home and store where all of them live. Now the three of them protect the nonhuman community of Salem while trying to live as normal a life as possible.
When supernatural trouble starts to find them, however - because of course it does - the three of them have to work together to do what they do best, save the world!
This was a fun and clever book that held my attention from beginning to end and I loved the idea of older heroes. They were imperfect, they were tired, and frankly, they were kind of over it. I loved how well they knew one another and were able to cut through some of typical hero grandstanding and just support one another, offering what each other needed no matter the cost. They make mistakes, they apologize and they keep trying. There are good lessons for all of us in these pages.
I enjoyed the world that Hines created and the characters are simply delightful. There are a selection of entertaining secondary characters who add to the nonhuman world of Salem and the banter between all the characters often had me smiling. There are snippets in between chapters of the evil villain's conversations with his minions and I found those confusing at first, but as the book goes on they do start to make more sense and add some necessary context. Unfortunately I also think sometimes those snippets gave too much information away.
Still, I enjoyed Slayers of Old quite a bit as will the other old folks who watched Buffy and Golden Girls when they were in their original runs on TV.
Thanks to DAW Books and NetGalley for the advanced review copy. Slayers of Old publishes on October 21, 2025.
Still, I enjoyed Slayers of Old quite a bit as will the other old folks who watched Buffy and Golden Girls when they were in their original runs on TV.
Thanks to DAW Books and NetGalley for the advanced review copy. Slayers of Old publishes on October 21, 2025.
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