Once Was Willem by MR Carey

Speculative fiction author MR Carey does not stay in one subgenre for long. Once Was Willem, a dark medieval fantasy comes hot off the heels of Carey’s multiverse-with-AIs (and sentient rabbits) Pandemonium duology, which itself follows the post-apocalyptic Book of Koli trilogy. In Once Was Willem, Carey once again takes some familiar tropes and ideas and puts his own spin on them. And in doing so delivers yet another ‘monster as hero’ tale that we have been seeing more of lately in this genre (most recently Greenteeth by Molly O’Neill, set in a similar period, and Somone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell).

Once Was Willem starts much in the same way as those previous works of Carey mentioned above. It is a record of events past, written by the protagonist, which immediately takes some of the jeopardy out of his story. Even when he is in dire peril, readers know that the protagonist will at least survive to write his own tale. That protagonist is a revenant or zombie – a boy called Willem who lived in a village in 12th century Britain, brought back to life a year after his death as part of a dark bargain made between his grieving parents and an evil wizard called Cain Carradoc. As a result of the passage of time between his death and resurrection, the protagonist (who now calls himself Once Was Willem, as he does not feel like he is Willem anymore) is more a mobile gelatinous mass with some form than young man. So that when he returns home, he is driven out the village and into the forest where he befriends other monsters and fey characters.

The story itself is a classic good versus evil conflict. The evil wizard Carradoc, who already uses the souls of children to extend his own life, has found a massive power source but needs the lives of more children to help him tap it. He seeks those children from Willem’s village leading to the villagers swallowing their fear and calling on him for support. The story charts this conflict, with plenty of body horror, foreshadowing and dark magic along the way.

Carey draws on a number of fantasy and action traditions in telling his tale. Once Was Willem’s colleagues are a range of mythical beings from ghosts, to shape shifters to water sprites. But the narrative itself is almost classic Seven Samurai territory (the number seven seeming to carry some great weight) in which a group of villagers is supported by a group of outlaw fighters to defend their village. But Carey makes this combination work here.

Once Was Willem has a careful, story-filled set-up in which all of the characters are introduced and various aspects of the battle to come are foreshadowed. With this out of the way, Carey delivers a pacy, dark medieval fantasy novel with well-developed stakes and plenty of heart.

Once Was Willem by MR Carey

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8.0/10