The Night Eaters: Book 3 – Their Kingdom Come
By Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda
Abrams ComicArts/314 pages/$34.99
The dynamic duo of Marjorie Liu and San Takeda produce gorgeous stories like clockwork, be it the sprawling horror fantasy Monstress or the recently completed The Night Eaters. Begun in 2023, the first two installments – The Night Eaters #1: She Eats the Night and The Night Eaters #2: Her Little Reapers – set everything up for this lengthier (and pricier) conclusion.
I somehow missed book one and read book two as a judge for the Ringo Awards last summer. Here I am, less than a year from reading it, and I felt hopelessly lost at first. This, and Monstress to be honest, seriously need recaps before starting the next installment. Thankfully, the cast of characters to track is manageable.
Twins Milly and Billy have been trying to make a go of their Los Angeles restaurant. In the first book, on an annual visit from their parents Ipo and Keon, are talked into purchasing the creepy house next door, and things begin to unravel. The Ting twins accidentally open a portal to a parallel magical realm, and as magic seeps into our world, the apocalypse can’t be far behind.
Book one provided a lot of Ipo’s backstory, beginning with her arrival in Hong Kong in 1956. She, in many ways, is the focal point of the entire trilogy. Ipo has suffered much, seen too much, and has cased herself in a hard shell, a cigarette forever dangling from her thin lips. She is also the source of much of the humor found in the first two installments.
There’s a lot less time for funny stuff in volume three as the very fate of the world is at stake. A warlock, Pal
Ming has begun hunting the twins, who have developed their own powers. At the same time, the otherworldly Yaom has possessed a quarter of LA with its parasitic creatures worming their way into every living being.
Across nine chapters, there are moments of spectacle, but more importantly, there are long sections where people interact and actually speak with one another. We learn about these major and minor characters, and there’s some gentle humor, but more importantly, some fine human moments.
The finale works, for the most part, but isn’t strong enough given the hundreds of pages building up to this moment. But, there is a definitive ending so it works well to resolve the major threads.
Takeda’s watercolor art continues to be stunning, subtle in detail and muted in tone, creating a unique atmosphere that clearly has become her trademark. I do wish, though, Chris Dickey’s fine lettering were just a wee bit larger.
If you enjoy the pair’s work, you will want to most definitely want to read this.
English (US) · 