Title: Kings of the Wyld
Author: Nicholas Eames
Publication details: February 2017 by Orbit
Series: The Band #1
Genre: Fantasy
Clay Cooper and his band were once the best of the best - the meanest, dirtiest, most feared crew of mercenaries this side of the Heartwyld.
Their glory days long past, the mercs have grown apart and grown old, fat, drunk - or a combination of the three. Then an ex-bandmate turns up at Clay's door with a plea for help. His daughter Rose is trapped in a city besieged by an enemy one hundred thousand strong and hungry for blood. Rescuing Rose is the kind of mission that only the very brave or the very stupid would sign up for.
It's time to get the band back together for one last tour across the Wyld. (GOODREADS)
I have been in a fantasy kick since last year so I have been watching a lot of BookTubers recommend fantasy and even sci-fi books. It's dangerously adding many books in my TBR pile. But what can I do? The girl's got to read. 😁
Anyway, Kings of the Wyld is one of the recommended books (surprise, surprise). Though it wasn't really high on my list, I was able to get an e-book copy so I thought I'd give it a try. And thank goodness I did!
Like most of the books I read, I went in blind with Kings of the Wyld. I was expecting it to be a high, serious fantasy read, but I was very wrong. Surprisingly, the approach of the author worked well and I really had a good reading experience.
In the book, fantastical creatures are concentrated in the Heartwyld- a forest of unimaginable horror and weirdness. And while most creatures stay in the Wyld, many still venture out into human civilization. With this, we have bands or mercenaries who are hired to root out, kill or tame the evil creatures lurking around and threatening the people. That is until bands have finally seemed to outnumber the creatures.
Kings of the Wyld follows one of this band. A once famous band. What's interesting is that our protagonists are not the young and courageous heroes many readers might be expecting. Well, they were once young and courageous. But years have passed and our protagonists are now retired members who have separated from each other.
And so we follow their journey as they are presented with an almost impossible but necessary quest. But first, they must come together, reconcile and muster up again the fierceness and bravery they once have lived by.
Kings of the Wyld is quite a unique fantasy read for me. I have never read anything like it before. We do have the usual fantastical creatures and the medieval-ish setting. However, there are a lot of refreshing elements, and one of which I have mentioned before- retired heroes. If I remember correctly they are in their 50s or more! It made me think of the previous fantasy protagonists I have read before and what life must have been like for them once they are 'retired' from their quests.
Anyway, another thing I find refreshing is how 'light' the atmosphere is. I am not sure if I can explain correctly but I don't think I felt the gravity of their conquest although it is a life or death situation. I'm not even sure if it is a good thing. It is quite unbelievable, but it worked for me. If a fantasy genre can be a light read, this is a good example.
One thing that contributed to it perhaps is the humor generously placed throughout the book. Another thing is the mish mash of all the fantastical creatures. They are absurd and on a different level of weird but again, it worked and I find them funny. Of course, we still have the serious scenes. The turning point and deep realization scenes, but the humour won it for me. I really enjoyed this books from the first chapter up to the last.
Toward the end, scenes became fast-paced and quite action-packed. I honestly don't think I was able to read the scenes properly because I was also reading fast. 😁 But there's one particular plot element that might set the conflict in the next book. Hence, I am looking forward to how that will turn out for the characters and the plot.
As mentioned, the humor is the number one selling point of the book for me. But the themes are not lost. While the lightness and weirdness of the book are very obvious, Kings of the Wyld also tells a lot about the importance of family and friends. The family and friendship dynamics between the characters (main and secondary) are note-worthy as they are the main drivers of the story.
I also liked how the book gives importance to one of the characters' dilemma in choosing the comforts of home vs. doing what is right and/or living out of the comfort zone to experience more and be more. I especially liked the point of how it is human to feel scared, to feel inadequate. But what makes a difference is what we do with these emotions and overcoming our self-imposed hindrances.
Nicholas Eames is surely another author that will be on my radar. I really liked his writing style. It is easy to read and understand. It is funny, light but with substance. And though Kings of the Wyld is his debut novel, I can't wait to read more of his works.
Overall, Kings of the Wyld is a very entertaining, refreshing fantasy read. I actually have an e-book copy of the second book, but I want to read from a physical copy! I hope I can find one online soon!
