Sister, Maiden, Monster

Product Information

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.” Award-winning horror writer Lucy A. Snyder unleashes "Sister, Maiden, Monster" onto readers with great aplomb. Folks who prefer their fiction without any plagues or pandemics may want to steer clear of this novel, and even though I myself am in the camp that prefers not to read about pandemics, Snyder's writing and storytelling are magnificent, so I made an exception. The novel begins with a pandemic--not Covid-19, but something called PVG, or Polymorphic viral gastroencephalities. It has spread all over the world at roughly the same time in major cities, and the medical powers-that-be aren't sure about a Patient Zero, if one exists. PVG has also emerged after the previous 'coronavirus years,' so the landscape imagined here includes a world in which something worse comes after our current pandemic. The protagonist, Erin, and her boyfriend Gregory, are celebrating their anniversary a bit early. She becomes extremely ill not long after, and things take a turn for the worse. I loved the way the breakdown of society is seen through three unique female voices (Erin, Savannah and Mareva) whom are all impacted in hugely different ways from the early days in hospital isolation to later periods when the government have snipers on building roofs looking for anything suspicious. This was Covid-19 multiplied by a thousand as the three try to survive (or embrace) the virus which is destined to change humanity. The synopsis does a decent job describing the plot, so I won't reiterate it here. This is pretty much an apocalyptic set of stories where a strange virus starts to manifest in people in different ways.

Type Ones are people who contracted this PVG virus, got some headache and nausea, but then after a few days of rest they recovered, never had to see a doctor, didn't have to go to an ER, and didn't need to be in a containment facility like Greenwood. Erin has become a kind of living zombie who has significant trouble with digestion, healing, sunlight, X-rays, and a dozen other things. She could also still become a 'total cancer farm' by the time she becomes 35 years old. Further still, pregnancy is no longer an option, adoption and fostering are also not options, and her brain will degenerate significantly over time. It's not clear if there is a cure. Some years on from the coronavirus pandemic, the PVG virus has taken over the world. Since people more or less know how to manage pandemics, Erin continues to lead her regular life, making sure to wash her hands, wear a mask, carry on as best she can. One night, after her boyfriend sets up a romantic sushi dinner and marriage proposal, Erin starts to feel very unwell. Soon, she’s throwing up blood and stomach lining, and ends up in a secure facility for Type 3 patients of the PVG—the worst off of the ones effected, who are reliant entirely on mammalian brain matter to survive. What unfolds then is one of the more bizarre, gruesome stories in post pandemic horror fiction. Rather like Covid- 19 and its origins – species-hopping virus, or laboratory accident, there are no real answers about why this has happened, which adds to the feelings of disquiet and unease, combined with wild internet theories and religious fervour, but Synder makes good use of existing science to come up with something that almost sounds plausible in how this virus works.And as she reminds readers, the worst part is that she's a contagious Type Three, so until she's no longer contagious... things are even worse. She tells her partner that they can no longer live together because it's not safe. She has to try to find a lodging of her own that will accept her. Wow, what a ride! Lucy Synder has delivered a gory creation mixing various types of horror – cosmic, pandemic, body, maybe even a smattering of zombie as well, as a new virus is raging through humanity and society and changing people physically and mentally in a novel which follows the changes that happen to three women – Erin, Savannah and Mareva in a story that is bloody, violent, and doesn’t pull any punches as they are transformed into something… other. Lucy A. Snyder is the author of 15 books and over 100 published short stories. Her most recent titles are the apocalyptic horror novel Sister, Maiden, Monster and the collection Halloween Season. She lives near Columbus, Ohio with a jungle of houseplants, a clowder of cats, and an insomnia of housemates.

Very well written. Great verbiage and descriptive prowess. I liked the overall ideas and the writing style but for me the story fell flat. With Sister, Maiden, Monster, we see that there’s not only beauty in the abyss, but equal doses terror and wonder. ” Inspired by her Bram Stoker Award-winning story “Magdala Amygdala,” Lucy A. Snyder delivers a cosmic tale about the planet’s disastrous transformation… and what we become after.A mutant hybrid of weird science and cosmic horror, Sister, Maiden, Monster is deliciously cerebral and unflinchingly feminist. Violently beautiful, this novel is a tale for our times. Resounding.” — Lee Murray, Bram Stoker Award-winner and author of Grotesque: Monster Stories It’s hard to go into further plot details without spoilers, but it’s no spoiler to say that this is not one of the‘what did I just read’ variety of books, but more the ‘what am I reading’ variety, because it’s hard to fully suspend disbelief for the entirety of the three narratives. They sound a little like they could be the voice of one woman as she evolves, but perhaps that’s the point. Holy cannoli, I don't know what I was expecting when I opened this book, but I was in for a WILD ride. SISTER, MAIDEN, MONSTER is a post-pandemic, apocalyptic, eldritch horror festival of a book. Think COVID but way... way... WAY... worse. The body horror and slow, creeping sense of your own physical self slowly turning against you is mesmerizing in the best and worst ways possible. Sensuous, sinister, and sinewy; a blood-and-brains splattered shotgun-blast romp through the apocalypse that will simultaneously excite and disgust readers with equal pleasure.” — Philip Fracassi, author of Boys in the Valley

Unsettling and unexpectedly timely, Sister, Maiden, Monster is horror at its best. Lucy A. Snyder pulls out all the stops with this powerful and unflinching novel, dealing with the fallout of a pandemic and the omnipresent, creeping terror that can only come from your own body turning against you. Put this book at the top of your reading list immediately.” Snyder’s bold and succinct descriptions create a visceral aura of terror and desperation. Readers will feel dread as they’re pulled along on this thrilling ride.” — Publishers Weekly

Told in three parts, Lucy A. Snyder's Sister, Maiden, Monster charts of the course of mankind's transformation through the eyes of three women. The first, Erin, is a recently engaged desktop support specialist who finds her body all but decimated by PVG. Savannah is a sex worker turned serial killer cannibal for the elder gods. Mareva's body, meanwhile, is prone to producing benign tumors even at the best of times, but in the face of PVG is forced to reconcile with even more horrific possibilities.