ONCE WAS WILLEM

Set in a fantasy version of early-12th-century England, this novel is an unholy and holy brew of Seven Samurai, “The Monkey’s Paw,” Frankenstein, and a reimagined Judeo-Christian cosmology.

In the village of Cosham, farming couple Jon and Margaret Turling are consumed by grief for their 12-year-old son, Willem, who died of a fever. Desperate, they seek the help of a sorcerer, Cain Caradoc, who agrees to raise their son from the dead in exchange for a sliver of his soul. Unfortunately, Willem has been dead for a year, and what rises from the grave is not exactly pretty…and is not welcome in Cosham. The intelligent, uncannily strong, but malformed being with Willem’s face and memories takes on the name Once-Was-Willem and begins a new life in the deep forest, making friends with the other strange creatures he encounters. Meanwhile, Cain Caradoc settles in the fortress of a local bandit lord, built atop an immense power source: the sleeping skeleton of Yaldabaoth the angel. Seeking to harness this vast power for himself and gain the immortality he’s always dreamed of having, Caradoc prepares to make a significant sacrifice of children’s souls, which he intends to glean from Cosham. The desperate villagers appeal to Once-Was-Willem and his new friends for aid, attempting (mostly without success) to swallow their fear and distrust of these monstrous beings—feelings which are mutual. Author Carey demonstrates again that he contains multitudes, jumping from subgenre to subgenre. Also as always, he uses a fantastical setting to consider societal and moral quandaries; in this instance, he explores complex issues of compassion and forgiveness in the wake of (literally) murderous prejudice and intolerance. Despite the story’s high body count, its take on those issues is weirdly optimistic and heartwarming.

A dark and hopeful fable with obvious contemporary resonance.