Review by Blindjew -- Fish Wielder
Posted: 22 Sep 2019, 03:42
[Following is a volunteer review of "Fish Wielder" by J.R.R.R. (Jim) Hardison.]
2 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
When I started listening to Fish Wielder, I went in with the expectation of humor and silliness. The author's listed panname, J.R.R.R (Jim) Hardison, helped lay that foundation,and the rampan tale of Thoral, a fist-happy barbarian, and his cynical and scaled companion, Brad, builds a solid story upon it. With Tolkien-inspired themes and a quintessential conflict of good versus evil with the very world at stake, the plot thickens like a congealing pudding or perfectly frozen gelato.
The book carries elements of Tolkien fantasy mingled with elements akin to high fantasy and science fiction such as Conan the Barbarian, Chronicles of Narnia, and Heavy Metal. It flows much like a cartoon series, each chapter a section of story that would be a scene or a short section of an episode with commercial breaks. The humor is displayed in a self-aware writing style reminiscent of Robert Asprin, Douglas Adams, Terry Prachett, or Piers Anthony, but it lacks the quasi-historical/cultural tangential anecdotes that really add to the world of those authors' pieces.
I am giving the book a total rating of 2 out of 4 stars due to desired elements not existing in a comedic fantasy and some writing style choices that I did not enjoy as much. The spelling and grammar were superbly edited, and I didn't find any errors in it while listening using text-to-speech software. As Thoral's narrative progressed, I found myself enjoying the nature of the character, finding a lot more depth to him than the first inklings led me to believe.
What I enjoyed most about Fish Wielder was its characters. It contains many caricatures of staple fantasy tropes, such as the barbarian hero, the talking animal companion, the evil mastermind, and the aged, self-sacrificing advisor, and the story played them out well, but it also adds in twists of flavor to make them less cliche and more enjoyable. Side characters that might be considered inconsequential in another story are given stronger roles and reappear in other scenes where you might not have expected them, such as a town guard showing up during a climactic scene.
The largest trouble I had with the book had to do with stylistic choices. In creating a meta atmosphere, there were many overly redundant statements, such as the "dark shadow depths of darkness" or similar choices of sans thesaurus language. This popped up quite often during the narrative. The writing's self-referencing on its characters while within the story isn't a terrible choice, but where other writers would splice in some world-building through it, the choices were only supported as being that was just how it is. That, in and of itself, is mildly funny, but it's not what I look for in such a piece.
I'd certainly suggest this work to others, likely young adults who already have a taste for fantasy and need stepping stones towards more world-intensive, immersive works such as Terry Prachett's [is]Discworld[/i] series or Piers Anthony's Xanth series or others by like authors. I would especially suggest it to those who’ve already read The Lord of the Rings due to how much the piece makes light of those books, and the inside jokes would play well.
******
Fish Wielder
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
2 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
When I started listening to Fish Wielder, I went in with the expectation of humor and silliness. The author's listed panname, J.R.R.R (Jim) Hardison, helped lay that foundation,and the rampan tale of Thoral, a fist-happy barbarian, and his cynical and scaled companion, Brad, builds a solid story upon it. With Tolkien-inspired themes and a quintessential conflict of good versus evil with the very world at stake, the plot thickens like a congealing pudding or perfectly frozen gelato.
The book carries elements of Tolkien fantasy mingled with elements akin to high fantasy and science fiction such as Conan the Barbarian, Chronicles of Narnia, and Heavy Metal. It flows much like a cartoon series, each chapter a section of story that would be a scene or a short section of an episode with commercial breaks. The humor is displayed in a self-aware writing style reminiscent of Robert Asprin, Douglas Adams, Terry Prachett, or Piers Anthony, but it lacks the quasi-historical/cultural tangential anecdotes that really add to the world of those authors' pieces.
I am giving the book a total rating of 2 out of 4 stars due to desired elements not existing in a comedic fantasy and some writing style choices that I did not enjoy as much. The spelling and grammar were superbly edited, and I didn't find any errors in it while listening using text-to-speech software. As Thoral's narrative progressed, I found myself enjoying the nature of the character, finding a lot more depth to him than the first inklings led me to believe.
What I enjoyed most about Fish Wielder was its characters. It contains many caricatures of staple fantasy tropes, such as the barbarian hero, the talking animal companion, the evil mastermind, and the aged, self-sacrificing advisor, and the story played them out well, but it also adds in twists of flavor to make them less cliche and more enjoyable. Side characters that might be considered inconsequential in another story are given stronger roles and reappear in other scenes where you might not have expected them, such as a town guard showing up during a climactic scene.
The largest trouble I had with the book had to do with stylistic choices. In creating a meta atmosphere, there were many overly redundant statements, such as the "dark shadow depths of darkness" or similar choices of sans thesaurus language. This popped up quite often during the narrative. The writing's self-referencing on its characters while within the story isn't a terrible choice, but where other writers would splice in some world-building through it, the choices were only supported as being that was just how it is. That, in and of itself, is mildly funny, but it's not what I look for in such a piece.
I'd certainly suggest this work to others, likely young adults who already have a taste for fantasy and need stepping stones towards more world-intensive, immersive works such as Terry Prachett's [is]Discworld[/i] series or Piers Anthony's Xanth series or others by like authors. I would especially suggest it to those who’ve already read The Lord of the Rings due to how much the piece makes light of those books, and the inside jokes would play well.
******
Fish Wielder
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon