Reviews with content warning for Gore - Kings of the Wyld

One of the most uniquely enjoyable experiences I’ve had in fantasy in a long time. Eames doesn’t try to be overly clever; the tropes and archetypes that populate this book are laid out front and center. The characters are all lovely in their own way, and legitimately hilarious. Longtime readers of fantasy should enjoy everything in here. 8.5/10.

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elyse12's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Where do I even begin with this book? This is so far my favorite book of 2022, even beating Jade Legacy by Fonda Lee. It's incredible heartfelt, hilarious, and highly entertaining. There was not a moment where I was bored and wishing for this to be over.

The characters are all important, you grow to love them. The plot itself is engaging and keeps you on your toes. The world was a little on the back burner but the characters make up for it. Finishing this book left a huge smile on my face.

I don't think I've read a book in a long time that can make me laugh loudly as much as this book has. There were parts where I'd scream "oh my gods" while at work that my coworkers were concerned for me. Each main character is important to the story, the writing is very easy to digest, the fantasy elements make sense. It's everything you wanted in one book.

The audiobook is definitely the best way to consume this. The narrator does a fantastic job in bringing these characters to life and you can differentiate all of them. Please listen to it. I guarantee you won't regret it!

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bookwisp's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny fast-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

4.0

Kings of the Wyld was sold to me as 'a former D&D adventuring party gets back together for one last job'. I can confirm this assessment is entirely accurate.

Is it the best or most original Fantasy novel I've ever read? Nope.
Would I have gotten as much out of it if I didn't enjoy D&D quests and tropes? Probably not.
Was it a lot of fun? Yes, absolutely.

I think if you go into this book expecting it to be a laugh-a-minute as some reviewers make it out to be, you'll be a bit disappointed. It will, however, elicit involuntary, out-loud, 'HA' moments - or, at least, it did for me. Eames balances a humorous narrative voice with some really tender - soft, even - moments. (Clay Cooper is a Good man, okay.)

The bonds and friendships between the members of Saga are central to the book. Their characterisations and their interrelationships (and, of course, Clay Good Boi Cooper) are what elevated this book to a four-star read. More books about male friendships, please and thank you!

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kjoli's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

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

4.5

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achillea's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

everything is happening so much

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abutler's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.25

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planreadrepeat's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny reflective tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

Picture a troupe of warriors who have retired from their glory days grown old. Grouping up for one last adventure to help a friend and maybe save the world. There are adult themes in this book. Not the sex (hardly any and nothing graphic), some cursing, but it's the so relatable of looking back at youthful glory years (with some regrets) by older guys. Plus cracking knees, sore back, and missing family. At parts laugh out loud funny and at others reflective and emotional, this was an epic read.

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catsy2022's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Rating: A

But life, Clay knew, didn't work out that way. It wasn't a circle; you didn't go round and round again. It was an arc, its course as inexorable as the sun's trek across the sky, destined at its highest, brightest moment to begin to fall.

I had heard things about this book and decided to get myself a copy. Before I had started reading this, I ended up buying the sequel anyway...haha whoops. Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames is a last hurrah novel about a group of old, washed-up adventurers getting back together to rescue Rose, the daughter of one of the band. The story has strong vibes of the impending doom in Skyrim and Dragon Age, mixed with the humour levels of Monty Python. Lots of quips, puns and even dick jokes can be found in this book. As well as many, many wholesome moments. Some of which even brought me to tears.

Life was funny, and fickle, and often cruel. Sometimes the unworthy went on living, while those who deserved better were lost.

I think this would be a really popular book amongst a lot of groups. I personally really enjoyed the book and some of the jokes landed with me, but I can't really recall them. I am a bit disappointed that there wasn't really a stand-out female character that was really in the band (except after halfway through). I did like the joke around the bard of the group (looking at you Dandelion...) and how that was handled throughout the book. I really loved the characterisation of Gabriel and Clay particularly around how much they valued their family.
Each moment that Clay reflects on why he's doing this adventure was so touching. I also liked the world-building around the monsters (common D&D monsters that you can look up online), the named weapon trope and how immensely mysterious and powerful the weapons were.

Moog was definitely a great addition to the team, beyond filling in the magical character of the team, he had a lot of creative weapons, a lot of world knowledge and I found his developmental scenes really touching. I really liked Matrick and he was a washed-up old king, similar to Robert Baratheon. What was so interesting to me was that he started as a thief/rogue. I wish we had more information about how he became king.

We will speak of this later, his lower back promised. Oh yes we will.

If I think about what the book was lacking, there were a few things: There was no real amazing battle that swept me in like other books have. I felt like we were more told about the skirmish rather than really saw it. I also felt like the gang weren't really that close - or it kind of showed that they fell out of contact with each other for the past 20 years, and coming back together was pretty easy for them to fall back into. They briefly mentioned the team used to be 6 + the bard, but there was only one line about the team member that had died, and they never brought him up again.

The team also felt like very much overpowered. We start the book going on about how old and grey they are, but several times when Gabriel is fighting, he is practically a god with a hectic AF sword and he seems to shrug off injuries unlike Clay. I especially felt like Ganelon's character was one of the main ways the author solved the aging heroes problem.

I still liked the story and would put it into similar camps as The Cruel Stars (popcorn entertainment) by John Bigmingham and the Warriors of Blood and Shadow series by Andy Peloquin.

"But you would come if it was me, right, Daddy? If I was trapped by bad guys far away? You would come and save me?"
"If it was you," he said in a voice still fierce for how quietly it spoke, "then nothing in the world could stop me."

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