In SOMEONE TO BUILD A NEST IN, by John Wiswell, Shesheshen is an amorphous shape-shifting creature who lives in a swamp, and is able to absorb bones, metal, and other objects inside her to provide a skeleton, and is able to imitate people (especially if she's eaten the person to get the matching bone structure).
She's rudely awakened from her hibernation by a trio of monster hunters, led by the arrogant Catharsis Wulfyre. They're dispatched with some slight difficulty, but all of the Wulfyres are coming: the mini-Catharsis Epigram, the creepy Ode, the domineering and all-powerful Baroness, and the lovable but downtrodden Homily.
This was like a darker and fairly gory Terry Pratchett novel, and managing that tone in a tension-filled storyline is a remarkable feat. Shesheshen is a fun narrator & monster, able to reshape her body & control the organs inside it, and matter-of-fact about doing so. Her befuddlement at human society is one note that struck me as Pratchettian; a more minor one is the nobleman who gets weirdly turned on when he's threatened by Shesheshen. The Wulfyres are utterly hateful, except for Homily, and it's balm when they get their several comeuppances.
(2/5)
