REVIEW: Pigs to Slaughter by E.J. Doble
E.J. Doble is back to de-Disneyfy another fairytale in Pigs to Slaughter, the second standalone instalment in his Grimdark Fairytales series. It’s a uniquely inventive and brutally dark reimagining of the classic Three Little Pigs tale, and in true grimdark fashion, we are reading from the big bad wolf’s perspective this time around. 
Set in an industrialised cityscape called ‘The Capital’, Pigs to Slaughter follows saboteur-turned-foreman Kasten Dressler as he embarks on a quest of bloody vengeance against his masters. All he wanted was to leave his dark past behind and quietly serve in the Baron’s factories, but then the three pigs in charge managed to properly piss him off, and now he is determined to make them squeal.
Now, even though this is technically the second instalment in the Grimdark Fairytales series, you can safely pick this up first as it follows a completely new cast of characters and stands 100% on its own (save for one little easter egg in the epilogue). And honestly, the first few chapters admittedly took me a bit to warm up to, but only because I initially felt a tiny sliver of disappointment when I realised that we would not be seeing the badass bounty hunter Goldie from Gold, Lock and Key back here.
However, Doble has more than earned my blind faith and trust after delivering hit after hit for me regardless of the genre and page-length of the story he’s telling, and soon I found myself inexplicably entranced by his trademark evocative prose yet again. Plus, I will always be a sucker for a good revenge quest, and once Kasten took fate by the balls and set out on his rebellious mission, I was totally hooked.
I mean, I can’t say I was the biggest fan of the fridging trope being used as a motivator for the male protagonist to finally open his eyes and start his journey, but similarly to in Pierce Brown’s Red Rising, I think the execution of this dreaded trope was relatively well handled and didn’t end up hindering my enjoyment all too much. It was just so exciting and morbidly intriguing to see how Doble twisted this fairytale on its head, and especially the satirical characterisation of Glutto, Lusto and Envo (the ‘three little piggies’ in this tale) surprised me in all the best ways.
Although Pigs to Slaughter leans much more heavily into the grimdark (flintlock) fantasy than the traditional, whimsical folkloric vibes, it stays true to its fairytale heart in how it weaves heavy commentary into the deeper layers of the narrative to deliver a memorable cautionary tale. See, on the surface, this is just a bloody fun revenge adventure with some surprisingly exhilarating heist shenanigans and no less than 11 gruesome on-page deaths thrown in, yet at its core lies a much more hard-hitting tale of grief, class struggle, capitalism, rebellion, and the cost of progress.
Whether it’s epic grimdark fantasy as in his Blood and Steel Saga, philosophical fantasy as in his Realm of Prophets series, or these delightfully twisted grimdark fairytales, E.J. Doble’s wicked imagination and hauntingly immersive storytelling just never disappoints. So, if you are in the mood for a short grimdark adventure full of flintlock aesthetics, unconventional fairytale vibes, and lots of bloody action that will make you squeal in grim delight, then you can’t go wrong with Pigs to Slaughter.
Thank you to the author for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
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