This book review was part of a podcast discussion.
Listen to the episode here.
4.5/5
This is a tale as old as time: The young, hopeful protagonist arms themselves for the journey of a lifetime… with a lute? Tam Hashford is the newest bard to legendary mercenary band Fable, lead by legendary mercenary Bloody Rose. Having a bard as the narrator felt like a different take on the fantasy genre. The perspective of someone observing the hero instead of being the hero was refreshing. I loved many things about the book: all of the characters (excluding Tam) had great arcs and development, descriptions of the characters and fight scenes were beautiful, and the lesson of found family was very touching for me personally. However, I did not enjoy the audiobook, I wish that Tam had more development, and the plot is sometimes predictable.
The members of Fable are very similar to a D&D group. You have your DPS fighters in Bloody Rose and Freecloud, the tank in Brune, and your magic user with Cura. The members of the band have established dynamics, and throughout the story the reader gets to watch them grow and change together which helps make their individual arcs fantastic. My favorite arc was Brune’s. Again, while the other members of Fable develop immensely, Tam’s arc was lacking, and I wanted her to have more growth.
One of my favorite aspects of the writing was that in each fight I knew exactly where the characters were and what was going on. Basically, the word picture was beautiful. It reminds me of playing D&D with my friends when someone rolls a 20. The author also describes the characters wonderfully. I actually know how they are supposed to look, rather than vague human-like shapes in my mind.
The last thing that I loved about the story was the underlying message of found family. It has always resonated with me as a reader, but I think it works particularly well with the D&D feel, because that is how the party ends up acting by the end of the campaign.
The plot occasionally felt predictable, but given the situations the characters were in at those times I wasn’t too bothered. I definitely wouldn’t suggest the audiobook from Audible, because the narrator was… not the best.
Overall, I very much enjoyed the read and would recommend it to readers who love D&D or a fun story. While you can read Bloody Rose as a standalone, I suggest reading Kings of the Wyld first.
South Carolina
I am new podcaster who has been enjoying the fantasy genre for many, many… many years. I will read most any fantasy book but high and steampunk are my favorite subgenres.
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