Reviews - The Blacktongue Thief

3.65k reviews for:

The Blacktongue Thief

Christopher Buehlman

4.1 AVERAGE

erebus42's review against another edition

4.75

fast-paced

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

I’m afraid to read any more of Christopher Buehlman because I don’t want to ruin the high average so far.

On its surface, it’s well trod territory. Rogue-ish character from low background but above average ability gets caught up in a grander scheme and becomes a better person, sorta. The Blacktongue Thief does all this in such a fresh way, and with such beautiful world building that it doesn’t feel overdone and boring.

Heavy spoilers, so if you want to read this, I wouldn't reveal it.

Using extinction of horses as a plot point is a wild shot but it works so fucking well, and the eventual reveal that perhaps not all hope is lost for horses on account of the tattoo magic was a twist I didn’t see coming. The different coinage per country and the differences in how the powerful magic users built their lairs were also small details in the grand scheme, but add so much color! The death of Malk sucked ass though, didn’t expect it, and definitely felt bummed out. He wasn’t the most compelling character but there definitely could have been ways to tie him into the later plot. C’est la vie.

All of this being said, I can’t say this would be for everyone. I enjoyed it because it felt like a D&D campaign I’d love to run/play in, but I feel like if it doesn’t click for you in the first chapter, it likely won’t at any point in the book. Kinch is the pretty specific type of character and if you don’t like that archetype, you probably won’t like the book. Also it’s incredibly fast paced even with the above average world building, so it can be confusing at first, and I found referencing the front map/calendar to be a must. To an extent, like Between Two Fires, this also feels like it’s written more for the male gaze and I can definitely understand the bad reviews calling that out, but overall I’d still say it was good. The only reason I docked points is because the sex scenes are a pretty cringey. Thankfully it’s just a small portion of the book though!