Review by Literacy_Aunty -- Fish Wielder

[Literacy_Aunty]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Fish Wielder" by J.R.R.R. (Jim) Hardison.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Fish Wielder

As a long time lover of satire and especially satirical renderings of the fantasy genre I approached the reading of Fish Wielder with much anticipation. Billed as a novel comparable to those written by two of my favourite authors, Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams: this book did not quite meet my expectations so as a result I give it a rating of 2 out of 4 stars.

Fish Wielder begins with our hero drowning in his cups with his stalwart friend Bradfast attempting to jolly him out of his doldrums with a new quest. The idea of a death defying road trip sparks new life in Thoral Mighty Fist and off they head to search for adventure.

The two old friends are met at every corner with violence, disaster and destruction. The world is entirely against our hero, but he prevails again and again. As heroes do. With his magic sword at his side it seems that Thoral Fist Wielder is impervious to the danger he seeks. We begin to understand our hero as a fellow above reproach, one who values friendship and integrity above all.

The story meanders along in this fashion for quite some time. This is the aspect I did not like about the book and what leads me to give the 2 star rating. There are many places where excitement builds and the plot seems poised to take off into a nail biting quest but as we turn the page there has been a sudden unexplained passage of time and no particular action. The story has great potential but needs further editing to remove these blank areas-a shorter time span would bring this novel closer to its goal of delightful fantasy.
Towards the end of the book the prose does tighten up quite a bit. There are damsels rescued, enemies defeated and mysteries explained. Sometimes the unexpected foibles of humankind can truly mess a family up. When the story ventures into this area the plot accelerates and the book becomes much more fun to read. The satire becomes more apparent towards the middle and end of the novel as one starts to see beyond the cracks in the fantasy.

I enjoyed the very unexpected plot twist at the end of the book and actually found myself looking forward to a sequel due to the improvement as the story went along. There was a Narnia quality to the ending that I found quite intriguing. I think this book would appeal more widely to a Young Adult or junior audience as an introduction to the fantasy genre even if the satirical effort may escape a younger reader.


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Fish Wielder
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