The Stoneshore Register

by G. Willow Wilson, M.K. Perker (illustrator), Richard Bruning (illustrator)

When refugee and aspiring journalist Fadumo arrives to work at the Stoneshore Register, she is entering a far stranger place than she realizes.

At first, the colossal stone giant overlooking the rundown, seemingly ordinary Pacific Northwest fishing town seems like the only remarkable element. But he is not the only strange changelings, selkies, cursed ships—the bizarre has a home in Stoneshore, yet no one gives it a second thought.

But Fadumo doesn't just want to cover these odd occurrences. She wants to dig deeper. And what she discovers is a land so steeped in mysterious history, it will change all who dare to explore it.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fiction, Mystery, Fantasy

128 pages, Paperback

Published August 5, 2025

About the author

Hugo, World Fantasy and American Book Award-winning author of novels and comics, including THE BIRD KING, INVISIBLE KINGDOM, and ALIF THE UNSEEN. Co-creator of Ms Marvel. Honorary doctor of letters, Rutgers University. I accidentally started a dutch baby baking cult during quarantine. Not very active on here right now, but often found on Twitter.

Reviews

[Alex Sarll]

Between the pretty but thin Invisible Kingdom and the abysmal The Hunger And The Dusk, I was beginning to worry about Willow Wilson, but this reunion with MK Perker, artist on her early comics Cairo and Air, sees her back on firm. Stoneshore is an isolated coastal town in Washington state, with fewer fish and fewer people every year, but no shortage of mysteries, about which the residents seem curiously incurious, even when they're as apparently unignorable as a ruddy great stone giant looming (conveniently devoid of nips or junk, granted) above the whole town. Fadumo, new in town, gets a job at what's left of the local paper, and wants to dig into the secrets – but we learn early on that she's from Mogadishu, has some things in her own past she'd rather not go into, and eventually she comes to see the advantages of Stoneshore's determination not to rock the boat. Which is an unexpected theme for a left-leaning story, or probably any story nowadays, isn't it? But echoes all the better for that, especially with black and white art which, if it sometimes falters on the rare action scenes, does a great job of establishing a wintery, crepuscular mood of restful decline.

[Elizabeth A · Rating 3 out of 5]

What is it about strange and eerie tales set in the Pacific Northwest? This graphic novel is set in a small town on the edge of the world. One day a stranger appears and decides to investigate local secrets. I liked the illustration style and the claustrophobic feel of this one.

[Timothy Grubbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story about a small town with secrets…but also a sense of community…

The Stoneshore Register by G. Willow Wilson is a fun little graphic novel with a bit of mystery to it…the quirky fun type.

Stoneshore, Washington is a declining fishing town in the Pacific Northwest. It doesn’t have much to offer to outsiders outside of the Stoneshore Giant, a massive status which is part of a coastal mountain…an impressive work of art few know the history of…or even who created it…

Into this small community comes a young woman seeking refuge and a job at the local paper…

As she learns about the town and its inhabitants, she starts to question what its secrets are…and what lives the citizens lead to ignore the mysteries around them…

It’s a nice little yarn with decent people…and I feel it might hint at something in the future.

I liked stories about small town journalism…and graphic novels about the subject are even rarer…

[Mark Will Never Cry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came into this book not expecting much (that's a lie, I expected the worst), but I really loved this!
Fadumo arrives into a distant little town seeking escape from something that she feels unable to talk about and discovers the community and the magic of Stoneshore. It's a story about acceptance and community, as well as the paranormal mysteries of a new place and it's amazing.
There is zero hype around this book and I do not understand why as it's amazing!
I will probably try to acquire a physical version and reread it after some time to figure out whether or not to give it 5 stars (I only give 5 stars to books that stay with me and I am still considering that with this one)

[Kyle Spishock · Rating 2 out of 5]

A refugee volunteers to work as an investigative journalist at an island’s local newspaper. She finds some of the residents harbor mystical features. A mysterious giant statue presided over them all.
The art and narrative is readable, but the lack of payoff besides a blatant pretentious allegory to the immigrant collective experience, knocks it down several pegs.

[Jack Vinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pacific NW is strange.

And it takes a stranger to point it out. We get a slice of life in an old sea coast town that is slowly fading, barring its strange stone giant sitting over the town. What is that all about?

[Sheridan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dumbest, most unrealistic shit I’ve ever read - and I read about aliens crash-landing on Earth and making friends. That’s a fantastic read.

The main character is unlikable at best: relentlessly pushing to uncover everyone else’s secrets while refusing to give up anything about herself. Not a trope I enjoy at the best of times. I pushed through a book that promised mystery and/or the supernatural and got absolutely nothing in return, except a “well, you chose us so we choose you” ending full of happy-go-lucky small-town family vibes - while answering literally none of the storylines it set up.

There isn’t even a cliffhanger to justify the lack of resolution (and even if there were, I wouldn’t read the next volume).

None of the characters give you anything. The story feels directionless and ultimately abandons its own mystery in favor of a vague “look at how humanity can be accepting of differences” message.

Spoilers ahead:
The biggest mystery is why an entire town protects a stranger -who arrives questioning everyone- when immigration comes to town. This includes a woman who has just given birth and was yelled at by the protagonist on the previous page. Why introduce mysteries throughout the *entire* book only to refuse to answer any of them and wrap up the final chapter (19 of 20 pages) with lines like:

“They’re not questions to be answered. They are truths to be considered.”
“The Giant is the Giant.”
“Fadumo is Fadumo.”
“And Stoneshore is us.”

WHAT.

[Artur Coelho · Rating 4 out of 5]

Já tinha saudades da voz narrativa de G. Willow Wilson, que na Vertigo assinou o fabuloso Air. A dupla clássica Wilson e M.K. Perker voltam a reunir-se para contar uma daquelas histórias de realismo mágico em que a argumentista é excelente. Neste Stoneshore Register, acompanhamos uma refugiada somali que encontra emprego como jornalista no jornal local de uma pequena e isolada vila à beira do oceano pacífico. Uma vila com a peculiaridade de estar à sombra de um gigante de pedra. O jornal é um one man show, onde o editor faz todo o trabalho, e a vila está numa aparente decadência. Intrigada pelos mistérios da terra e das suas gentes, a refugiada provoca algumas irritações nos seus habitantes pela forma como questiona situações estranhas que são vistas como normais pelos locais. Da sombra do gigante aos súbitos desaparecimentos e reaparecimentos de crianças, passando pelas lendas de uma mulher esbelta que sai das ondas, a jornalista esbarra sempre com a normalização dos habitantes. Mas, no final, perante a ameaça de agentes da imigração que buscam a refugiada, a comunidade une-se para a ocultar e proteger, mostrando que também ela, com os seus mistérios e traumas de fuga à guerra, se tornou parte dos sergredos da terra.

[Clint · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m sympathetic to its message about immigrants and journalists, but this is badly written and not much better drawn.

The art is very static, with most scenes looking frozen in a held pose. Black and white comics can look great, but this one doesn’t seem uncolored but instead like it was colored normally and then desaturated into greyscale; the end result relies on none of the techniques that good uncolored comics use to add texture or visual distinction and instead just looks like a colored comic with a very narrow range of same-y color choices.

The writing is boring and plodding, with no compelling characters, just ciphers for Wilson to lay out her ponderous allegory. Related to that, the main character regularly drops hints about the trauma of her immigration travel experience to other characters but then forcefully refuses to get into it when anyone asks with care about it; this feels incredibly false to my own experiences around people who are intensely private about their past hardships (e.g. they aren’t teasing out hints to begin with) but also false about people who regularly hint at their past hardships (e.g. they generally can’t wait to overshare about it).

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young Somali refugee, Fadumo, comes to Stoneshore, a town on the Pacific coast of Pugetopia, looking for a job and a place as far away from some undefined point as she can get. The editor of the local paper takes her in, gives her a place to stay and a stipend, and access to an old typewriter.

Fadumo is most interested in the big-ass statute that looms over the town. No one seems to know where it comes from and no one but her seems all that interested. An Lummi fisherman tells her to ask different questions. She does.

Over the next three months, she writes stories about the school play; the birth of twins; a retiring fishing ship. She becomes part of the community despite being a hijabi who asks obnoxious questions.

A sweet story about the big mysteries we learn to live with, on the communities we build together, and on welcoming the stranger.

[Skip · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Wilson's Alif the Unseen and am waiting for something else that good from her. Not this one, unfortunately. Fadumo, a Somalian refugee, travels to a small, dying fishing town in the Pacific Northwest, and convinces the newspaper published to hire her, including an small apartment upstairs from the office. A colossal stone giant overlooks the town, which has more than its fair share of secrets, and Fadumo starts asking investigative questions about the statue and secrets. But, when government agents come looking for her, nobody squeals. Neither enough plot nor character development for me.

[Mee Too · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of the reviews on here mentioned immigrants, global locations, story plots etc etc…

Which are things i didn’t even pay much attention. I believe the story was just a vessel and the art, decoration. The writing was lovely and repetitive. Which lead me to believe the whole book was just trying to deliver a message.

I felt the focus of the writing was more about accepting and moving forward. To accept oneself and others. To understand that we all are just portraying stories. The stories that are told to us, that we blindly believe, and the ones we tell ourselves. Sometimes we need to just let people be, to let ourselves, just be…

3.5

[Thom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note: I received access to read this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. I really liked this story. The main character wants to get to know the town. The town gets to know her. The mythology is interesting and by the end you understand why the town acts the way to does with respect to its legends by how it treats its citizens. Beautiful story with great artwork that I wish was in color. Excellent pacing. I could take or leave a sequel because I'm satisfied by the ending but long to see more.

[Katra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A hauntingly illustrated graphic novel taking place in a magically ordinary small town where questions go unanswered and increasingly unasked, where it's taken for granted that there's a stone giant watching over the town, and any given seal could turn into a woman in the dark. It's a perfect place for a refugee trying to make a start, but trying to make sense of it . . . just accept and go on. It's a town where every one of the misfits has a backstory and each one will defiantly defend the others - which these days is magical all by itself.

p-n, s-n, v-n

[Shannon Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story about secrets, small towns, giants, and the stories and secrets we keep. A powerful story and a hopeful antidote to many stories all too prevalent in our world today. Highly recommended. Beautifully crafted and captures a richly detailed world and characters. This feels like a lived in world full of characters I want to get to know and stories that need to be told.

[AllyP Reads Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay read but kinda preachy. Plus it made no sense why the newbie in town wanted so many explanations for the odd things about. Nobody else cared so stop asking. If the statue has always been there, no one is going to know why it's there so you won't get any answers. Move on to the next town that may be a bit more normal for you.

[Ian Rapson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Do you ever read a book and wonder why? Why was this written. Why would an artist agree to do art? Why would a publisher publish it?

Bad art. Boring writing. Half of an idea of a story. Struggled to finish but was really hoping that the author had a vision for the ending. Nope. Why?

[The_J · Rating 1 out of 5]

Costal Washinton state town, big Stone Giant, and an odd magical seal transformation tease, but really this is all about supporting illegal immigration. How dare someone with no right to be in the country be expelled, as a small town we will stand against the evil ICE agents.

[Nick Gregorio · Rating 4 out of 5]

A succinct and beautiful modern near-fable with hope and optimism in its soul, told with tremendous artwork and lovely writing. It’s mysterious in the same way learning about a new place and new people can be—a little exciting, kind of spooky, and completely unique.

[Kathryn]

Moving story about the magic of community.

[Michael Howley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well that was unexpectedly timely

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

One part northwest small town, one part X-files, and one part social commentary. Really enjoyed it.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fantastic. I love G. Willow Wilson so I was already looking forward to this but it exceeded my expectations. The artwork is gorgeous and the characters mysterious and interesting.

[Yossarianxxi · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lovely graphic novel about secrets & community

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75*

[Andy Hickman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Stoneshore Register. G. Willow Wilson, M.K. Perker.
Quasi-supernatural tale of a small fishing town through the lens of former-refugee now news reporter.
Good read, warm characters ****

[Julian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite good, and timely. I wish it had been a bit longer.

[Michael Daines · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5)

“The Stoneshore Register” has African refugee Fadumo arriving in a small, isolated Pacific Northwest fishing town. She gets herself hired on at the local paper and quickly becomes obsessed with uncovering town secrets that no one seems interesting in thinking about. The overall story is interesting, but the portrayal of Fadumo’s obsession versus just acclimating to the town feel a little too stiff for my taste.

G. Willow Wilson is behind the “Bird King” series, as well as the early Ms. Marvel reboot from ten years ago, so I generally like her work, though this wouldn’t be my first recommendation for her.