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Lost in the Forest of Mechanical Birds
For fans of George Saunders and Haruki Murakami, Christian Moody delivers his debut speculative short story collection, Lost in the Forest of Mechanical Birds––tales of the strange beauty and shadowy fears that lurk beneath the surface of our everyday lives
Best friends George and Elly start a hide-and-go-seek club inspired by their love of the game, which goes too far when Elly stays hidden for years. An orphan discovers that the trees on the outskirts of town have eyes that watch and record the town’s inhabitants, threatening to expose their most vulnerable secrets. In a world with hardly any birds left, a struggling family lives alone in the woods, where the father begins to create mechanical birds which threaten the only life left. And a man working at a futuristic egg factory spots an anomaly in one of the eggs, which, along with the fact that his wife and daughter spontaneously get pregnant at the same time, sparks his journey to uncover the company’s secrets.
Winner of the 2023 Dzanc Short Story Collection Prize, Moody’s collection delights in the absurd and dystopian, weaving in themes of climate change, surveillance, privacy, and technology that coalesce into a profound statement about the mysteries of the human experience.
Best friends George and Elly start a hide-and-go-seek club inspired by their love of the game, which goes too far when Elly stays hidden for years. An orphan discovers that the trees on the outskirts of town have eyes that watch and record the town’s inhabitants, threatening to expose their most vulnerable secrets. In a world with hardly any birds left, a struggling family lives alone in the woods, where the father begins to create mechanical birds which threaten the only life left. And a man working at a futuristic egg factory spots an anomaly in one of the eggs, which, along with the fact that his wife and daughter spontaneously get pregnant at the same time, sparks his journey to uncover the company’s secrets.
Winner of the 2023 Dzanc Short Story Collection Prize, Moody’s collection delights in the absurd and dystopian, weaving in themes of climate change, surveillance, privacy, and technology that coalesce into a profound statement about the mysteries of the human experience.
200 pages, Paperback
Published October 14, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 15, 2025
Thank you Dzanc for sending me an advanced copy in exchange for a review.
Christian Moody's collection of stories is frustrating because I'm filled with envy. I wish I'd written these. The opening story, which entwines coming-of-age with hide-and-seek is the kind of brilliance you hope to find in a work of literary fiction.
I will likely revisit a few of these again and again, but more importantly, I can't wait for what Moody writes next.
Christian Moody's collection of stories is frustrating because I'm filled with envy. I wish I'd written these. The opening story, which entwines coming-of-age with hide-and-seek is the kind of brilliance you hope to find in a work of literary fiction.
I will likely revisit a few of these again and again, but more importantly, I can't wait for what Moody writes next.
Read
November 7, 2025no rating. The first story was really really good, the 2nd and 3rd were ok, but didn't give me the incentive to read the last two. Maybe someone can still convince me...
February 5, 2026
Really enjoyed this collection. Ever since I read Ted Chiang, I’ve been looking for a story collection that’s as good. This comes close for me. The titular story reminded me most of Ted Chiang. The Baby Catcher was reminiscent of Diane Cook (also a compliment). My favorite was last one though. I enjoyed that it was a bit longer and had some more developed world building.
August 21, 2025
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Dzanc Books!
Lost in the Forest of Mechanical Birds by Christian Moody is a collection of five stories that blend themes of existentialism with current social issues, including AI, destruction of the natural world, and the interconnectedness of our physical and digital lives. As a whole, the collection is a unique read that is highly relevant to the current times. Moody’s writing style is lyrical and descriptive. However, the imagery is my favorite part of this book. If for no other reason (and I would recommend reading it for any of the above mentioned themes), read it for the gorgeous descriptions of characters and fantastical worlds.
Here are my thoughts on the stories:
Horusville
Trees with eyes. How interesting! I love the surrealist imagery of the forest where much of the story takes place. The trees witness everything the townspeople do, both good and horrifying. I felt as if I was stepping into a fantastical world that was also a powerful call back to the presence of social media and the surveillance of the digital world.
Lost in the Forest of Mechanical Birds
This story is my favorite in the collection. It is equally tragic and lyrical, heartbreaking and beautiful. I won’t spoil it. Just read it.
The Go Seekers
This one just wasn’t for me. I did enjoy the absurdity of the club, as well as the idea of a person choosing to hide for years.
The Babycatcher
The Babycatcher is more plot-focused than the previous three stories. A couple want a child so badly that they hire the Babycatcher and give up everything they own. The Babycatcher character reminded me of Rumpelstiltskin, although rather than taking the baby, he takes everything else they have. The idea of wild babies that have certain characteristics is creepy in the best way. It edges on familiar while remaining a bit absurd.
Ray of Golden Yolk
"Ray of Golden Yolk" is the longest story in the collection. It balances worldbuilding, character, and plot quite well. The narrator, Ray, works on a chicken egg inspection line. He notices anomalies in the eggs and suspects that the company is connected to the pregnancies of his wife and daughter. Corporations have all the power in Ray’s world. AI is ingrained into technology and taken as fact. These aspects of the world are familiar, and I enjoyed that connection to our world. However, the growth of unidentified species and new worlds fits just a little outside of reality, creating a unique blend of what we know and what we fear. The pacing in the middle of the story did drag at times, which was really the only aspect I did not enjoy.
Ultimately, I enjoyed this collection of short stories. I would recommend this book to fans of literary and speculative fiction. It is unique, unexpected, and relevant to the current social and technological issues that we face in our world.
Lost in the Forest of Mechanical Birds by Christian Moody is a collection of five stories that blend themes of existentialism with current social issues, including AI, destruction of the natural world, and the interconnectedness of our physical and digital lives. As a whole, the collection is a unique read that is highly relevant to the current times. Moody’s writing style is lyrical and descriptive. However, the imagery is my favorite part of this book. If for no other reason (and I would recommend reading it for any of the above mentioned themes), read it for the gorgeous descriptions of characters and fantastical worlds.
Here are my thoughts on the stories:
Horusville
Trees with eyes. How interesting! I love the surrealist imagery of the forest where much of the story takes place. The trees witness everything the townspeople do, both good and horrifying. I felt as if I was stepping into a fantastical world that was also a powerful call back to the presence of social media and the surveillance of the digital world.
Lost in the Forest of Mechanical Birds
This story is my favorite in the collection. It is equally tragic and lyrical, heartbreaking and beautiful. I won’t spoil it. Just read it.
The Go Seekers
This one just wasn’t for me. I did enjoy the absurdity of the club, as well as the idea of a person choosing to hide for years.
The Babycatcher
The Babycatcher is more plot-focused than the previous three stories. A couple want a child so badly that they hire the Babycatcher and give up everything they own. The Babycatcher character reminded me of Rumpelstiltskin, although rather than taking the baby, he takes everything else they have. The idea of wild babies that have certain characteristics is creepy in the best way. It edges on familiar while remaining a bit absurd.
Ray of Golden Yolk
"Ray of Golden Yolk" is the longest story in the collection. It balances worldbuilding, character, and plot quite well. The narrator, Ray, works on a chicken egg inspection line. He notices anomalies in the eggs and suspects that the company is connected to the pregnancies of his wife and daughter. Corporations have all the power in Ray’s world. AI is ingrained into technology and taken as fact. These aspects of the world are familiar, and I enjoyed that connection to our world. However, the growth of unidentified species and new worlds fits just a little outside of reality, creating a unique blend of what we know and what we fear. The pacing in the middle of the story did drag at times, which was really the only aspect I did not enjoy.
Ultimately, I enjoyed this collection of short stories. I would recommend this book to fans of literary and speculative fiction. It is unique, unexpected, and relevant to the current social and technological issues that we face in our world.
February 27, 2026
Loved the flavor of these stories—strange and uncomfortable and beautiful all at once. Comparisons to fairy tales are thrown around too often, but I think here it's an earned descriptor for Moody's writing. The first story, about the hide and seek stuff, is amazing; one of the best stories I've read in a long time. I wished the novella had just been its own full-length novel, as I found it at times too meandering or too condensed. But on the whole, a lovely book.
August 13, 2025
Thank you Dzanc books for sending me a finished copy of this book to review!
This was a strange little collection of stories. We get a lifelong obsession between friends who play hide and seek, a teenager obsessed with his brother’s fiancé and a forest of eyes with trees, and a strange man who catches babies for parents who can’t have any. These stories were weird and fun and I enjoyed reading. There was always something uncanny just lying in the background.
This was a strange little collection of stories. We get a lifelong obsession between friends who play hide and seek, a teenager obsessed with his brother’s fiancé and a forest of eyes with trees, and a strange man who catches babies for parents who can’t have any. These stories were weird and fun and I enjoyed reading. There was always something uncanny just lying in the background.
March 13, 2026
I don’t typically read short stories but I saw this book was shortlisted for a PEN award and tracked it down. It is hard to give an overall review since each story was so different and I enjoyed some more than others. The writing and tale telling was good, novel ideas from a twisty imagination. Unexpected for sure! My favorites were The Babycatcher and the Rise of the Golden Yolk.. I think those were the most allegorical and had a deeper lessons that I enjoyed along with the plot itself. Horusville (about a surveillance state) and the title story (about climate change) and had similar messages but I didn’t enjoy the surrounding tale as much. I mean, the idea of mechanical birds replacing a world with few really ones is so interesting and engaging but the actual telling was so dark I just couldn’t let myself be taken up by it. Finally Go Seekers falls somewhere in the middle.
All in all, it averages out to about 4 stars. And the beauty is that if you don’t like any single story.. don’t worry, the next one will be completely different.
All in all, it averages out to about 4 stars. And the beauty is that if you don’t like any single story.. don’t worry, the next one will be completely different.
April 30, 2026
4.5 ⭐
Physical
Lost in the Forest of Mechanical Birds was a really unique read. The imagery and language are what stood out most to me. It feels very reflective and almost dreamlike at times, but still grounded enough to connect to real emotions. Moody came to my university for a reading, and he was a really unique and overall funny guy, which is exactly the kind of voice that comes through in this collection. Some poems hit more than others, but overall it’s one of those collections that sticks with you and makes you slow down a bit while reading, which I appreciated.
Physical
Lost in the Forest of Mechanical Birds was a really unique read. The imagery and language are what stood out most to me. It feels very reflective and almost dreamlike at times, but still grounded enough to connect to real emotions. Moody came to my university for a reading, and he was a really unique and overall funny guy, which is exactly the kind of voice that comes through in this collection. Some poems hit more than others, but overall it’s one of those collections that sticks with you and makes you slow down a bit while reading, which I appreciated.
Read
February 19, 2026DNF - again, just didn't grab my attention. Transitioning between short stories is already hard enough.
April 19, 2026
SIX WORD REVIEW: Lifetime hide-and-seek game, whoo!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews