Someone You Can Build a Nest In by JohnWiswell
A complicated romantasy about a human princess, Homily, and a shapeshifting mass of gray flesh, Shesheshen [Mandarin for Thank God]. 2025 Nebula Award for Best Novel. Homily’s mother, the Baroness, wants to kill the wyrm Shesheshen for cursing her family.
The story takes place in the city of Underlook on the isthmus between L’Etat Bon (The Good State) and the Engmars.
Shesheshen (谢谢神 or Thank God) was born in a nest of her father. At first, the nestlings survived by consuming their father, but as they grew, they turned to cannibalism. Shesheshen was the sole survivor. Her sole companion was a large blue bear that she named Blueberry. She was a shapeshifter comprised of a gray blob, who the humans called a wyrm and a monster. She could only be killed by poison with rosemary oil.
The Baroness Wulfyre’s family was cursed by the wyrm. The Baroness killed Shesheshen’s mother, and wears her mother’s teeth around her neck. The Baroness wants the wyrm killed to end the curse, and she wants the wyrm’s beating heart. Her children, oldest to youngest, are Catharsis (only son), Homily, Epigram, and Ode.
The Baroness’s oldest son, Catharsis, and two professional wyrm killers (Rourke, senior, and Malik, younger) hunt Shesheshen. Catharsis injures Shesheshen with a barbed crossbow bolt, poisoned with rosemary oil, but Shesheshen kills him. The professional killers chase Shesheshen until she falls into a ravine, where she is rescued by Homily, who extracts the crossbow bolt and cures Shesheshen. Shesheshen assumes the shape of a human (Siobhan). Siobhan and Homily fall in love.
Why only three stars for this Nebula Award winner? First, I found it difficult to read. I couldn’t discern a clear story arc. The major twists were obvious in advance, while the characters' objectives remained a mystery. Also, the “Someone” in the title never appears, leading to more confusion. I read this for a book club; otherwise, I would have DNF it.
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