Review by kaivalya_k -- Fish Wielder
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Kaivalya Khisti
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Review by kaivalya_k -- Fish Wielder
[Following is a volunteer review of "Fish Wielder" by J.R.R.R. (Jim) Hardison.]
The Dark Lord has cooked a super-powerful chocolate pudding. The one who consumes this pudding will gain the power to enslave all the people of Grome. Several thousand years later, the Heartless one, the evil leader of Bad Religion, plots to retrieve the pudding. The barbarian warrior Thoral Mighty Fist has vowed to eliminate the Bad Religion. He has some personal reasons. The side benefit is that he will prevent the Heartless one from consuming the magical pudding. Of course, there will be a lot of mayhem, unfortunate magical accidents, and silly plottings. It doesn’t help, yet helps, that the warrior’s companions are a witty talking fish, a confused Elvish King, and an adamant Elvish princess. True to its summary, Fish Wielder by J.R.R.R. (Jim) Hardison is book one of the epically silly Fish Wielder Trilogy.
I was not very impressed with the book cover. It gave an impression that this would be a gory read. The silliness of the book was rather unexpected. And I say it as a compliment. Hardison does state that the book was kind of like Lord of the Rings set in Narnia. But the story is not a mere copy of Lord of the Rings. The Dark Lord is named Mauron, there is an evil bracelet, there are elves, talking animals, a squirrel with a painfully long name, there are villains who don black hoods. The similarities between the characters of this book and Lord of the Rings are uncanny. Yet, Hardison writes his story with such wit and humor, purposefully maintaining the silliness, that what one reads is nothing like one might have expected.
Although, the fun begins a little too late. The first half of the book is pretty boring. The story felt directionless, and the narrative unnecessarily verbose. I enjoyed the prose, but the weird and obscure names made no sense. But the second half of the book gains amazing pace. The story starts coming together, and I did not put the book down once. I fell in love with the talking Koi fish that cannot swim. He was the most intelligent character, witty, and extremely sarcastic. The barbarian warrior also pulls a different shade, and readers get to read his poignant story. He is at times silly, often sad, unwittingly humorous, and always gold-hearted. Also, he has purple eyes that carry an evil secret!
The book is professionally edited. I did not come across any grammatical errors. There are some making-out scenes, but none are uncomfortably graphic. I gladly rate the book 4 out of 4 stars. Though the book started slow, the author more than made up for it in the second half. The twists and turns are fantastic and keep the readers engaged. I most loved the last 20 odd pages when the fish, Brad, was at his sarcastic best. In only a few words, he summarises the ridiculousness of the plans of our heroes and villains. The same ridiculousness makes this book a thoroughly enjoyable comic fantasy.
If you are up to reading a brilliantly written parody, this book is for you. I recommend this book to all the readers who enjoy fantasy tales and are willing to suspend their logic and reason.
******
Fish Wielder
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The Dark Lord has cooked a super-powerful chocolate pudding. The one who consumes this pudding will gain the power to enslave all the people of Grome. Several thousand years later, the Heartless one, the evil leader of Bad Religion, plots to retrieve the pudding. The barbarian warrior Thoral Mighty Fist has vowed to eliminate the Bad Religion. He has some personal reasons. The side benefit is that he will prevent the Heartless one from consuming the magical pudding. Of course, there will be a lot of mayhem, unfortunate magical accidents, and silly plottings. It doesn’t help, yet helps, that the warrior’s companions are a witty talking fish, a confused Elvish King, and an adamant Elvish princess. True to its summary, Fish Wielder by J.R.R.R. (Jim) Hardison is book one of the epically silly Fish Wielder Trilogy.
I was not very impressed with the book cover. It gave an impression that this would be a gory read. The silliness of the book was rather unexpected. And I say it as a compliment. Hardison does state that the book was kind of like Lord of the Rings set in Narnia. But the story is not a mere copy of Lord of the Rings. The Dark Lord is named Mauron, there is an evil bracelet, there are elves, talking animals, a squirrel with a painfully long name, there are villains who don black hoods. The similarities between the characters of this book and Lord of the Rings are uncanny. Yet, Hardison writes his story with such wit and humor, purposefully maintaining the silliness, that what one reads is nothing like one might have expected.
Although, the fun begins a little too late. The first half of the book is pretty boring. The story felt directionless, and the narrative unnecessarily verbose. I enjoyed the prose, but the weird and obscure names made no sense. But the second half of the book gains amazing pace. The story starts coming together, and I did not put the book down once. I fell in love with the talking Koi fish that cannot swim. He was the most intelligent character, witty, and extremely sarcastic. The barbarian warrior also pulls a different shade, and readers get to read his poignant story. He is at times silly, often sad, unwittingly humorous, and always gold-hearted. Also, he has purple eyes that carry an evil secret!
The book is professionally edited. I did not come across any grammatical errors. There are some making-out scenes, but none are uncomfortably graphic. I gladly rate the book 4 out of 4 stars. Though the book started slow, the author more than made up for it in the second half. The twists and turns are fantastic and keep the readers engaged. I most loved the last 20 odd pages when the fish, Brad, was at his sarcastic best. In only a few words, he summarises the ridiculousness of the plans of our heroes and villains. The same ridiculousness makes this book a thoroughly enjoyable comic fantasy.
If you are up to reading a brilliantly written parody, this book is for you. I recommend this book to all the readers who enjoy fantasy tales and are willing to suspend their logic and reason.
******
Fish Wielder
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: The Way of the Goddess by Ananta Ripa Ajmera
