3 out of 4 stars
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Fish wielder, by J.R.R.R. (Jim) Hardison
The promotional comments for this book describe it as being in the tradition of Douglas Adams and Piers Anthony, and suggest it will be a silly sort of funny. Having read it I agree, though this one is more Piers Anthony than Adams. It’s a barbarian adventure in an imaginary foreign land little by way of technology and lots of magic potions and evil wizards.
Our hero, Thoral Mighty Fist, is described as “… the toughest, most mysterious and manly fighter in all the mystical world of Grome” and we meet him as we might expect in the dark corner of a pub drinking ale, and considering either a fight or an adventure. We them follow him and his sidekick Brad off on an adventure that is simultaneously ever so familiar and yet in its own way new and different. For one thing, Brad is described as a Koi fish who cannot swim, who rides with Thoral in a belt pouch. It is a little odd, but that’s how the humor works in this book.
This is a new take on a classic story, and an engaging one on several levels. I really enjoyed the language, so like that of every book in the fantasy section of your local bookseller and yet not quite. Overblown in ways to make the whole genre funny, as when we read, that Thoral, “… had chiseled features and a head of thick, golden hair that curled about his massive shoulders. … His glorious hair notwithstanding, his most striking feature was his piercing gaze.” Our hero's horse is called "Warlordhorse", and described in terms very similar to those used to describe Shadowfax lord of the horses in the Lord of the Rings. In other places, though the language changes as if as an in-joke with the reader, as when we read; “Of course, that’s when the evil sorcerer sprang on him.” These bits were a bit jarring to me at first, but this kind of thing has its appeal, and in places actually made me laugh. If you liked the parody "Bored of the rings" you will probably like these bits.
At times, however, particularly early in the book I started to feel the story dragged a bit, and like the plot was that of a RPG. But, as we came towards the end some truly original twists to the plot really brought my interest back up. I won’t give anything away to say that all is not what it seems in Grome and the people in this story aren’t always who you think.
I give the whole thing a rating of 3 out of 4 stars. This isn’t profound stuff and it’s won’t change your life or even your mind, but it’s for fun and that it does well. I found no typographical or grammatical errors here, though I may have missed one or two enjoying the story as I was. The layout is nice and clean – easy to read.
******
Fish Wielder
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