Review by Kelaine -- Fish Wielder

[Kelaine]

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

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4 out of 4 stars

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I smiled. I giggled. I laughed out loud! From the opening quote to the closing line, Fish Wielder is a fantastic work of comical fantasy fiction. Though to be honest, and despite what the cover art suggests, I’m not sure it fits neatly into the fantasy genre. While Fish Wielder includes very classic fantasy elements - heroes, evil magicians, elves and gnomes, named glowing swords, monsters of all sorts, and epic questing adventures - its most charming quality is that it pokes fun at those typical fantasy tropes at every given opportunity.

Fish Wielder opens on our hero, Thoral Mighty Fist the Fist Wielder, “perhaps the toughest, most mysterious and manly fighter”, alone at the Inn of the Gruesomely Gashed Gnome in Grome (read that fast and out loud three times!), drunk and crying. As follows under such circumstances, who should come to offer Thoral solace and purpose but his trusty friend and sidekick, Brad the sardonic talking koi fish, whom Thoral had once saved from drowning? Thoral and Brad set off with their grand steed Warlordhorse, last of the danger-smelling war horses (who also happens to have an inner-ear balance issue), on a series of mostly unplanned or blindly stumbled upon wild adventures where equally wild incidents take place.

First there are assassins! But a slight mishap sets everything awry for the bad guys. Then a monster hunt in a swamp! But that turns into a hunt for soap, because what heroic monster-hunter wants to be dirty? Certainly not Thoral Might Fist! The story continues with abandoned castles, magical items, powerful puddings, talking inhuman creatures, a gluten intolerant elvish princess from Windendale which the elves call Creekenvalley (because elves always have another name for everything), the Dark Brotherhood, the Bad Religion and the Goomy Prophecy of Doom, all presented with the detailed descriptions readers need to really dig into the new worlds created in fantasy novels... until of course the trope twist comes into play and your standard fantasy story takes a turn into uncharted parody territory.

In the spirit of general fantasy novels, Fish Wielder pulls elements from some very popular stories within the genre. Does the name ‘J.R.R.R. Hardiston’ remind you of a similar author? Does the Fellowship of the Pudding sound familiar? If I mention Mauron or a Bracelet of Evil forged to rule the land of Grome, or perhaps a brick road that is golden in colour, you might think you have read this story before. The more familiar you are with other well known fantasy worlds, the more this novel will strike a familiar though quite off-kilter chord, as there are liberal sprinklings of references to other literature throughout its pages. I loved catching those references, though I am sure I missed plenty! The blatantly intentional parody of other fantasy worlds added another layer of entertainment for me as I kept an eye out for them.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Fish Wielder, and give it a solid 4 out of 4 stars. I had fun with the vividly described adventures, smelling the bar table wiped down with a mildew-y rag and imagining the peculiar scent of cumin and cocoa, seeing the constellation of the celestial gopher and the Cavern Made Mostly of Bones. I loved that the author took an already entertaining genre and poked so much fun at what many authors turn into a very serious subject - creating an entirely new world for readers to immerse themselves in. And create a new world it did!

I would highly recommend this read to anyone that enjoys fantasy, and to anyone in general that enjoys a good parody. The only thing the book left me wondering is, where is the sequel!

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Fish Wielder
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