Review by Misa Appiah -- Fish Wielder
Posted: 18 Dec 2018, 07:50
[Following is a volunteer review of "Fish Wielder" by J.R.R.R. (Jim) Hardison.]
3 out of 4 stars
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Fish Wielder, written by J.R.R.R. (Jim) Hardison, is a fantasy novel that has much more in common with the whimsical and surreal misadventures found within Terry Pratchett's Discworld series than with more typical fantasy stories such as Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones. There is a barbarian hero called Thoral Mighty Fist, elves and monsters and a talking fish named Brad who is our hero's loyal companion. There is also a Pudding of Power, an evil being known as the Heartless One and the sinister schemes of the Bad Religion.
The story is set in a world known as Grome where the absurd and unlikely is ordinary. The book takes the usual tropes of the genre and plays with them for comedy. Instead of the usual MacGuffin like the Ring of Power from the Lord of the Rings trilogy the novel has the already mentioned Pudding of Power, which is a chocolate pudding that grants its eater supreme power. The barbarian hero who is famous and feared throughout Grome dresses like a pirate and travels with a talking fish that he saved from drowning an a horse that despite not being able to talk is included in every conversation. You also have an obviously evil cult known as the Bad Religion.
Fish Wielder offers the reader a tongue in cheek fantasy adventure and a hero's journey that is comedic and also has an interesting and well developed cast of characters. You might expect a comedy/parody style story to not have the same attention paid to the development of characters but Thoral has a well written and quite tragic backstory that is why he is found drowning his sorrows at the start of the story. There is a lot of mystery around Thoral's past and origin that unfolds gradually during the novel. The heroes fight monsters and the plans of an evil religion and amidst the jokes and odd circumstances form a fellowship with strong bonds.
Unfortunately to get to the quest for the MacGuffin that forms the main story of the novel you need to get through several chapters of disconnected incidents that seem to have very little in common and this can feel somewhat jarring. The Pudding of Power is not mentioned until chapter fifteen and there is no foreshadowing for its appearance in the story. The pacing of the story is potentially a deterrent for a reader not patient enough to get to the point in the book where the story truly starts. This is certainly not a book for someone looking for a traditional epic fantasy story about good and evil and the style of humor is fairly juvenile.
While I did enjoy Fish Wielder quite a lot the pacing problems prevent me from give this book a full 4 star rating so I am rating it 3 out of 4 stars. If you are a fan of Terry Pratchett you'll probably enjoy Fish Wielder.
******
Fish Wielder
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Like Misa Appiah's review? Post a comment saying so!
3 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
Fish Wielder, written by J.R.R.R. (Jim) Hardison, is a fantasy novel that has much more in common with the whimsical and surreal misadventures found within Terry Pratchett's Discworld series than with more typical fantasy stories such as Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones. There is a barbarian hero called Thoral Mighty Fist, elves and monsters and a talking fish named Brad who is our hero's loyal companion. There is also a Pudding of Power, an evil being known as the Heartless One and the sinister schemes of the Bad Religion.
The story is set in a world known as Grome where the absurd and unlikely is ordinary. The book takes the usual tropes of the genre and plays with them for comedy. Instead of the usual MacGuffin like the Ring of Power from the Lord of the Rings trilogy the novel has the already mentioned Pudding of Power, which is a chocolate pudding that grants its eater supreme power. The barbarian hero who is famous and feared throughout Grome dresses like a pirate and travels with a talking fish that he saved from drowning an a horse that despite not being able to talk is included in every conversation. You also have an obviously evil cult known as the Bad Religion.
Fish Wielder offers the reader a tongue in cheek fantasy adventure and a hero's journey that is comedic and also has an interesting and well developed cast of characters. You might expect a comedy/parody style story to not have the same attention paid to the development of characters but Thoral has a well written and quite tragic backstory that is why he is found drowning his sorrows at the start of the story. There is a lot of mystery around Thoral's past and origin that unfolds gradually during the novel. The heroes fight monsters and the plans of an evil religion and amidst the jokes and odd circumstances form a fellowship with strong bonds.
Unfortunately to get to the quest for the MacGuffin that forms the main story of the novel you need to get through several chapters of disconnected incidents that seem to have very little in common and this can feel somewhat jarring. The Pudding of Power is not mentioned until chapter fifteen and there is no foreshadowing for its appearance in the story. The pacing of the story is potentially a deterrent for a reader not patient enough to get to the point in the book where the story truly starts. This is certainly not a book for someone looking for a traditional epic fantasy story about good and evil and the style of humor is fairly juvenile.
While I did enjoy Fish Wielder quite a lot the pacing problems prevent me from give this book a full 4 star rating so I am rating it 3 out of 4 stars. If you are a fan of Terry Pratchett you'll probably enjoy Fish Wielder.
******
Fish Wielder
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Like Misa Appiah's review? Post a comment saying so!