From the bestselling author M. R. Carey comes an utterly unique and enchantingly dark epic fantasy fable like no other.
This is the tale of Once Was Willem, who – eleven hundred and some years after the death of Christ, in the kingdom that had but recently begun to call itself England – rose from the dead to defeat a great evil facing the humble village of Cosham.
Pennick for all its beauty was ever a place with a dark reputation. The forests of the Chase were said to be home to nixies and boggarts, and there was a common belief, passed down through many generations, that the castle housed an unquiet ghost of terrible and malign power. These rumours I can attest were all true; indeed they fell short of the truth by a long way . . .
I’ve loved M.R. Carey ever since I picked up The Girl With All The Gifts. His books often look like they won’t be my thing at first, but every single time I end up loving them. Each one feels completely unique, and Once Was Willem is no exception.
This is a very different book from the rest of Carey’s work. Instead of a modern or post-apocalyptic setting, we’re in medieval England, during the time when King Stephen and Empress Matilda were fighting over the throne and the country was full of chaos. Carey leans into that lawless backdrop and fills it with folklore, superstition, spirits, monsters, angels and hell, though it never feels like straight religion so much as a magical and philosophical interpretation of it all. The choice of narration fits perfectly: it’s written in a style that echoes old English storytelling, and I have to say the audiobook really deepens that atmosphere. It feels like being told a dark fable by a voice from the past.
The story is told by Willem, a young boy who dies and is brought back through sorcery, though not in the way his parents hoped. He becomes something misshapen, not human, and is cast out of his village. From that point on we follow his life as an outcast and the way he finds others like him. Carey weaves Willem’s journey together with the rise of the sorcerer Cain Caradoc and the villagers who are caught in between.
Cain Caradoc makes for a truly memorable villain. He is cruel, ruthless and completely self-serving, yet his sorcery is fascinating to watch unfold. You never root for him, but you can’t help being drawn to the sheer scale of his ambition and the power he commands. He’s the kind of character who makes you hope karma comes for him, while still holding your attention whenever he steps onto the page.
The question running through the book is what makes a monster. Willem is grotesque in form, but his voice and actions show kindness, restraint and reflection. Meanwhile the humans are driven by fear, grief, cruelty and ambition. There is no neat division between good and bad. Aside from Caradoc, everyone carries both admirable and ugly traits, and that complexity makes the story resonate.
The first half of the book leans grimdark, with a lot of cruelty and hopelessness. Then the second half opens up into something much more hopeful, even though the darkness never truly disappears. I didn’t expect that change in tone, but it worked well, and it gave the story an emotional weight I wasn’t prepared for.
Once Was Willem is dark, strange and often brutal, but also moving and full of heart. It’s about monsters and men, about power and corruption, about finding family in the unlikeliest of places. Grim and philosophical at times, hopeful and uplifting at others, it’s a story that lingers.
