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The Dragon Lords #1
Fool's Gold
A brand new adventure fantasy: imagine Guardians of the Galaxy planning a heist on Smaug's gold, for fans looking for something with a modern twist and some humor.
Guardians of the Galaxy meets The Hobbit in this rollicking fantasy adventure.
It's not easy to live in a world ruled by dragons. The taxes are high and their control is complete. But for one group of bold misfits, it's time to band together and steal back some of that wealth.
No one said they were smart.
Guardians of the Galaxy meets The Hobbit in this rollicking fantasy adventure.
It's not easy to live in a world ruled by dragons. The taxes are high and their control is complete. But for one group of bold misfits, it's time to band together and steal back some of that wealth.
No one said they were smart.
516 pages, Paperback
First published July 19, 2016
About the author
Jon Hollins
3 books114 followersJon Hollins is a pseudonym for urban fantasy author Jonathan Wood
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 252 reviews
August 6, 2016
3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2016/08/06/...
I’ll admit, it hasn’t exactly been a smooth year for me when it comes to fiction and humor. Excitement over highly anticipated satire and parodic works have mostly fizzled after finding out they are in fact not what I had in mind. Undeterred though, I decided to leap next into The Dragon Lords: Fool’s Gold, intrigued by its “Guardians of the Galaxy meets The Hobbit” tagline and hoping against hope that I’ll finally get the fantasy comedy I’ve been searching for.
The premise sounded promising enough, featuring a tale about an unlikely band of adventurers who’ve gotten it into their addled heads to rob a dragon. Before everything in his world turned upside down, Will Fallows was just another unassuming farm boy from a poor little village (literally called, The Village…the people are too downtrodden to be inspired) in Kondorra Valley, doing his best to make ends meet. However, each year the rising taxes demanded by the Dragon Consortium makes it that much harder to do, until one day, the moment that Will has been dreading all his life finally comes. With no warning at all, the dragon lord Mattrax’s soldiers show up at his door to seize his farm.
Left with nothing to his name, Will suddenly finds himself in the company of two traveling mercenaries, the skilled fighter Lette and her partner the eight-foot-tall lizard man Balur. After recruiting the help of a magically gifted university scholar named Quirk and an old drunkard named Firkin, the five of them conspire together to hatch up a plan to get revenge on Mattrax, the dragon who has been the cause of so much pain and suffering to the humans of the valley. It’s a totally crazy, stupid idea, one that Will knows has almost no chance of success. If they fail, they’ll bring doom upon all the people of Kondorra, and possibly to the world beyond. But if they can somehow pull this off? They’ll all be rewarded with riches beyond their imagination. The promise of gold beckons, and who knows, maybe this time fortune might actually favor the foolish.
Main reasons to check out this book: 1) if you think you’ll enjoy an epic fantasy seen through a modern humorous lens, and 2) if you’re like me and have a fondness for a good heist story. Many times throughout this one, I was reminded of Patrick Weekes’ Rogues of the Republic series, which contains a similar amount of humor, action, snappy dialogue, and creative solutions to unusual problems. Jon Hollins takes the zaniness further though, often putting his characters in ludicrous situations whenever things go wrong—and things actually do go wrong a lot in this story, despite our heroes’ careful planning (or rather, what they naively believe passes for careful planning). But hey, who wants to read about a heist that goes off without a hitch anyway? In this quirky tale, it’s the infighting and the unforeseen circumstances that makes things so entertaining.
Now for the reasons why you might want to take a pass on this book. If you like full immersion into a world, then this would not be for you. The Dragon Lords: Fool’s Gold is unabashedly tongue-in-cheek, with exaggerated characters and situations. It’s all done very cleverly, but it’ll be tough to get on board if you already that know fantasy comedy isn’t your cup of tea. Hollins is generous with the use of anachronisms, pop culture references and modern slang, but mind you, these are features, not defects. One only has to take a glimpse at the chapter titles to see what I mean, with hilarious headings like “We’re Going to Need a Bigger Boat”, “What’s in the Box?”, “Hubris is a Dish Best Served Charbroiled”, “Lying Liars and the Lies They Tell”, “The Inevitable Cliffhanger Chapter” and many, many more such examples. It’s meant to be pure fun, and pure fun is what you get. It’s also relatively light fare, which is to be expected. For humor fiction, the book might have run a little longer than I was happy with, but that’s really my biggest criticism, which is in no way a deal breaker in the greater scheme of things. For the most part Hollins does manage to keep the story moving along at a quick pace.
Audiobook Comments: I was also fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to listen to the audiobook edition, and it confirmed one of my long-held suspicions: humor works splendidly well in audio format! Narrator John Banks with his smooth accent and deep tones seemed like an odd choice of reader for this book at first, but I quickly came around. In fact, I think his serious, earnest style only emphasized the humor. More importantly, his performance also moderated some of the more absurd situations for me, whereas if I’d actually been reading the words on a page, I think I might have rolled my eyes at the same scenes. He’s also great with voices, and even his exaggerated ones for characters like Balur or Firkin somehow sounded completely natural and in keeping with their personalities. Overall, I would highly recommend this audiobook.
Bottom line: The Dragon Lords: Fool’s Gold is clever, adventurous and entertaining. If you’re looking for a light read with a fun plot and interesting characters, you won’t be disappointed.
I’ll admit, it hasn’t exactly been a smooth year for me when it comes to fiction and humor. Excitement over highly anticipated satire and parodic works have mostly fizzled after finding out they are in fact not what I had in mind. Undeterred though, I decided to leap next into The Dragon Lords: Fool’s Gold, intrigued by its “Guardians of the Galaxy meets The Hobbit” tagline and hoping against hope that I’ll finally get the fantasy comedy I’ve been searching for.
The premise sounded promising enough, featuring a tale about an unlikely band of adventurers who’ve gotten it into their addled heads to rob a dragon. Before everything in his world turned upside down, Will Fallows was just another unassuming farm boy from a poor little village (literally called, The Village…the people are too downtrodden to be inspired) in Kondorra Valley, doing his best to make ends meet. However, each year the rising taxes demanded by the Dragon Consortium makes it that much harder to do, until one day, the moment that Will has been dreading all his life finally comes. With no warning at all, the dragon lord Mattrax’s soldiers show up at his door to seize his farm.
Left with nothing to his name, Will suddenly finds himself in the company of two traveling mercenaries, the skilled fighter Lette and her partner the eight-foot-tall lizard man Balur. After recruiting the help of a magically gifted university scholar named Quirk and an old drunkard named Firkin, the five of them conspire together to hatch up a plan to get revenge on Mattrax, the dragon who has been the cause of so much pain and suffering to the humans of the valley. It’s a totally crazy, stupid idea, one that Will knows has almost no chance of success. If they fail, they’ll bring doom upon all the people of Kondorra, and possibly to the world beyond. But if they can somehow pull this off? They’ll all be rewarded with riches beyond their imagination. The promise of gold beckons, and who knows, maybe this time fortune might actually favor the foolish.
Main reasons to check out this book: 1) if you think you’ll enjoy an epic fantasy seen through a modern humorous lens, and 2) if you’re like me and have a fondness for a good heist story. Many times throughout this one, I was reminded of Patrick Weekes’ Rogues of the Republic series, which contains a similar amount of humor, action, snappy dialogue, and creative solutions to unusual problems. Jon Hollins takes the zaniness further though, often putting his characters in ludicrous situations whenever things go wrong—and things actually do go wrong a lot in this story, despite our heroes’ careful planning (or rather, what they naively believe passes for careful planning). But hey, who wants to read about a heist that goes off without a hitch anyway? In this quirky tale, it’s the infighting and the unforeseen circumstances that makes things so entertaining.
Now for the reasons why you might want to take a pass on this book. If you like full immersion into a world, then this would not be for you. The Dragon Lords: Fool’s Gold is unabashedly tongue-in-cheek, with exaggerated characters and situations. It’s all done very cleverly, but it’ll be tough to get on board if you already that know fantasy comedy isn’t your cup of tea. Hollins is generous with the use of anachronisms, pop culture references and modern slang, but mind you, these are features, not defects. One only has to take a glimpse at the chapter titles to see what I mean, with hilarious headings like “We’re Going to Need a Bigger Boat”, “What’s in the Box?”, “Hubris is a Dish Best Served Charbroiled”, “Lying Liars and the Lies They Tell”, “The Inevitable Cliffhanger Chapter” and many, many more such examples. It’s meant to be pure fun, and pure fun is what you get. It’s also relatively light fare, which is to be expected. For humor fiction, the book might have run a little longer than I was happy with, but that’s really my biggest criticism, which is in no way a deal breaker in the greater scheme of things. For the most part Hollins does manage to keep the story moving along at a quick pace.
Audiobook Comments: I was also fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to listen to the audiobook edition, and it confirmed one of my long-held suspicions: humor works splendidly well in audio format! Narrator John Banks with his smooth accent and deep tones seemed like an odd choice of reader for this book at first, but I quickly came around. In fact, I think his serious, earnest style only emphasized the humor. More importantly, his performance also moderated some of the more absurd situations for me, whereas if I’d actually been reading the words on a page, I think I might have rolled my eyes at the same scenes. He’s also great with voices, and even his exaggerated ones for characters like Balur or Firkin somehow sounded completely natural and in keeping with their personalities. Overall, I would highly recommend this audiobook.
Bottom line: The Dragon Lords: Fool’s Gold is clever, adventurous and entertaining. If you’re looking for a light read with a fun plot and interesting characters, you won’t be disappointed.
February 2, 2024
💀 DNF at 70%.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that I usually DNF books mercilessly, with zero remorse, shame, or guilt. But not this book. I felt so bad about burying it in the unfathomable depths of my DNF Graveyard that I held on to and wouldn't let go. I tried. Oh bloody shrimping hell of the stinking fish, how I tried. I would pick it up several times a day and read and read and read, but it was like my bloody Kindle reading progress thingie was stuck and just wouldn't bloody budge. I started the book on January 25 and by January 31 it felt like I'd been reading it since 1962 or something. I was exhausted! I needed out!
So why did I try so ridiculously hard to read this book if I wasn't enjoying it, you ask? Because I bloody WAS enjoying it!
Yeah yeah yeah, I know, it doesn't make much sense to DNF a story you are actually enjoying but this is what happened here. You see, the thing is, the book is really entertaining. Crazy schemes abound and there's action galore. There is a great cast of beautifully foul-mouthed characters and the dialogues are hilarious as fish. There are weaponized cows, giant eyeballs, and insolent sons of iguana slut lizards (some of them with sore throats) aplenty.
And again I hear you ask, "then why the bloody fish did you DNF the book?!" Because it is repetitive as shrimp. Yes, it's a fun story, but after a while it feels like you're reading the same chapter over and over and over and over and over and over again. And there are A LOT of chapters in this book. I mean, I stopped at #67 and still had 30% to go.
My thoughts exactly. And so, since I'm not a complete masochist and still have some sense of self-preservation left, I DNFed. Even though it's not a bad book at all and I was sort of kind of enjoying it 🙄🙄🙄. The end and stuff.
[Pre-review nonsense]
It's not that this book is bad, it's just that it feels like I've been reading it for the past 10 years of my life.
➽ Super Extra Short review to come and stuff.
June 3, 2017
A solid 4.5*s for this book and I am soooo happy I finally got around to this as it was EXACTLY what I was in the mood for and it was completely what I love. This follows a rag-tag group who live in a world filled with Gods and Dragons. The section of the world we're focused on is fairly similar to a 'classic' medieval fantasy, but the witty awareness of the author whilst writing made this book into something so much more than the average and I have to say that this is rude, lewd and crude throughout (but for me that was a large part of the charm!)
The section of the world we're focused on is ruled over by crazy evil dragon lords who are pretty beastly (as you can see by the cover illustration! Terrifying!). Mattrax is the dragon who rules over this particular spot of land and he's quite beastly!
We follow Will, a young man who owns a farm and is just trying to scrape by until one day his farm is taken by the Dragons and he has to abandon it and flee for his life. Will quickly meets our other main characters, Quirk, Lette and Balur and the four of them (plus a raving drunk man) concoct a plan to steal from Mattrax and get him back for all the horrors he's inflicted on Will and the other local's lives... things like (excuse my swearing) SHITTING on them as he flies by!
What I adored about this book was the fact that it truly kept me laughing out loud and smiling throughout. It's a great story featuring pretty evil dragons (a big plus) and some wonderfully entertaining characters. I really loved the way Will constantly walked into things he was trying to avoid, the way Balur stood for his tribe and himself before all else (but he also wasn't fully playing into the barbarian trope) and how Lette and Quirk both turned gender-roles on their head by being completely savage and completely intellectual respectively.
This book is written by Jon Hollins which is a pseudonym for someone else and I am SO CURIOUS as to who it is becuase this is technically Jon Hollins' debut, but it felt so well crafted that it HAS to be a brilliant author already writing and I really want to know who so I can read everything else by them!
This is just the beginning of course and I am very excited for book #2 to come out later this year as no doubt it will continue to bring this world and these great characters back to life for more escapades and I am definitely up to read more of that. Brilliant fun and witty throughout - 4.5*s and I'd highly recommend this to anyone who has read books like the Greatcoats series by Sebastien de Castell and enjoyed them as I think it's in a similar vein to that :)
The section of the world we're focused on is ruled over by crazy evil dragon lords who are pretty beastly (as you can see by the cover illustration! Terrifying!). Mattrax is the dragon who rules over this particular spot of land and he's quite beastly!
We follow Will, a young man who owns a farm and is just trying to scrape by until one day his farm is taken by the Dragons and he has to abandon it and flee for his life. Will quickly meets our other main characters, Quirk, Lette and Balur and the four of them (plus a raving drunk man) concoct a plan to steal from Mattrax and get him back for all the horrors he's inflicted on Will and the other local's lives... things like (excuse my swearing) SHITTING on them as he flies by!
What I adored about this book was the fact that it truly kept me laughing out loud and smiling throughout. It's a great story featuring pretty evil dragons (a big plus) and some wonderfully entertaining characters. I really loved the way Will constantly walked into things he was trying to avoid, the way Balur stood for his tribe and himself before all else (but he also wasn't fully playing into the barbarian trope) and how Lette and Quirk both turned gender-roles on their head by being completely savage and completely intellectual respectively.
This book is written by Jon Hollins which is a pseudonym for someone else and I am SO CURIOUS as to who it is becuase this is technically Jon Hollins' debut, but it felt so well crafted that it HAS to be a brilliant author already writing and I really want to know who so I can read everything else by them!
This is just the beginning of course and I am very excited for book #2 to come out later this year as no doubt it will continue to bring this world and these great characters back to life for more escapades and I am definitely up to read more of that. Brilliant fun and witty throughout - 4.5*s and I'd highly recommend this to anyone who has read books like the Greatcoats series by Sebastien de Castell and enjoyed them as I think it's in a similar vein to that :)
January 20, 2018
4,25 stars - Audiobook - review will follow later. Still have to get my thoughts together about what I heard. 🌷🌹🌷
August 21, 2018
Fool's Gold is an excellent mash of fantasy and humour.
This book grips you by the throat right from the start with its humour, and never lets go. There are few rough edges though. I found some of the humour to be forced in the first third of the book. And some of the scatological references get old after a while. Thankfully, there is more variety to be found which helped me get over these few minor annoyances.
In addition to the humour, the characters are also memorable in a sense since they are so stereotypical that they are self-referential. This stereotyping somehow works in this setting akin to Deadpool. The dragons are all evil bastards, their minions dumb as bricks, the hero is a farmboy, the muscle has simple aspirations to life, the mage is unstable; well you get the idea. The story, too, works very well in this context. It has its fair share of tropes but Jon Hollins somehow makes this whole mixture - humour, characters, tropes - work very well. The action sequences are great with the climax being the best.
People have compared Fool's Gold to The Hobbit meeting Ocean's 11. Well, this is a fair comparison. I would however replace Ocean's 11 with the TV series Legends of Tomorrow with their bumbling but well meant plans.
In conclusion, I have rarely had as much fun reading a book as with Fool's Gold.
This book grips you by the throat right from the start with its humour, and never lets go. There are few rough edges though. I found some of the humour to be forced in the first third of the book. And some of the scatological references get old after a while. Thankfully, there is more variety to be found which helped me get over these few minor annoyances.
In addition to the humour, the characters are also memorable in a sense since they are so stereotypical that they are self-referential. This stereotyping somehow works in this setting akin to Deadpool. The dragons are all evil bastards, their minions dumb as bricks, the hero is a farmboy, the muscle has simple aspirations to life, the mage is unstable; well you get the idea. The story, too, works very well in this context. It has its fair share of tropes but Jon Hollins somehow makes this whole mixture - humour, characters, tropes - work very well. The action sequences are great with the climax being the best.
People have compared Fool's Gold to The Hobbit meeting Ocean's 11. Well, this is a fair comparison. I would however replace Ocean's 11 with the TV series Legends of Tomorrow with their bumbling but well meant plans.
In conclusion, I have rarely had as much fun reading a book as with Fool's Gold.
October 8, 2016
I can only imagine the day Jon Hollins (a pseudonym for Jonathan Wood) devised the plot for Fool’s Gold. He might have turned over the final page of some dour tome of epic fantasy and thought: Fuck this noise–I want something fun for a change. He may have googled, “Ocean’s Eleven meets The Hobbit,” figuring some brilliant bastard had already mashed these two worlds into one awesome story because WHY THE HELL WOULDN’T THEY!? And then, upon discovering this inexplicable vacuum in the universe of fantasy literature, he probably decided to write this book before anyone else did.
Because that premise–the idea of a rag-tag band pulling off elaborate heists under the noses (snouts?) of despotic dragon overlords–is frigging amazing.
Full review here, those interested: https://nicholaseames.com/2016/10/08/...
Because that premise–the idea of a rag-tag band pulling off elaborate heists under the noses (snouts?) of despotic dragon overlords–is frigging amazing.
Full review here, those interested: https://nicholaseames.com/2016/10/08/...
September 14, 2018
First off, thanks to Hachette Audio and Libro.fm for an audio copy of Fool’s Gold (The Dragon Lords #1) in exchange for an honest review. Receiving this audio copy does not influence my thoughts or opinions on the novel or author.
One of the easiest recommendations I can make if you enjoy audiobooks. Jon Banks is again phenomenal and never ceases to make daily commute highly entertaining.
Have you ever come across a book that exceeds your expectations?
Who am I kidding.
OF COURSE you have.
Well, Fool’s Gold completely exceeded mine and I now can’t believe I waited until now to get to it. Pegged as Guardians of the Galaxy meets The Hobbit, it was a no-brainer to at the very least get a copy of the book (plus, you know, being a cover snob and all). What I didn’t expect was to be truly enamored by Hollin’s (aka Jonathan Wood) writing, especially the humor that he weaves in and out of every part of the story. I know he is a funny guy based on his social media presence, but it shines brighter on paper.
Will Fallows is farm boy from one of the poorest villages in Kondorra Valley. Finding it difficult to make ends meet, thanks in large part to the Dragon Consortium raising taxes at an exorbitant rate each year, he slaves away in the hopes that his days will get better.Well, unfortunately for him, they get worse. His farm is seized by Lord Mattrax’s soldiers and Will is left with nothing to his name.
On the trail to an unlikely new beginning, Will becomes fast acquaintances with two traveling mercs, Lette and her 8-foot tall lizardman, Balur. Will tells them of his plight, and the three set off to recruit a couple more unusual bandmates: Quirk, aptly named and gifted with magical ability, and Firkin, an old drunkard who used to work for Will’s father on the farm. The five of them contrive a plan to steal from Mattrax, the Dragon Lord who is the cause of all this grief, and in doing so, bring some life back into the Valley.
Being one of the most idiotic and insane plans every devised, Will is quick to point out how quickly they will fail and how the entire Valley is doomed to perish once they do. But knowing how rich they will become if they succeed binds them into blind faith.
It is really difficult not to get the correlation between this novel, Guardians, and The Hobbit. There are so many nods to the two that you will get a headache, you know, from all the nodding.
But it is so much more than that.
It is an insanely fun novel with LOL humor, but it also has tons of heart, a tinsy bit of world-building and character development, and some fantastically drawn up heist and fight scenes (especially the ending battle that I can only compare to Eames’ Kings of the Wyld and Tolkein’s The Return of the King). It’s YUGE and claustrophobic at the same time, and it has all of those “there is no way they will win this fight” elements you see across the board. But, having said all of that, Balur is the best thing about this novel. If you enjoy Batista’s version of Drax in Guardians, you will adore Balur. He is being one of the best characters of all-time in my books (pun not intended) and yes, I meant for that sentence to be grammatically incorrect (you’ll have to read the book to get the intent).
Overall, if you enjoy fantasy books with “I see what you did there” humor, Fool’s Gold needs to be in your collection yesterday. I feel that there is plenty in here to love for the average fantasy reader, and even enough to satisfy the cravings of the most seasoned of readers.
Highly recommended for those who love Guardians of the Galaxy, The Hobbit, Kings of the Wyld, the Ocean’s movies, or even Josiah Bancroft’s ‘Books of Babel’ series (which Banks also narrates).
One of the easiest recommendations I can make if you enjoy audiobooks. Jon Banks is again phenomenal and never ceases to make daily commute highly entertaining.
Have you ever come across a book that exceeds your expectations?
Who am I kidding.
OF COURSE you have.
Well, Fool’s Gold completely exceeded mine and I now can’t believe I waited until now to get to it. Pegged as Guardians of the Galaxy meets The Hobbit, it was a no-brainer to at the very least get a copy of the book (plus, you know, being a cover snob and all). What I didn’t expect was to be truly enamored by Hollin’s (aka Jonathan Wood) writing, especially the humor that he weaves in and out of every part of the story. I know he is a funny guy based on his social media presence, but it shines brighter on paper.
Will Fallows is farm boy from one of the poorest villages in Kondorra Valley. Finding it difficult to make ends meet, thanks in large part to the Dragon Consortium raising taxes at an exorbitant rate each year, he slaves away in the hopes that his days will get better.Well, unfortunately for him, they get worse. His farm is seized by Lord Mattrax’s soldiers and Will is left with nothing to his name.
On the trail to an unlikely new beginning, Will becomes fast acquaintances with two traveling mercs, Lette and her 8-foot tall lizardman, Balur. Will tells them of his plight, and the three set off to recruit a couple more unusual bandmates: Quirk, aptly named and gifted with magical ability, and Firkin, an old drunkard who used to work for Will’s father on the farm. The five of them contrive a plan to steal from Mattrax, the Dragon Lord who is the cause of all this grief, and in doing so, bring some life back into the Valley.
Being one of the most idiotic and insane plans every devised, Will is quick to point out how quickly they will fail and how the entire Valley is doomed to perish once they do. But knowing how rich they will become if they succeed binds them into blind faith.
It is really difficult not to get the correlation between this novel, Guardians, and The Hobbit. There are so many nods to the two that you will get a headache, you know, from all the nodding.
But it is so much more than that.
It is an insanely fun novel with LOL humor, but it also has tons of heart, a tinsy bit of world-building and character development, and some fantastically drawn up heist and fight scenes (especially the ending battle that I can only compare to Eames’ Kings of the Wyld and Tolkein’s The Return of the King). It’s YUGE and claustrophobic at the same time, and it has all of those “there is no way they will win this fight” elements you see across the board. But, having said all of that, Balur is the best thing about this novel. If you enjoy Batista’s version of Drax in Guardians, you will adore Balur. He is being one of the best characters of all-time in my books (pun not intended) and yes, I meant for that sentence to be grammatically incorrect (you’ll have to read the book to get the intent).
Overall, if you enjoy fantasy books with “I see what you did there” humor, Fool’s Gold needs to be in your collection yesterday. I feel that there is plenty in here to love for the average fantasy reader, and even enough to satisfy the cravings of the most seasoned of readers.
Highly recommended for those who love Guardians of the Galaxy, The Hobbit, Kings of the Wyld, the Ocean’s movies, or even Josiah Bancroft’s ‘Books of Babel’ series (which Banks also narrates).
October 5, 2017
It wasn't a bad book. Solid action fantasy with mixed comedic elements. Actually enjoyed the first 1/3 quite a bit, then it sort of lost its appeal a bit for me. Could appeal to those who like the witty banter mixed with minimal fantasy tropes thrown in. The action scenes are quite well done, and the characters are fun but none really stood out for me (Will annoyed me haha).
January 20, 2022
"Balur," Lette said sweetly, "if I thought they were large
enough, I would cut off your testicles to use as worry balls.”
Balur nodded. "It is being your weird mannish hands. They make even the largest things look small."
Seeing as I trust Nicholas Eames more than I trust members of my own family, I decided to buy this entire trilogy. And thank god I did, because this book popped the fuck off.
Fool’s Gold follows the five biggest idiots, on their respective planet, on a quest equally as brain-dead as they are. The leader, a simple farmer boy named Will turned motivational speaker, Lette, a mercenary who wants to be a better person, Balur, an eight-foot tall Lizard man with a love of murder, Quirk, a Mage / academic with a weird fetish for dragons, and finally Firkin, the Village drunk. Together, they will do what no one else is stupid enough to do. Rob a dragon.
And as the blurb tactfully says, no one ever said they were smart.
This book absolutely reads like Kings of the Wyld, and people are absolutely correct in making that comparison. However, this definitely has less of the emotional beats of KoW and focuses more on being as funny as possible. But oh my god does it do said funny right. I CHORTLED my way through this entire book, the dialogue was just top tier and I appreciated every single dick joke and act of violence present. I fucking love Balur, and I love that Hollins decided to use a different fantasy creature than just the regular old Elf / Dwarf combo. I was so into the characters and their humour that I didn’t even give a fuck about the plot until the very end, but honestly it’s such a good ending, what a great final battle.
I would’ve liked some more backstory on certain characters, specifically Balur and Lette who I think got neglected in comparison to Will and Quirk, but seeing as this is a trilogy I’ll forgive this book and assume it’ll be in future instalments. Either way, that’s such a minor gripe and I overall adore this series so far, and can’t wait to read on.
Oh and before I forget, this book has some of the most creative and hilarious chapter names ever, here are my faves (in no particular order):
1. Nom Nom Ethel Nom
2. Nom Nom Prophecy Nom
3. The Great Big Flying Lizard
4. Investigating his Burgeoning Manhood
5. Making like a Hooker and Blowin’ this Joint
6. The Sappy Romance Chapter
7. The Inevitable Cliffhanger Chapter
enough, I would cut off your testicles to use as worry balls.”
Balur nodded. "It is being your weird mannish hands. They make even the largest things look small."
Seeing as I trust Nicholas Eames more than I trust members of my own family, I decided to buy this entire trilogy. And thank god I did, because this book popped the fuck off.
Fool’s Gold follows the five biggest idiots, on their respective planet, on a quest equally as brain-dead as they are. The leader, a simple farmer boy named Will turned motivational speaker, Lette, a mercenary who wants to be a better person, Balur, an eight-foot tall Lizard man with a love of murder, Quirk, a Mage / academic with a weird fetish for dragons, and finally Firkin, the Village drunk. Together, they will do what no one else is stupid enough to do. Rob a dragon.
And as the blurb tactfully says, no one ever said they were smart.
This book absolutely reads like Kings of the Wyld, and people are absolutely correct in making that comparison. However, this definitely has less of the emotional beats of KoW and focuses more on being as funny as possible. But oh my god does it do said funny right. I CHORTLED my way through this entire book, the dialogue was just top tier and I appreciated every single dick joke and act of violence present. I fucking love Balur, and I love that Hollins decided to use a different fantasy creature than just the regular old Elf / Dwarf combo. I was so into the characters and their humour that I didn’t even give a fuck about the plot until the very end, but honestly it’s such a good ending, what a great final battle.
I would’ve liked some more backstory on certain characters, specifically Balur and Lette who I think got neglected in comparison to Will and Quirk, but seeing as this is a trilogy I’ll forgive this book and assume it’ll be in future instalments. Either way, that’s such a minor gripe and I overall adore this series so far, and can’t wait to read on.
Oh and before I forget, this book has some of the most creative and hilarious chapter names ever, here are my faves (in no particular order):
1. Nom Nom Ethel Nom
2. Nom Nom Prophecy Nom
3. The Great Big Flying Lizard
4. Investigating his Burgeoning Manhood
5. Making like a Hooker and Blowin’ this Joint
6. The Sappy Romance Chapter
7. The Inevitable Cliffhanger Chapter
December 1, 2018
Got over 6 hours into the book and I just couldn't go on any further. The book was ridiculous and there wasn't a character I liked and the plot line was awful. I'm sorry I wasted 6 hours of listening time on this.
August 30, 2020
Rag tag group with heists, some humor, battles, and most importantly, dragons. It’s different from your typical epic fantasy, and I had fun reading it.
April 21, 2020
"So we can rob Mattrax?" Will said just to be sure.
Firkin laughed again, loud in the small sty. "Maybe," he said. "I don't know. But we can try, Will. Anything could end up happening. Maybe we could even rob them all. I've learned about all of them, Will. Matrix, and Dathrax, and Kithrax, and the whole cursed lot of them. I can tell you about them all. We can make plans for them all. You can make plans. And then..." He smiled, reached for his flask again. "Beautiful chaos."
...
I'm just going to cut right to the chase. This book is insane. Hilarious chaos filled to the brim with bloody violence, Fool's Gold has an overabundance of characters that are too incompetent for their own good.
And to be quite honest, I kind of loved them for it.
In this first book of The Dragon Lords trilogy, we follow five main characters: Will is a farm boy with a huge vendetta against his village's dragon overlord, Mattrax. Lette and her lizard-man BFF Balur are former mercenaries in search of a more peaceful life. Quirk is a thaumatobiologist, and her dream is to study the dragons that only seem to inhabit the Kondorra Valley, Will's home. And then we have Firkin, a crazy old drunk who is literally the spitting image of Fiddleford McGucket from Gravity Falls (except a lot dirtier).
It's not easy to live in a world ruled by dragons. Their rule is absolute, and the taxes are extremely high. All have their own motivations, but our group of bold misfits have a plan: to get rich. And to do that, they plan to steal back the wealth taken by their dragon overlords.
No one said they were smart.
Jon Hollins has a distinct voice that I'm looking forward to reading more from. His style is distinctly charming, which contrasts hysterically with the intense blood and gore. There's a lot of violence in the form of sword fights and epic battles, and it was really cool. Hollins writes action really well.
A lot of the bloodshed is a result of Lette and Balur. Damn, I loved them. Especially Balur. Imagine if Groot were a lot more violent and ill-tempered, and maybe had a better vocabulary. Yep, that's Balur. He's an Anelsian, and his kind live in tribes in the desert that are ultimately war-focused.
Lette is a human woman who's...not the best person. She kills for money and has no qualms with taking lives, but what I liked about her was that she was trying to turn over a new leaf. Her whole arc consists of her growing to become a better person. There are some stumbles along the way, but she was a great character nonetheless.
Her and Balur's bromance was my life. They're my little murderous BROTP and I LOVE THEM.
I also thought Quirk was a fascinating character. She was kind of a prickly pear, and I honestly would've liked to have seen her warm up to the other characters a little more. But her backstory was so cool. No spoilers, but she's also trying to make a new life for herself, and I appreciated how Lette and Quirk bonded over their shared journeys.
Will was my least favorite character out of the five. I liked him, but I found him to be a little insufferable in the second act of the story. I quickly warmed up to him in the final act, but I couldn't help but feel that he was kind of a weasel. Sure, he's our every-man character thrust into adventure, but he was inconsistent at some points in the story which made it hard for me to connect with him.
The fantasy world that Hollins has crafted is fascinating. The Kondorra Valley specifically feels like a parody of every other medieval european style fantasy setting, which I thought was great. It was very tongue-in-cheek, and rightfully so. Bloody Dragons rule over the entire valley, and they literally shit on the villagers as they fly over. Gross, but pretty hilarious too.
Each act felt like a contained story, but all are connected into the larger, over-arching narrative. I definitely preferred the first and final acts; the second act was a little weak, and it could've been cut down to make the story flow more smoothly. Nonetheless, I really liked the construction of Fools Gold. The plot was an exciting romp full of hilarity and hijinks.
And the epic battle at the end? Bloody fantastic. Balur is such a badass, and there were some surprises that I did not see coming.
If you're looking for a fun fantasy book with hilarious characters, I definitely recommend this. Surprisingly, this story also had some emotionally powerful moments that I wasn't expecting. Fool's Gold is full of themes surrounding oppression, violence, trauma, and friendship. I really enjoyed it.
I'll definitely be continuing on. Based on the synopsis of False Idols, I can't wait to see what these idiots get themselves into next.
Firkin laughed again, loud in the small sty. "Maybe," he said. "I don't know. But we can try, Will. Anything could end up happening. Maybe we could even rob them all. I've learned about all of them, Will. Matrix, and Dathrax, and Kithrax, and the whole cursed lot of them. I can tell you about them all. We can make plans for them all. You can make plans. And then..." He smiled, reached for his flask again. "Beautiful chaos."
...
I'm just going to cut right to the chase. This book is insane. Hilarious chaos filled to the brim with bloody violence, Fool's Gold has an overabundance of characters that are too incompetent for their own good.
And to be quite honest, I kind of loved them for it.
In this first book of The Dragon Lords trilogy, we follow five main characters: Will is a farm boy with a huge vendetta against his village's dragon overlord, Mattrax. Lette and her lizard-man BFF Balur are former mercenaries in search of a more peaceful life. Quirk is a thaumatobiologist, and her dream is to study the dragons that only seem to inhabit the Kondorra Valley, Will's home. And then we have Firkin, a crazy old drunk who is literally the spitting image of Fiddleford McGucket from Gravity Falls (except a lot dirtier).
It's not easy to live in a world ruled by dragons. Their rule is absolute, and the taxes are extremely high. All have their own motivations, but our group of bold misfits have a plan: to get rich. And to do that, they plan to steal back the wealth taken by their dragon overlords.
No one said they were smart.
Jon Hollins has a distinct voice that I'm looking forward to reading more from. His style is distinctly charming, which contrasts hysterically with the intense blood and gore. There's a lot of violence in the form of sword fights and epic battles, and it was really cool. Hollins writes action really well.
A lot of the bloodshed is a result of Lette and Balur. Damn, I loved them. Especially Balur. Imagine if Groot were a lot more violent and ill-tempered, and maybe had a better vocabulary. Yep, that's Balur. He's an Anelsian, and his kind live in tribes in the desert that are ultimately war-focused.
Lette is a human woman who's...not the best person. She kills for money and has no qualms with taking lives, but what I liked about her was that she was trying to turn over a new leaf. Her whole arc consists of her growing to become a better person. There are some stumbles along the way, but she was a great character nonetheless.
Her and Balur's bromance was my life. They're my little murderous BROTP and I LOVE THEM.
I also thought Quirk was a fascinating character. She was kind of a prickly pear, and I honestly would've liked to have seen her warm up to the other characters a little more. But her backstory was so cool. No spoilers, but she's also trying to make a new life for herself, and I appreciated how Lette and Quirk bonded over their shared journeys.
Will was my least favorite character out of the five. I liked him, but I found him to be a little insufferable in the second act of the story. I quickly warmed up to him in the final act, but I couldn't help but feel that he was kind of a weasel. Sure, he's our every-man character thrust into adventure, but he was inconsistent at some points in the story which made it hard for me to connect with him.
The fantasy world that Hollins has crafted is fascinating. The Kondorra Valley specifically feels like a parody of every other medieval european style fantasy setting, which I thought was great. It was very tongue-in-cheek, and rightfully so. Bloody Dragons rule over the entire valley, and they literally shit on the villagers as they fly over. Gross, but pretty hilarious too.
Each act felt like a contained story, but all are connected into the larger, over-arching narrative. I definitely preferred the first and final acts; the second act was a little weak, and it could've been cut down to make the story flow more smoothly. Nonetheless, I really liked the construction of Fools Gold. The plot was an exciting romp full of hilarity and hijinks.
And the epic battle at the end? Bloody fantastic. Balur is such a badass, and there were some surprises that I did not see coming.
If you're looking for a fun fantasy book with hilarious characters, I definitely recommend this. Surprisingly, this story also had some emotionally powerful moments that I wasn't expecting. Fool's Gold is full of themes surrounding oppression, violence, trauma, and friendship. I really enjoyed it.
I'll definitely be continuing on. Based on the synopsis of False Idols, I can't wait to see what these idiots get themselves into next.
July 26, 2016
If you’re a fan of heist stories — particularly the planning, the bickering between co-conspirators, the moments when it all goes dreadfully wrong or sublimely right — and you also happen to enjoy epic fantasies with vicious fire-breathing dragons and their vast caches of filthy lucre, then you’ll be happy to know that there’s a Venn diagram where those two genres meet, and the center is filled by Jon Hollins’ debut fantasy novel, The Dragon Lords: Fool’s Gold.
In the lovely but oppressed Kondorra valley, humans farm and fish and pay taxes to the Dragon Consortium, a united band of dragons who demand exorbitant amounts of gold every year and take pleasure in using their subjects for aerial target practice. The people are downtrodden, miserable, and in desperate need of salvation from a... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
In the lovely but oppressed Kondorra valley, humans farm and fish and pay taxes to the Dragon Consortium, a united band of dragons who demand exorbitant amounts of gold every year and take pleasure in using their subjects for aerial target practice. The people are downtrodden, miserable, and in desperate need of salvation from a... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
December 6, 2023
3 stars rounded to five four because of my exemplary math skills.
A farmboy who plans revenge.
A killer who wants to be a better person.
A reformed mage.
An ever-dangerous 8 foot lizardman.
This foul-mouthed band finds themselves in the best/worst predicaments and the author's wit shines near as much as the dragons' scales when the sun pokes out after a good downpour. An absolute blast.
A farmboy who plans revenge.
A killer who wants to be a better person.
A reformed mage.
An ever-dangerous 8 foot lizardman.
This foul-mouthed band finds themselves in the best/worst predicaments and the author's wit shines near as much as the dragons' scales when the sun pokes out after a good downpour. An absolute blast.
August 5, 2016
ARRRRRRRGH! Right then, now that that's out of my system let's begin. This book has got to be one of the most frustrating books I have ever read. I'm so conflicted by it. On the one hand I have laughed out loud at some of the scenes and dialogue and been left almost breathless with excitement with some of the action. This book knows how to put the Epic in epic fantasy! 5 star book right?
On the other hand I have wanted to cry in frustration at some of the juvenile dialogue and ridiculous chapter titles, what appears to be an unhealthy obsession by the author with balls (the dangling hairy kind) and f bombs, and as for chapters that are 2 sentences long? 1 star book right?
Certain parts are so predictable it hurts, but predictable like a John Woo 90s action movie with appropriate violence and explosions (I did say epic). And who doesn't love those.
So like I said, I'm conflicted. I love it! I hate it! Will I recommend this to my customers? I think so but with a caveat attached. Will I read the next one? Hell yes. Will I bitch about it? More than likely
On the other hand I have wanted to cry in frustration at some of the juvenile dialogue and ridiculous chapter titles, what appears to be an unhealthy obsession by the author with balls (the dangling hairy kind) and f bombs, and as for chapters that are 2 sentences long? 1 star book right?
Certain parts are so predictable it hurts, but predictable like a John Woo 90s action movie with appropriate violence and explosions (I did say epic). And who doesn't love those.
So like I said, I'm conflicted. I love it! I hate it! Will I recommend this to my customers? I think so but with a caveat attached. Will I read the next one? Hell yes. Will I bitch about it? More than likely
Want to read
July 3, 2019I would have wanted this just from the cover alone, but Guardians of the Galaxy meets The Hobbit??? I gotta check this out
September 12, 2017
one of my top books!
October 9, 2017
4.5 stars
I really, really enjoyed this book. It is fun and witty and full of action. It is one of the rare fantasy books that is actually funny. Like really funny, not corny funny. The characters interact with each other just like best friends do in real life. They give each other a hard time, never let anyone take themselves too seriously, and have their back when the going gets tough.
The story is set in Kondorra. Many years ago the dragons decided they wanted to rule over Kondorra. So they set upon on the populace, murdered thousands of them until they were sufficiently cowered, and then taxed them until no one could make a living. Will's parents are dead, the man that helped raise him has gone crazy and disappeared and he can barely keep the family farm running. When the dragon's men come to collect yet another tax on the farm, a fight ensues and Will barely escapes with his life.
Will runs away and finds himself in a cave where he runs into Lette and Balur, two mercenaries that are searching for a new life in a new land. The gold they had stolen to start this new life was stolen by goblins that they tracked to the cave. Firkin, Will's former farm hand and friend, is found bound and gagged in the cave. He is drunk and just as crazy as ever. Rounding out the group is Quirk, a recovering magician whose new "career" is studying dragons. As the group commiserate about their lot in life, they devise a plan to steal gold from the dragons. What could possibly go wrong?
The story is fast paced and the interactions between the characters is very funny. One big warning, however; there is a lot of cursing. Like, A LOT. So if lots of cursing offends your delicate sensibilities, this is not the book for you. The few love scenes and action scenes are very tame, however, which is kind of weird considering how much cussing there is in the book. But, it works, and I enjoyed it.
I liked this book so much that before I finished it, I bought the second book in the series on Amazon. I can't wait to see what the gang has up their sleeve next. While there are other books in the series, this one can be read as a stand-alone book as there is a definite beginning, middle and end to the story.
I really, really enjoyed this book. It is fun and witty and full of action. It is one of the rare fantasy books that is actually funny. Like really funny, not corny funny. The characters interact with each other just like best friends do in real life. They give each other a hard time, never let anyone take themselves too seriously, and have their back when the going gets tough.
The story is set in Kondorra. Many years ago the dragons decided they wanted to rule over Kondorra. So they set upon on the populace, murdered thousands of them until they were sufficiently cowered, and then taxed them until no one could make a living. Will's parents are dead, the man that helped raise him has gone crazy and disappeared and he can barely keep the family farm running. When the dragon's men come to collect yet another tax on the farm, a fight ensues and Will barely escapes with his life.
Will runs away and finds himself in a cave where he runs into Lette and Balur, two mercenaries that are searching for a new life in a new land. The gold they had stolen to start this new life was stolen by goblins that they tracked to the cave. Firkin, Will's former farm hand and friend, is found bound and gagged in the cave. He is drunk and just as crazy as ever. Rounding out the group is Quirk, a recovering magician whose new "career" is studying dragons. As the group commiserate about their lot in life, they devise a plan to steal gold from the dragons. What could possibly go wrong?
The story is fast paced and the interactions between the characters is very funny. One big warning, however; there is a lot of cursing. Like, A LOT. So if lots of cursing offends your delicate sensibilities, this is not the book for you. The few love scenes and action scenes are very tame, however, which is kind of weird considering how much cussing there is in the book. But, it works, and I enjoyed it.
I liked this book so much that before I finished it, I bought the second book in the series on Amazon. I can't wait to see what the gang has up their sleeve next. While there are other books in the series, this one can be read as a stand-alone book as there is a definite beginning, middle and end to the story.
November 26, 2018
DNF. Well, I gave it 120 pages. Its not bad, its just not particularly good and I have other books I would rather read.
May 12, 2019
Hilarious, witty, fun, are the only words to describe this book!
This debut by Jon Hollins (a pseudonym for Jonathan Wood) reminds me so much of Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames whereby the humor element shines strongly throughout the book. I literally laughed out loud when I’m reading this book! While some big words were used by Hollins, it does not dilute the humor element. Some may think that the a lot of vulgar words/descriptions were used, but seriously, I have no issues with that.
The plot of this story is also quite refreshing. This story took place in the world where Dragons ruled the society and humans are forced to pay crazy high taxes to the Dragons due to fear. We follow the main character Will, a farmer who, in the midst of running away from the guards of the Dragon Consortium for failure to settle his tax, met up with Lette (a mercenary who wanted to be “a better person” and seeks for a change in her life), Balur (Lette’s “tribe”, who is also a lizard man), Quirk (a scholar/professor and wizard who refuses to use magic due to her past life) and Firkin (a drunkard, who is also Will’s friend). All 5 of them (with Will as the group’s herald) initially came up with a plan to rob one of the Dragon, Mattrax, who ruled Will’s village. But such plan of course, did not go as well as they imagined. One heist plot lead to another and all plans turned out to be a disaster, except for the last plan where it was a success. In the midst of taking us through the action-packed plot, Hollins managed to bring the characters to life. The interactions between the characters are so engaging and fun!
I have to say, this series is a new breath to the fantasy genre. While we can see some usual fantasy tropes in this story (i.e. the medieval world building, greedy dragons who are crazily in love with gold), Jon Hollins still manage to step out from the usual classic fantasy genre by introducing the heist plots. And of course, i definitely enjoyed the epic battle with 5 dragons at the end of the book (even in such an epic battle, Jon Hollins still managed to make me laughed out loud)!
This book deserves a strong 4/5 star rating and I can’t wait to pick up the second book in this series!
This debut by Jon Hollins (a pseudonym for Jonathan Wood) reminds me so much of Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames whereby the humor element shines strongly throughout the book. I literally laughed out loud when I’m reading this book! While some big words were used by Hollins, it does not dilute the humor element. Some may think that the a lot of vulgar words/descriptions were used, but seriously, I have no issues with that.
The plot of this story is also quite refreshing. This story took place in the world where Dragons ruled the society and humans are forced to pay crazy high taxes to the Dragons due to fear. We follow the main character Will, a farmer who, in the midst of running away from the guards of the Dragon Consortium for failure to settle his tax, met up with Lette (a mercenary who wanted to be “a better person” and seeks for a change in her life), Balur (Lette’s “tribe”, who is also a lizard man), Quirk (a scholar/professor and wizard who refuses to use magic due to her past life) and Firkin (a drunkard, who is also Will’s friend). All 5 of them (with Will as the group’s herald) initially came up with a plan to rob one of the Dragon, Mattrax, who ruled Will’s village. But such plan of course, did not go as well as they imagined. One heist plot lead to another and all plans turned out to be a disaster, except for the last plan where it was a success. In the midst of taking us through the action-packed plot, Hollins managed to bring the characters to life. The interactions between the characters are so engaging and fun!
I have to say, this series is a new breath to the fantasy genre. While we can see some usual fantasy tropes in this story (i.e. the medieval world building, greedy dragons who are crazily in love with gold), Jon Hollins still manage to step out from the usual classic fantasy genre by introducing the heist plots. And of course, i definitely enjoyed the epic battle with 5 dragons at the end of the book (even in such an epic battle, Jon Hollins still managed to make me laughed out loud)!
This book deserves a strong 4/5 star rating and I can’t wait to pick up the second book in this series!
January 23, 2018
საკმაოდ ხარისხიანი წიგნი გამოდგა. არ ველოდი ეგეთს, მეთქი მომდევნო საშუალო დონის ფენტეზი იქნება მეთქი, მაგრამ პირიქით.
პერსონაჟები ძალიან კარგად არის გახსნილი (ჩემო კარგო ©მიშა ცაგარელი). განსაკუთრებით კი ბალური, ჰუმანოიდი ხვლიკისებ��ი რასის დაქირავებული მკვლელი
და რაც ყველაზე მთავარია, ძალიან, ძალიან სასაცილო წიგნია.
პერსონაჟები ძალიან კარგად არის გახსნილი (ჩემო კარგო ©მიშა ცაგარელი). განსაკუთრებით კი ბალური, ჰუმანოიდი ხვლიკისებ��ი რასის დაქირავებული მკვლელი
და რაც ყველაზე მთავარია, ძალიან, ძალიან სასაცილო წიგნია.
May 10, 2018
God, this was so much more better than I ever expected it to be! 😱 I felt so entertained the whole time, that end battle was expuisitely epic and, come on! It's about dragons! How could this not be awesome as hell?! 🐲
March 6, 2019
I was not ready for how good this book was. It had great humor, an amazing plot, a satisfying conclusion, and an epic caper.
April 2, 2020
Jon Hollins writing is fresh, different, interesting, and hilarious! Loved this.
August 10, 2016
Ok this is an insanely insane and fun book. I don't think I have laughed and giggled my way through a book this year as much I have on this. It's just non-stop and the book just lets it go with the flow until it takes a turn to comic booky violence towards the end featuring one of the craziest take down ever.
Plot wise there really isn't much and the book also really doesn't have any pretentious airs around it. It's silly, crass and an absolute hoot
Plot wise there really isn't much and the book also really doesn't have any pretentious airs around it. It's silly, crass and an absolute hoot
July 16, 2016
A fantastic, epic and very easily loveable start to a new series of books. Between great characters, an awesome setting and an "if you think I'm going to stop reading now you can royally do one" final few chapters Fool's Gold captures the humour and writing style of the author while still feeling fresh and unique.
Buy it. In fact buy two copies in case you crease one of them.
Buy it. In fact buy two copies in case you crease one of them.
August 24, 2019
4.25 stars
I've not read much "high fantasy", but feel it's a good stepping point before high diving in.
We follow Will from the beginning and his day isn't going well and continues to get worse. Throughout his day he comes across three strangers Quirk, Lette, and Balur. There we pretty much have our band for the book.
We follow their quest from the offset and shenanigans ensue. This story lacked in world building, as it just follows the band, but you see snippets of what the world could be. The characters were varied; Balur being my favourite followed by Lette.
The humour was rude, but it a good way. The plot was simple, but enjoyable.
Don't go in thinking high fantasy, magic systems, political intrigue; words synonymous with fantasy. Go in for enjoyment.
I've not read much "high fantasy", but feel it's a good stepping point before high diving in.
We follow Will from the beginning and his day isn't going well and continues to get worse. Throughout his day he comes across three strangers Quirk, Lette, and Balur. There we pretty much have our band for the book.
We follow their quest from the offset and shenanigans ensue. This story lacked in world building, as it just follows the band, but you see snippets of what the world could be. The characters were varied; Balur being my favourite followed by Lette.
The humour was rude, but it a good way. The plot was simple, but enjoyable.
Don't go in thinking high fantasy, magic systems, political intrigue; words synonymous with fantasy. Go in for enjoyment.
October 12, 2018
It's been a crap year. Fortunately I've read some good books that have kept me afloat. Some have made me smile. This one put the biggest grin of the year on my face. I've loved the humour, the characters and the interplay between them. The prose is irreverent and coarse (exactly to my liking), but also well written when out of speech. The story isn't complex, but enough to keep the plot going at a good pace. This reminded me of the fun that I had reading the Lies of Locke Lamora and the Greatcoats series. I am definitely looking forward to the next two in the trilogy.
December 4, 2020
Well I’m saddened that I didn’t love this book. It just read like a parody of dragon slaying and a group of misfits finding each other. The main characters have personality but they didn’t appeal to me. There was so much banter but I just cringed after a while. It was too much. Maybe I wasn’t the right audience for this because I did love Kings of the Wyld which did banter oh so well.
So this was just ok for me.
So this was just ok for me.
September 16, 2018
Ya'll, it's a fantasy heist story with heart, humor, and moments of badassery. Read it!
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