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moshikami's review against another edition
4.0
The best Bauchelain and Korbal Broach story I have read so far. I "got" the humour of this volume better than The Lees of Laughter's End. The town of Spendrugle was wacky and its denizens were quite hilarious. I especially enjoyed scenes involving the tax collector, Spilgit, and the tyrant sorcerer, Fangatooth. There were even a few well-timed slapstick moments. Bauchelain was also awesome in this novella, and I am now inspired to make pentagram cookies ;). The Wurms of Blearmouth also contains a good helping of Steven Erikson's trademark social commentary which adds depth to the Malazan series, in my opinion.
josiah216's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-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
4.5
christiano's review against another edition
4.0
The first two books (chronologically in my reading order) already were a bit on the humorous side, but this one does not hold back. It is like a very dark, bloody slapstick comedy. And I thought it was great!
eblyth's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
zeustav's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
mwplante's review against another edition
2.0
This novella was a little too big for its britches. The story was too complex and long to really work in the same way that Blood Follows and Lees of Laughter's End worked for me. The scenario flowed less readily and seemed to sort of break the fabric of the Malazan universe for me as well, edging into the territory of the totally zany Boomer-humor that the Willful Child books live within. I found the strain of Borscht Belt "take my wife... please" humor particularly grating.
geekwayne's review against another edition
4.0
'The Wurms of Blearmouth' by Steven Erikson is my first foray into the world of Malazan and I found it to be a delightful surprise. It was weird and funny and kept me turning pages and laughing.
It all takes place in and around the village of Spendrugle and it's luckless inhabitants. There's a shipwreck off the coast and the villagers want to loot it, but the people from the ship are a violent and nasty sort. Chief among these is Korbal Broach, Bauchelain and their manservant Emancipor Reese, aka Mancy the Luckless. They find themselves in the wizards castle where Bauchelain just wants a chance to bake cookies. Intrigue and a wizard's duel are sure to follow.
The townsfolks are pathetically hilarious, eking out a living among the dead. I really wasn't quite sure what to expect when I picked this up, but it was a lot of fun. I understand that Steven Erickson wrote these shorter novels while he was writing the larger 10 volume series. I'll be hunting more of these down at some point. While it probably helps to be more familiar with the characters than I was, I didn't find it too difficult to catch on to who the main players in this comedy were.
I was given a review copy of this ebook by Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to read this darkly funny ebook.
It all takes place in and around the village of Spendrugle and it's luckless inhabitants. There's a shipwreck off the coast and the villagers want to loot it, but the people from the ship are a violent and nasty sort. Chief among these is Korbal Broach, Bauchelain and their manservant Emancipor Reese, aka Mancy the Luckless. They find themselves in the wizards castle where Bauchelain just wants a chance to bake cookies. Intrigue and a wizard's duel are sure to follow.
The townsfolks are pathetically hilarious, eking out a living among the dead. I really wasn't quite sure what to expect when I picked this up, but it was a lot of fun. I understand that Steven Erickson wrote these shorter novels while he was writing the larger 10 volume series. I'll be hunting more of these down at some point. While it probably helps to be more familiar with the characters than I was, I didn't find it too difficult to catch on to who the main players in this comedy were.
I was given a review copy of this ebook by Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to read this darkly funny ebook.
bkeving_74's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
mhedgescsus's review against another edition
5.0
Check out my YouTube channel where I show my instant reactions to reading fantasy books as soon as I finish the book.
Hands down the funniest book I have ever read.
While this is the 5th book in this series, I am reading this series in chronological order so it is the 3rd book I have read. I thought the first one was rather weak, the second one was downright hysterical, and now this one is simultaneously the best novella, and funniest book I have ever read.
This book is set in the Malazan universe, and while it would be good to read those books first to get to understand the main characters here a bit more, it is absolutely not necessary and you can easily read these books without any knowledge of the other Malazan books.
This book is Terry Pratchett style humor, but is also a brutally dark horror story with wonderful prose - three concepts that I would never imagine would mesh well together but absolutely do. This is a short book and won't take you more than a day to read so I hesitate to say much about the plot as I would likely be giving away some major plot details, but instead I will just explain a few of the characters so you get a sense of why this book is so incredibly unique.
Bauchelain and Korbal Broach are the main characters, two insanely powerful sorcerers who nobody thinks are powerful until they meet their demise. They are so powerful that they take no offense towards people who try to kill them, as they don't fear anyone. They are teamed up with Emancipor Reese who is their manservant who is constantly terrified of everyone and everything, and has to be constantly calmed down by the sorcerers.
Feloovil operates a brothel but does not allow her innocent daughter Felittle to be a whore, which frustrate Felittle to no end as that is her greatest dream.
Fangatooth Claw the Render is the local lord who is hilariously villainous, and he has Coingood his scribe constantly follow him around to keep a record of everything he ever says so he can keep it for posterity. But he constantly wants Coingood to rewrite the record for his over-the-top speeches because they never come out witty enough.
You have an undead grave digger who nobody thinks is actually dead, a tax collector who appointed himself who honestly believes that the money he collects is benefitting everyone, and a host of other ridiculous characters that I can't say enough positives about.
The ending is glorious and bloody and will have you somehow both wincing and laughing out loud. This book should appeal to any Malazan fan, or any Pratchett fan who has a stomach for a darker story.
Hands down the funniest book I have ever read.
While this is the 5th book in this series, I am reading this series in chronological order so it is the 3rd book I have read. I thought the first one was rather weak, the second one was downright hysterical, and now this one is simultaneously the best novella, and funniest book I have ever read.
This book is set in the Malazan universe, and while it would be good to read those books first to get to understand the main characters here a bit more, it is absolutely not necessary and you can easily read these books without any knowledge of the other Malazan books.
This book is Terry Pratchett style humor, but is also a brutally dark horror story with wonderful prose - three concepts that I would never imagine would mesh well together but absolutely do. This is a short book and won't take you more than a day to read so I hesitate to say much about the plot as I would likely be giving away some major plot details, but instead I will just explain a few of the characters so you get a sense of why this book is so incredibly unique.
Bauchelain and Korbal Broach are the main characters, two insanely powerful sorcerers who nobody thinks are powerful until they meet their demise. They are so powerful that they take no offense towards people who try to kill them, as they don't fear anyone. They are teamed up with Emancipor Reese who is their manservant who is constantly terrified of everyone and everything, and has to be constantly calmed down by the sorcerers.
Feloovil operates a brothel but does not allow her innocent daughter Felittle to be a whore, which frustrate Felittle to no end as that is her greatest dream.
Fangatooth Claw the Render is the local lord who is hilariously villainous, and he has Coingood his scribe constantly follow him around to keep a record of everything he ever says so he can keep it for posterity. But he constantly wants Coingood to rewrite the record for his over-the-top speeches because they never come out witty enough.
You have an undead grave digger who nobody thinks is actually dead, a tax collector who appointed himself who honestly believes that the money he collects is benefitting everyone, and a host of other ridiculous characters that I can't say enough positives about.
The ending is glorious and bloody and will have you somehow both wincing and laughing out loud. This book should appeal to any Malazan fan, or any Pratchett fan who has a stomach for a darker story.