Review by Norach -- Fish Wielder by J.R.R.R. (Jim) Hardison
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Review by Norach -- Fish Wielder by J.R.R.R. (Jim) Hardison
[Following is a volunteer review of "Fish Wielder" by J.R.R.R. (Jim) Hardison.]
2 out of 4 stars
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Fish Wielder is a parody of every Lord of the Rings inspired high fantasy novel, replete with on the nose pop culture references, bizarrely named characters and locales, and a plot mostly driven by whatever feat of inhuman strength or endurance is required at that moment to keep the characters breathing. It follows Thoral Mighty Fist on his journey to destroy the followers of the Bad Religion, whose leader is bent on acquiring an ancient magic pudding and destroying the world.
The author's (Jim Hardison) background in animation and graphic novels shines through in Fish Wielder's fast pace and myriad twists, but his obvious inexperience with prose is just as clear. Whilst reading, I was frequently struck by how cool a fight scene or image would be, if only it had been handled by an author with more depth to his prose. The entire novel reads as though it has been hastily reimagined from a graphic novel, or from a scrapped screenplay that never got past storyboarding. The chapters are short and snappy, and we never have more than a few paragraphs dwelling on a single location, person, or event. This break neck pacing keeps you from ever taking a breath and questioning the internal logic of the world, which is proof that the novel knows what it is, an absurd parody romp, and has no intention of being anything else.
Although we learn many surprising things about our main character, Thoral Mighty Fist, throughout the book he remains solidly in the role of the archetypal kind hearted barbarian. The closest thing to an arc he's given is that he decides to stop drinking towards the end. However, that change comes seemingly from nowhere. We know, as the audience, that excessive drinking is a bad thing, but his drinking never has any drawbacks or consequences beyond a few throwaway lines during fights about how he's slightly impaired by wine, which makes it hard to believe as an alleged vice. This lack of depth didn't ruin the story for me, but I would have liked more time spent on our main character, rather than single line statements about how he's feeling.
The jokes, which are the main attraction to a novel like this, can be split into two categories. Firstly, we have Hardison's taking the tropes of High Fantasy, such as unpronounceable names, and turning the dial to 11 (Thoral's horse is named as one of the last of the Brendylschmylyn). These jokes do their job of making it abundantly clear that nothing is to be taken seriously. Beyond that, it's the same fare as has been getting drunk D&D players to giggle into their beers for years.
The second kind of joke is the deliberate inversion of the reader's expectations. It's here where Hardison's prose bites him. That Tofu and Futon are supposedly commonplace elven names is funny because up until then we've only met characters such as Elfrod and Dimsel. What is not funny is several paragraphs describing Thoral creasing upon learning them, and how incredibly funny he finds the names. The unfortunate thing is that here, as with many of the jokes throughout, the glimmer of a genuinely funny joke is there, but buried by the prose.
I'd give Fish Wielder a 2 out of 4.
This is Hardison's first novel, and I'm sure his skill with the written word will increase with practice. He plainly has a good ear for structure and for comedy, even if the latter needs some heavy refinement. Personally, I found the writing clunky, but was carried through by the solid pace and genuinely unpredictable plot. If you're looking for a decent enough romp through a fantasy land that's an amalgamation of every fantasy novel ever written and embraces it, then this could well be the book for you. If you're put off by one note humour and writing that smacks of “What I did on my holidays”, give it a pass.
******
Fish Wielder
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Like Norach's review? Post a comment saying so!
2 out of 4 stars
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Fish Wielder is a parody of every Lord of the Rings inspired high fantasy novel, replete with on the nose pop culture references, bizarrely named characters and locales, and a plot mostly driven by whatever feat of inhuman strength or endurance is required at that moment to keep the characters breathing. It follows Thoral Mighty Fist on his journey to destroy the followers of the Bad Religion, whose leader is bent on acquiring an ancient magic pudding and destroying the world.
The author's (Jim Hardison) background in animation and graphic novels shines through in Fish Wielder's fast pace and myriad twists, but his obvious inexperience with prose is just as clear. Whilst reading, I was frequently struck by how cool a fight scene or image would be, if only it had been handled by an author with more depth to his prose. The entire novel reads as though it has been hastily reimagined from a graphic novel, or from a scrapped screenplay that never got past storyboarding. The chapters are short and snappy, and we never have more than a few paragraphs dwelling on a single location, person, or event. This break neck pacing keeps you from ever taking a breath and questioning the internal logic of the world, which is proof that the novel knows what it is, an absurd parody romp, and has no intention of being anything else.
Although we learn many surprising things about our main character, Thoral Mighty Fist, throughout the book he remains solidly in the role of the archetypal kind hearted barbarian. The closest thing to an arc he's given is that he decides to stop drinking towards the end. However, that change comes seemingly from nowhere. We know, as the audience, that excessive drinking is a bad thing, but his drinking never has any drawbacks or consequences beyond a few throwaway lines during fights about how he's slightly impaired by wine, which makes it hard to believe as an alleged vice. This lack of depth didn't ruin the story for me, but I would have liked more time spent on our main character, rather than single line statements about how he's feeling.
The jokes, which are the main attraction to a novel like this, can be split into two categories. Firstly, we have Hardison's taking the tropes of High Fantasy, such as unpronounceable names, and turning the dial to 11 (Thoral's horse is named as one of the last of the Brendylschmylyn). These jokes do their job of making it abundantly clear that nothing is to be taken seriously. Beyond that, it's the same fare as has been getting drunk D&D players to giggle into their beers for years.
The second kind of joke is the deliberate inversion of the reader's expectations. It's here where Hardison's prose bites him. That Tofu and Futon are supposedly commonplace elven names is funny because up until then we've only met characters such as Elfrod and Dimsel. What is not funny is several paragraphs describing Thoral creasing upon learning them, and how incredibly funny he finds the names. The unfortunate thing is that here, as with many of the jokes throughout, the glimmer of a genuinely funny joke is there, but buried by the prose.
I'd give Fish Wielder a 2 out of 4.
This is Hardison's first novel, and I'm sure his skill with the written word will increase with practice. He plainly has a good ear for structure and for comedy, even if the latter needs some heavy refinement. Personally, I found the writing clunky, but was carried through by the solid pace and genuinely unpredictable plot. If you're looking for a decent enough romp through a fantasy land that's an amalgamation of every fantasy novel ever written and embraces it, then this could well be the book for you. If you're put off by one note humour and writing that smacks of “What I did on my holidays”, give it a pass.
******
Fish Wielder
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Like Norach's review? Post a comment saying so!
