Nicholas Eames' debut fantasy novel doesn't pull any punches
The ‘Five Man Band’ is fantasy trope that’s been popping up regularly for decades, but it’s one that’s so effective that nobody seems to mind. The trope is easily recognisable; do you have five grouped characters in a fantasy setting? That’s probably a Five-Man Band.
Each member of the band usually embodies one specific role. There’s often a Brute of some kind—like the Hulk, or Michelle Rodriguez’s character in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Another common role is The Lancer, a somewhat antagonistic rival to the Hero character who can usually fight pretty well, too—think Batman in any Justice League story, or Magneto in X-Men First Class.
There are more roles, of course—like The Leader, The Heart, The Smart One—and variations of all sorts to play with, but I’ve never seen a take on the trope quite like Nicholas Eames’ in Kings of the Wyld. In some ways, Eames plays it very straight in how he concocts his core Five-Man Band, but it’s the world that he’s built around the whole concept of ‘Fantasy Bands’ that makes Kings of the Wyld such a compelling read.
Opening Act
Five-Man Bands operate in the world of Kings of the Wyld in much the same way that music bands in our world do. They have agents who book them gigs and sell out arenas in which they play (i.e. fight monsters) to crowds of thousands. It wasn’t always this way, though. Kings of the Wyld’s perspective character is Clay Cooper, a man who used to be a member of Grandual’s greatest band in his youth—Saga.
Saga didn’t make a name for themselves the way these new bands do. They earned their reputation actually defending the land from monsters from the Heartwyld Forest. That was a long time ago, though, and the novel opens with an old and retired Cooper living peacefully with his family, until the once-leader of Saga shows up on his doorstep with a dangerous plea and an even more dangerous plan.
I love this world. The whole notion of a land filled with Five-Man Bands is so unique but also feels so natural under Eames’ penmanship. He draws forth a unique history for this setting that he embellishes with dazzling flourishes. The novel is littered with descriptions of monsters and brief chronicles of various bands and objects that are both easy and fun to read.
Banding Together
I absolutely burned through this novel. The grimy sense of humour had me chuckling regularly, the fight scenes felt choreographed with precision, and there were some quite tender moments throughout, too. As the plot seeks to reconnect the various scattered members of Saga, the reader comes to feel the real love these characters have for each other.
Love is, simply, the driving force of the novel. Be it for spouses, for children, or for each other, the men that make up Saga are so compelling because their often violent nature is contrasted at almost ever turn by genuine affection. For as crude and bloody as the story can get, this is nowhere close to being a ‘grimdark’ novel.
Eames fits a lot of story into these 500 pages. At times, so much is happening so quickly that he skips over sequences that would be entire set pieces in another story. This is always done knowingly though, and I commend Eames (and his editor, maybe!) for being able to find the places where going into detail on things would’ve slowed the pace of the novel down too much.
Encore
If I had one minor criticism, it’s that while Saga’s ultimate destination is telegraphed quite early—did I mention this is a road-trip story?—there’s a lot of stuff the story has to get out of the way before the journey can truly begin in earnest. Honestly, this didn’t bother me much at all, but it does have the potential to make the bulk of the story’s content feel like a diversion to the main event.
Basically, it takes a few hundred pages for the gang to finally coalesce, and while I personally had tremendous fun watching all of that unfold, there will definitely be some who will lament the time it takes for Saga to breach the Heartwylde Forest and start making real progress on their quest.
I can also envision some people having problems with the various conveniences of the story that serve to rescue/aid the gang when they’re in a pinch, but honestly, I didn’t care once. These are characters that wouldn’t care what you think about them if they were real, and this is a story that will gladly flip you a middle finger for whinging about ‘deus ex machinas’.
Ultimately, this is a fun and oftentimes hilarious adventure. It has a sensibility that won't be to everyone's taste, but if you're looking for a fantasy novel that feels epic without being dense or daunting, Kings of the Wyld could be right up your alley.
Thanks for reading my review. If you liked it, consider checking out my wishlist or buying me a cup of coffee at https://ko-fi.com/kieranobrien or below.
Comments