I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Slayers of Old by Jim C. Hines Published by Daw Books on October 21 2025
Genres: Adult, Urban fantasy
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Cosmic horror and urban fantasy collide in Jim C. Hines’ latest, a perfectly paced, heart-felt story with creepy monsters and humor galore.
“The fourteen-inch Bowie had a bone handle and a blade sharp enough to cut a deal with a devil.”
This is my first Jim C. Hines book, and boy, was this the perfect place to start! Slayers of Old is a richly imagined urban fantasy world with wonderful characters, plenty of danger, otherworldly terrors, laugh-out-loud dialog, and touching emotional moments. In short, it has it all, and I highly recommend it to any reader who appreciates well crafted, well written stories.
Jenny Winter, Annette Thorne and Temple Finn live together and run a bookstore attached to their house called Second Life Books and Gifts. They’re all retired, but they aren’t your typical retirees. All three are from magical families and have unique powers. Jenny is a Hunter of Artemis and used to slay monsters. Annette is half succubus and a former P.I. And Temple is in his nineties but was once a powerful wizard and is still a legend in the supernatural world. Temple’s power comes from his house, which has been in the Finn family for over two hundred years. They have a symbiotic relationship, keeping each other healthy and whole.
But lately, the house seems to be falling apart. Mold is found in the basement, something that has never happened before. Temple fears he’s getting too old and his powers are waning, but then an injured harvester asks Jenny for help, which sets off a chain of events that might herald the end of the world. And when Annette’s grandson Morgan is caught with some weird black pills, the three friends realize something terrible is afoot. Although Jenny gave up her Hunter powers after a traumatic experience years ago, she knows she’ll need them to fight the rising darkness.
Hines’s world is ridiculously fun, although sometimes a bit chaotic. There’s Jenny and her connection to the goddess Artemis (Greek mythology), elements of folklore (succubi), as well as a host of supernatural creatures: devils, wizards and even references to the fae. Even Lovecraft gets a seat at the table, as the main conflict in the story revolves around a man who is trying to resurrect a cosmic god to end the world. Yes, it’s a lot, and the various supernatural entities don’t always mesh, but I loved the author’s imaginative take on urban fantasy, it was so creative.
I’ll admit I picked this book up because the word “slayer” is in the title, and I’m happy to report that there are several nods to Buffy in the story—although that could be me projecting, lol. When Jenny was a young Hunter of Artemis, she belonged to the Guardian’s Council and had a Giles-like mentor named Felipe. She was also taken in by the Council at the tender age of thirteen, fulfilling her “destiny” to fight evil. But this story focuses on Jenny in her fifties, now being called back into service because of the impending destruction of the world. I loved how Jenny still has conversations in her head with Artemis, a constant presence even though she’s technically retired.
Slayers of Old has quite a large cast of characters, but all of them are nicely developed. I loved Temple’s storyline a lot, and I certainly didn’t expect to bond with a ninety-something year old character! We also meet a ghost named Margaret, who became one of my favorite characters (she also has an interesting relationship with Temple, and the way their story plays out was fantastic!) The funniest character in the story is Hob, a hearth devil who insults everyone he meets—something hearth devils are known for. For example, this comment about Jenny:
“I guess we know who wears the strap-on in this house.”
The cosmic horror was pretty cool too. Hines invents a drug that contains the essence of a shoggoth, one of Lovecraft’s more horrific creatures, and the effects of the drug include taking on the appearance of the monster. The weird cat on the cover is an example of that, just FYI, but you’ll need to read the book yourself to get all the nasty details.
But as great as the worldbuilding is, it’s the characters’ relationships with each other that made this a better-than-average fantasy. Temple, Jenny and Annette truly care for each other, a perfect example of a found family. Even when the villain of the story is finally revealed, Jenny feels sympathy towards him. There are so many joyful moments in Slayers of Old, which I wasn’t expecting. Hines is a master at combining so many different elements into one cohesive story, and I’ll definitely be checking out his backlist.
This isn’t the start of a series, as far as I can tell, but I won’t lie. I want more of this world and these characters, and I wouldn’t say “no” to a sequel. Slayers of Old was a blast, and I’m so happy to have finally dipped into the world of Jim C. Hines.
Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.
This was my first book by this author, too, but now I need more!
There are so many amazing things to like in there!! Margaret was great and I loved Artemis presence too! She was fun!
And that’s a great review, thanks for sharing!!
Yes, I didn’t talk about Artemis in my review, but I loved how she liked certain kinds of music:-)
That bit was just soooo good!! 😉
I kept smiling the whole time through reading this review because it sounds like such a fun read. I love that it combines Cosmic horror and urban fantasy + the Greek mythology and folklore also draws me in of course. And the nods to Buffy! I don’t think it’s you projecting at all.
I was impressed by how well he combined so many elements!
Even though I’m not big into urban fantasy or horror, I admit your review has me curious! It sounds like a riot!
It was a lot of fun! I think even if you don’t enjoy the genre, you might enjoy this.
This does sound like a lot of fun! (And honestly, if it has “slayers” in the title, chances are it’ll get my attention!) I’ll have to go get on the library hold list. Great review!
That’s exactly what grabbed me, “Slayer” in the title:-)
I can’t wait to read this one! Especially for the nods to Buffy. ;D
Yes, lots of Buffy nods for fans, I loved it:-)
Great review! This one sounds interesting and fun.
Thanks Anne, it was a lot of fun.
I am glad you enjoyed this one too. I’ve read a few other Hines books but it’s been ages and this one was so much fun. I love Squidward and appreciated the cat not wanting to change back at the end. I also really loved the found family vibe of everything. I’m wondering if there will be a sequel.
The found family vibe was great! I feel like maybe he’ll write a sequel. I need more about Temple and Margaret.
Glad you liked this one too! I had a great time with it.
It was fun and emotional, which is one of my favorite combinations:-)
Nice! Sounds like a fun read. I enjoy when an author successfully blends humor into their story without it necessarily being just about the humor.
He did a great job incorporating all the elements. You can tell he’s a seasoned writer:-)
This sounds like a great book, and I’m really looking forward to reading it!
I hope you enjoy, it was a blast!
Great review! I can’t wait to read this!
It was fantastic, I hope you love it!
Lovely review, Tammy:)). I’m a fan of this author, too. I had huge fun reading his sci fi trilogy Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse – so funny with excellent pacing the plenty of action. And the best news of all – I’ve just nicked across onto Netgalley to discover the audiobook is available so I’ve requested it. Fingers crossed:)).
Well that seems a fun horror which is a feat! I don’t know if I would like it but this sure seems chaotic and funny!
I’m so glad to see you enjoyed this one! It’s been one of my big anticipated reads this year, and I’m always nervous that I’ll hype things up too much and they’ll let me down. But this sounds amazing and like everything I hoped it would be. 🙂
I hadn’t heard of this book and it sounds so good. Wishlist.
Lynn 😀
Oh my gosh, this sounds so good! I have to add it to my Goodreads TBR. I love the title and cover as well. Great review!
https://lisalovesliterature.bookblog.io/2025/11/18/review-mindworks-an-uncanny-compendium-of-short-fiction-by-neal-shusterman/