Fractured Book Review: Kings of the Wyld

Fantasy Humor

Fantasy Humor?  How much of that do you see these days with GrimDark all the rage?  But here it is, and it’s good, really good.  Like most humor, the humor here relies on character and situation, and Eames really knocks the characters and situations out of the park.

Welcome to a world of monsters and mercenaries. Because of all the monsters, mercenaries are in such great demand that they have booking agents.  If the price is right you can book one over the weekend to rid your town of pesky minotaurs or some such monsters.  (Dragons cost extra.)  But don’t wait until the last minute, the demand is great and tickets are selling fast.

Meet Saga, the most famous mercenary band of them all.  The most badass band of them all.  The most legendary band of them all.  The most retired band of them all.  They've been retired for 20 years now.  They thought it was for good.  But what do mercenaries know? 

They had plans: Settle down, marry, get a a nice job down at the mill or sentry duty on top of the city wall, buy a little plot of land,  build a cottage, get a dog, and maybe have a child or two.  Life was going to be easy.

What they didn’t count on was any of their children following in their footsteps.  And now one of them has gone off and gotten herself trapped in the city of Castia besieged by a horde of monsters — dragons, Wyverns, Chimeras, Miniataurs, Centaurs, giant worms, trolls, walking trees, and cannibals.  Cannibals?  And, no, sorry, no dwarves.

So out of the mothballs come the swords and hatchets -- Saga is on the march again.  The same old guys, just a little older, a little heavier, maybe with a trick knee or two and sword and hatchet swings that aren’t what they used to be.  Okay, they’re a bit rusty, but come on, this is Saga we’re talking about, and they are legends.

My personal favorite character is Moog, the band wizard and professor at the only university.  He doesn’t carry a sword or hatchet because he's a man of science.  No, Moog throws incantations and smoldering concoctions of his own making at the enemy. 

Then there is the band bard.  Every band has a bard whose responsibility it is to tell tall tales about his band’s exploits.  Kit, Saga’s bard, looks a bit desiccated with scars and holes all over his body on account of he died over a thousand years ago.  His smile is to die for.  Kit is artistic, intelligent, worldly — after all he’s been around for over a millennium — and mild-mannered.  That is until you call him a zombie.  Don’t call Kit a zombie.  That’s an insult, it makes him mad.  Call him a ghoul. That’s what he is, a ghoul.

The bench is deep with a grand supporting cast:  there is Jain and her Silver Archers, Kallorean, Saga’s old booking agent, and Larkspur, the bounty hunter.  You don’t want to mess with Larkspur.

There is Fantasy's requisite body count, and now and then you’ll have to dodge the errant body part, but at its heart, <i>Kings of the Wyld</i> is fine comedy.  At times the humor is subtle, at other times it is downright knee-slapping.  I hadn’t laughed this much in a long time.

I highly recommend reading the Kings of the Wyld for sheer entertainment.

Comments

  1. MudpuddleFebruary 18, 2018 at 4:29 PM

    as in Moog Synthesizer? and the band getting back together? sort of Terry Pratchettish... but that's not bad at all; sometimes, at my advanced age, i think books that take one into a remote, familiar world are the best...

    ReplyDelete
  2. ShadowFebruary 18, 2018 at 5:27 PM

    I've only read one thing by Pratchett, and, yes, it is a bit like that. I had rejected Fantasy. Tried Jordan's Eye of the World and threw it against the wall. Tolkien wasn't much better. But recently I tried again and had a much better experience -- Steve Erickson, Brandon Sanderson, Tad Williams, Rothfuss. Currently I'm enjoying Williams' Otherworld series. Liking it a lot. Great storytellers and world builders in the Fantasy Genre.

    ReplyDelete
  3. sam kirubakarJuly 6, 2022 at 6:43 AM

    Very Informative and creative contents. This concept is a good way to enhance the knowledge. thanks for sharing.
    Continue to share your knowledge through articles like these, and keep posting more blogs.
    And more Information React native for mobile application development



    ReplyDelete

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