3 out of 4 stars
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Since the fantasy genre has become more popular, there are quite a few books that like to poke fun at some popular tropes in fantasy. Some satires are woven throughout a genuine story. Some play around with story tropes. And some satires throw caution to the wind and just go all out. That is Fish Wielder.
If I were to describe Fish Wielder in one word, it would be “ridiculous.” This book takes the idea of a satire and sprints away with it, creating this story that includes practically every trope in the high fantasy genre, and then some. And it never shies away from the fact that it is a satire; in fact, it’s usually beating you over the head with a magical sword that it’s a satire.
Fish Wielder has a lot of great humor and dialogue to it. Since the book doesn’t take itself too seriously, you can’t really take any of the characters super seriously either. Even their more serious moments are pretty entertaining. The interactions between the main characters range from sarcastic to a bit absurd, and it definitely creates some laugh-out-loud moments.
The biggest problem I had with this book may be due to my own personal taste. I found that the satire was a bit too over the top and obvious. While I didn’t mind the craziness of this satire (though I like my satires to have a little more subtlety), there were moments in the book where I wasn’t sure if I was reading satire or just bad writing. The fact that the line between these two tended to get blurred a lot was a strike against it for me.
I also had a harder time getting into the book initially. The beginning was a bit slow and I didn’t find the characters that engaging at first. As I progressed through the story, I did get more intrigued, but those first few chapters were pretty rough.
I give Fish Wielder 3 out of 4 stars. It has a lot of fun humor and is a great silly adventure that you can get lost in. But the heavy-handed satire can be a bit much at times. If reading a fantasy book that reminds you of Monty Python isn’t really your thing, you may want to skip this book. But if you’re looking for a ridiculous satire of fantasy that likes to poke fun at everything, you should definitely check out Fish Wielder.
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Fish Wielder
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