Scan barcode
A review by belchie324
The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
5.0
There was a point in reading The Blacktongue Thief where I was ready to write off the entire book. Near the middle of the second act, this book began to meander and lose its focus.
However, the start was so damn strong, and Kinch was such an engaging character...I stuck it through. Boy am I glad I did.
This book is a love letter to the fantasy genre. It takes its most famous tropes and uses them in such beautiful ways. It’s not reinventing the wheel, but it is still laced with this refreshing energy from the worldbuilding to the magic systems. It takes its time to breathe in areas of the genre where some writers gloss over, it expresses a nuanced take on fantasy things like languages and cultures.
Blacktongue Thief choose to be intentionally deep where other fantasy chooses to be shallow. The difference in languages across this world is established early on as an obsession of Kinch’s and throughout the course of the novel, special attention is drawn to tavern signs and specific sayings. It was truly such an enjoyable aspect of this novel. In addition I truly loved the way the action scenes were written.
Buehlman has such a gift at conveying rapid and gratuitous violence. As a reader I was always aware of exactly what was happening and where each player was located in each altercation. Vivid detail here, and I feel like Buehlman’s career in horror novels before this really helped him here.
This book DOES have pacing issues, and it can tend to drag through the second act, but the first and third acts are simply phenomenal. Truly, it totally made up for the meandering middle. I think Blacktongue Thief might be a new favourite too. Truly a revolutionary year for finding new obsessions. Can’t wait for Daughter’s War next year. So stoked.
However, the start was so damn strong, and Kinch was such an engaging character...I stuck it through. Boy am I glad I did.
This book is a love letter to the fantasy genre. It takes its most famous tropes and uses them in such beautiful ways. It’s not reinventing the wheel, but it is still laced with this refreshing energy from the worldbuilding to the magic systems. It takes its time to breathe in areas of the genre where some writers gloss over, it expresses a nuanced take on fantasy things like languages and cultures.
Blacktongue Thief choose to be intentionally deep where other fantasy chooses to be shallow. The difference in languages across this world is established early on as an obsession of Kinch’s and throughout the course of the novel, special attention is drawn to tavern signs and specific sayings. It was truly such an enjoyable aspect of this novel. In addition I truly loved the way the action scenes were written.
Buehlman has such a gift at conveying rapid and gratuitous violence. As a reader I was always aware of exactly what was happening and where each player was located in each altercation. Vivid detail here, and I feel like Buehlman’s career in horror novels before this really helped him here.
This book DOES have pacing issues, and it can tend to drag through the second act, but the first and third acts are simply phenomenal. Truly, it totally made up for the meandering middle. I think Blacktongue Thief might be a new favourite too. Truly a revolutionary year for finding new obsessions. Can’t wait for Daughter’s War next year. So stoked.