TL;DR: A fun epic fantasy book with a comeback band vibe, Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames was fantastic.
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Clay Cooper is satisfied with his quiet life in Coverdale after years of being a mercenary. He’s had his fun and just wants to stay with his wife and daughter. But when one of his old band mates, Gabriel, shows up on his doorstep with grim news of his daughter begin trapped behind a city wall besieged by Hordes of magical creatures, he can’t say no to joining Gabriel to save his daughter (even though he wants to).
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book. The cover art and the battle of bands theme that pervades the story could go horribly wrong, especially from a writer who pushes the band concept too hard over the traditional sword and board fantasy story. But it doesn’t. In fact, there’s just the right amount of it, along with humor, emotion, adventure, and revenge. For all these reasons and more, I gave it 5 stars.
The Plot
Clay Cooper was once a part of an epic mercenary band called Saga. However, he’s left those days behind him for a quiet life as a watchman on the walls of his hometown, Coverdale. So when he walks home one night after work and finds his old bandmate, Gabriel, in tattered clothing on his doorstep, he’s not open to leaving with him, no matter what Gabriel says.
That all changes when he finds out Gabriel’s daughter, Rose, is one of the trapped thousands of people holed up in the city of Castia while being besieged by Hordes of the very creatures his band used to kill for money.
He doesn’t want to go. He’s old, out of shape, and just wants to put the past behind him. But he can’t say no, especially when his own daughter asks him if he’d save her in the same position. Clay joins Gabriel as they wander through many towns and not so friendly woods to find their old bandmates.
What follows in a very long journey, with a lot of mishaps, of hooking up with their friends as they march to save Gabriel’s daughter Rose. Can they save Rose from her impossible situation? Do five out of shape mercenaries still have what it takes to save the world (again)?
What I liked & liked less
There’s a lot to like in this book. In fact, I read it like a book from one of my favorite authors – all in one sitting (reading). The story is good, the ending rocks (pun intended), and the characters are likeable and solid.
There are quite a few pop culture references in this book. I saw at least two Princess Bride references and there may be more. It also has a good layer of aging rock band getting the band back together vibes to be different from your standard epic fantasy tale without overwhelming the story or the world building. And, there’s a lesson to be learned by what has happened in the time Saga stopped touring and the current events.
The characters are good. I really liked Clay Cooper, the narrator. He’s funny, has some great lines and insights, and his character journey is real. He misses his wife, a lot, and it comes up in various points throughout the story. Enough to be believable, but not enough to belabor the point.
The other band members have their own journeys to take and while not as fleshed out as Clay’s, they still resonate. It’s a last hurrah for all of them and then end the journey in a different place than when they started.
However, I was not a huge fan of how Gabriel was portrayed. He spends most of the time in sullen silence and after a while, it got old. I wanted to see more from him than the sad sack we still got three-fourths of the way through. To be honest, his behavior got old really quickly, even though I understood why he was the way he was.
The world building is solid, there’s no major holes or convenient magic to make the scenes work. In fact, the mage of the group has moments of brilliance, but also fails as well. The people and creatures they meet along the way are interesting and are fleshed out to be as real as the characters we’re following.
Was the last battle a bit confusing to follow? Absolutely, but then I have troubles following the most basic of battle scenes, so that may just be me.
To Sum Up (Too Late!)
If you like DnD, comeback stories, and epic fantasy journeys where lots of things go wrong, you’ll love this book. If you like humor and strong emotion in your epic fantasy, you’ll love this book. If you’re nostalgic for your own glory days, you’ll love this book because it brings it all back. Basically, I thought Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames was a blast to read and I highly recommend it. I may, or may not, read the second book in this world series. The “may not” is because I am not sure it can be as good (for me) as what he achieved in this book, but many reviewers say he did. For all that and more, I’m giving this 5 stars.
About the Author
Nicholas Eames was born to parents of infinite patience and unstinting support in Wingham, Ontario. Kings of the Wyld is his first novel, Bloody Rose his second! He loves loves black coffee, neat whiskey, the month of October, and video games. He lives in Ontario, Canada, and is very probably writing at this moment.
If you wish to purchase this book, pick your vendor of choice here, or just cave to the man and get it from Amazon here.
Originally published on Feedium. This fills in the Epic Weapon square on my Fantasy Bingo 2022 card.