Description

He was sent to kill a pest. Instead, he found a monster.’An intriguing work of whimsi-grotesquerie’ – Olivie Blake, New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six

Monster hunters tangle with court politics in this horror adventure by the critically acclaimed author of Leech.

Enter the decadent, deadly city of Tiliard.

In a complex, chaotic metropolis, Guy Moulene has a simple goal: keep his sister out of debt. For her sake, he’ll take on any job, no matter how vile.

As an exterminator, Guy hunts the uncanny pests that crawl up from the river. These vermin are all strange, and often dangerous. His latest quarry is different: a worm the size of a dragon with a deadly venom and a ravenous taste for artwork. As it digests Tiliard from the sewers to the opera houses, its toxin reshapes the future of the city. No sane person would hunt it, if they had the choice.

Guy doesn’t have a choice.

‘A lush and seductive story, rife with opulent horror and decaying decadence’ – Sunyi Dean, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Book Eaters

‘I will follow this writer anywhere going forward’ – Gillian Flynn, New York Times bestselling author of Gone Girl

Publisher Review

Hiron Ennes is a visionary creative who writes like no one else – their imagination is vibrant and seemingly dauntless. The Works of Vermin is an intriguing work of whimsi-grotesquerie that’s got it all: political intrigue, Wharton-esque manners, infectious disease, mysterious revenge and, of course, toxic bugs — Olivie Blake, New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six A lush and seductive story, rife with opulent horror and decaying decadence — Sunyi Dean, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Book Eaters I will follow this writer anywhere going forward — Gillian Flynn, New York Times bestselling author of Gone Girl A hallucinatory scorpion sting — Elizabeth Bear, author of the White Space series Tiliard is a wonderfully gooey, oozy, rotting mess of a city, full of gnawing vermin and weaponized perfume, and the story of its revolution is a squicky blast. Fans of Max Gladstone or Seth Dickinson will love this one — Django Wexler, author of How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying In the space of two novels, Hiron Ennes has become one of the very few inhabitants of my Read-On-Sight list . . . if you’re a fan of Mervyn Peake, Gene Wolfe, China Mieville – mammal, have I got a book for you. A book to be not so much read as wallowed and rolled around in — Peter Watts, author of Blindsight and Echopraxia A brilliant, shapeshifting puzzle box of a book, as beautiful as it is bewildering. Rarely is language used so ecstatically these days. Read it aloud to someone – its mystery is best untangled with the mouth — Christopher Buehlman, author of The Daughters’ War Ennes is an alchemist, and The Works of Vermin is its own, new element. A brilliant blend of intense intrigue and the fantastically macabre — Johnny Compton, author of The Spite House Truly on par with Vandermeer and Mieville, an absolute thrill to read * Literary Hub * Dazzling, elegant, and teeming with a glorious array of monstrosities, The Works of Vermin is at once wonderfully fresh and rotten to its worm-infested core. Loved it! — Kerstin Hall, author of Asunder Plenty of horror novels have been described as ‘skin crawling’, but none of them deserve that epithet as much as The Works of Vermin * SFX * Bugs might feature prominently in The Works of Vermin, but this is much more than a simple horror. Ennes has created a detailed, dark, gritty, complex fantasy worth reading * GrimDark Magazine *