Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames

37 reviews

nikki_saulnier's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gore, Murder, War, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Grief, Violence, Death, Infidelity, Cannibalism, Blood, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pregnancy, Slavery, and Terminal illness

xvicesx's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A superb, down to earth version of a mercenary band, meeting up twenty years after originally disbanding to save the world once more (by accident). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Death and Death of parent

banjo_hammer's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I regularly saw this book recommended to people who wanted a standalone adventurous fantasy story instead of multi-volume epics or grimdark stories.  And while it has its flaws, it certainly delivered.

A few critiques: first, it drags on at times.  There are side adventures and party members keep getting added.  There's also a fair bit of overwriting, repeating details from earlier chapters before verbatim (helpful, but done more than necessary) or using a paragraph for something that only needs 3-5 words.  If you're someone comfortable skimming such sections, then it's not so bad.

Second, the idea of mercenary bands being an allegory for real world rock bands was at times amusing, and at others groan worthy.  The conceit seemed to come and go throughout the story.  A few chapters in I found it annoying, wishing the author would go full-on satire or just lay off with the cute nods and references.  I mostly got over it by the middle of the book.

And third, there's a fair bit of Dad the Protector fantasy that's very Taken-esque, in the sense that the dads indeed have "a very particular set of skills."  This will appeal to some readers but, I'm sure, not others.  That said, I'm a middle aged dad so it hit home with me.  Others' mileage may vary.

That said, overall the story was dang fun.  The characters are all likeable, if not loveable, in their own ways.  Lots of classic D&D style adventure elements, for folks who dig that.  I liked that most of the heroes were old and past their glory days.  The world felt lived in and its mythology was interesting.  I spent the whole book rooting for Clay, Gabe, Moog, and all the rest, curious to see how they would make it all the way across the map.  Despite some eye rolls along the way, it was a good time cover to cover

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Violence, War, and Cannibalism

Minor: Addiction, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Alcoholism, and Confinement

missmali's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Violence, War, and Gore

billyjepma's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful lighthearted tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A proper hoot and a half. The writing is solid and somehow finds a great balance between maintaining tangible stakes and not taking itself seriously. Eames has played a lot of D&D because the vibes here are exactly that—chaotic, heartfelt, and bursting with a bravado that’s only sometimes earned but is always entertaining. It didn’t rock my world, and the pacing is too meandering for its own good, despite feeling authentic to the kind of adventure it is. The momentum never stalls, though—things move too fast for that to happen, which is a good thing. But the narrative does suffer slightly since the drama rarely has the time it needs to properly crystallize. But yeah, I had a great time and will pick up the sequel because this is the platonic ideal of a fantasy world. 

Also, I picked this up to fill the Baldur’s Gate 3 hole in my life, and it rose to the occasion! So, if anyone else is feeling similarly, this might help.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol, War, Terminal illness, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Addiction, Cannibalism, and Fatphobia

betanine's review against another edition

adventurous funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I liked this book, but not sure who I’d recommend it to as it has a lot of swearing, a lot of violence, and general irreverence for what is proper. 

That said, there are thought provoking moments, speaking a bit of insight about life and how we handle it. No big expositions, just some very poignant thoughts of just the right amount at the right time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Alcohol

avacadosocks's review against another edition

adventurous funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Violence

Moderate: Fatphobia and Domestic abuse

Minor: Gore

valjeanval's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Funny for a couple hundred pages, but the jokes just repeat and the flaws get more noticeable as it goes on. The female characters lack and depth and the run of duck jokes and fat jokes just goes on and on.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Misogyny, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Animal death, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Terminal illness, Violence, and War

amanda_g_s's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and War

brandohs's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Every moment of this book was a pleasure to read and genuinely had me excited 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, and War