Review: Feeder by Lucinda Moebius

The world is full of supernatural monsters: vampires, lycanthropes, ghouls, and even stranger things. Many humans have glimpsed them, but few realize that the seeming diversity of creatures that stalk the shadows are all simply aspects of a single species of energy beings, called “were”.  These creatures have existed since the beginning of the universe, evolving in parallel with the mortal world. Were’s heightened senses allow them to see and feed on the life forces of other creatures. With the energy they gain, they can perform all sorts of supernatural feats- most notably shapeshifting into the forms of animals and thus giving rise to legends of werebeasts.

Maria Christine, the protagonist of Feeder, is one of the “nicer” were, since she typically only feeds on murderers, rapists, and the dying. But even she has little regard for humanity beyond a source of sustenance. She lives on the edge of both human and were society, scraping together a living as best she can, occasionally aided by a sympathetic were nun. Her transient, marginalized existence makes the readers sympathize with her even as we watch her stalk and drain humans prey. Her struggle also keeps her grounded even as the story gradually reveals more of her impressive powers.

Throughout the story, Maria is chased by two other supernatural  beings called simply the Hunter and the Warrior. Both are also energy beings made flesh, and implied to be distant offshoots of the were.  They work together to prey on Maria’s kind just as they prey on mortals. The story stumbles a bit with these two, as they aren’t particularly developed characters, aside from the Hunter’s sense of conscience. Their names are not particularly evocative. I wish they had better descriptors than just “Hunter” and “Warrior”. I do know their story is explained in the sequel, however, so hopefully we’ll see more depth from them there.

Halfway through the book, Maria is forced to flee her old haunts. She eventually runs into an organized pack of were who quickly become a surrogate family. It’s intriguing to watch tough, survival-driven maria gradually learning to open up and trust her new “father” and “siblings”. Though the ease with which they accept her did make me a bit suspicious that they had ulterior motives (no spoilers on whether that suspicion was well-founded).

I’ve long been a fan of urban supernatural fantasy, particularly the classic 90s World of Darkness and the Underworld films. The setting of Feeders gives me a similar vibe to those works, though  I like the twist that all these different supernatural beings described by mortals are actually just permutations of the same creature.

Feeder is a good, fast read for fans of urban fantasy and vampire tales who are looking for a twist on the familiar themes. You can get a copy here.