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A review by mhedgescsus
The Wurms of Blearmouth by Steven Erikson
5.0
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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.