Review by Gttocks -- Fish Wielder

Gttocks · Post by **Gttocks** » 29 Mar 2018, 19:31

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

4 out of 4 stars

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Grome is a fantastical and odd place, full of things such as disfigured gnomes, talking squirrels, and magical pudding. Lots of magical pudding. Adventuring throughout this land is the widely-known Thoral Mighty Fist and his partner Brad, a talking koi fish. Thoral Mighty Fist is a tough man with a shrouded past who spends his days getting drunk and obliterating evildoers with his insanely powerful fists (and sometimes his beloved sword, Blurmflard). One day, a drunken and sad Thoral goes looking for adventure, with the aforementioned Brad at his side, and becomes a part of a much larger adventure. An adventure that if failed could mean doom for all of the Lands of Grome.

I rate Fish Wielder 4 out of 4 stars, without hesitation. Fish Wielder is somehow an amazing fantasy novel and a hilarious parody of fantasy novels at the same time. So whether you like fantasy-driven stories or not, there is something in this book for you to enjoy. I had a lot of fun reading this book. And I’m jealous of everyone who gets to experience the ridiculous, action-packed, funny, and even emotional adventures of Thoral, the Mighty Fist Wielder.

One of the reasons I rate this book so highly is because of its characters. I love every character that resides within Grome, even the bad guys have a charm about them. I find myself fondly remembering characters who only existed in a few pages of this book because no one is a waste of space and everyone is written memorably. On top of all of that, these characters are put into the wonderfully weird world of Grome. Grome is similar to the people that inhabit it, in that its comedic quirkiness is what makes it so great. Grome is a prime example of good worldbuilding. Descriptions of Grome are written well enough that your mind creates these amazing visuals that make me wish I could visit Grome and see it with my own eyes.

The narration makes fun of the melodramatic narration found in most books like this, it takes the silliest things seriously and messes with the reader with poor phrasing and ongoing gags, which in turn makes everything so much funnier. That’s not to say Fish Wielder is just one big joke that never takes itself seriously. This book has a lot of heart and takes itself just seriously enough so that it’s compelling and I'm feeling for what’s happening. But not too seriously so that after feeling, I find myself depressed rather than I find myself giggling.

A large aspect of this story revolves around love and romance, something some people might not be interested in. So let me say as someone who came for the fantasy elements, that I was wholeheartedly emotionally invested in all of the love and romance. The romance is written in what I think is a very appealing simplistic style and it couldn’t be less contrived. Not to mention it doesn’t distract from other aspects of the story, such as the humor and action.

Fish Wielder does everything right in my eyes if you couldn’t already tell. It's a fine absurdist addition to the fantasy genre, and one with a lot of great unexpected twists and turns. I feel lucky to have come across this book. I stand by everything I’ve said about this book, as the only dull moments I had reading this book was when I was tired from staying up late at night to read this book. I truly believe Fish Wielder deserves your attention and I would recommend it to anyone looking for something to read. In my opinion, this book deserves to be up there with the greats of the fantasy genre.

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Fish Wielder
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