Heroic Fantasy
Written: Apr 27 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Humorous high fantasy (no elves).
Cons: Some of the anachronistic silliness might be too much for some readers.
The Bottom Line: I've read it several times, if you like humorous fantasy it's probably for you.
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| DavidWeisman's Full Review: John Moore - Heroics For Beginners |
This book is a lot of fun. Kevin needs to win the hand of a princess he has his heart set on. Unfortunately, an Evil Overlord has stolen an Ancient Artifact he may use in a plot to destroy the kingdom. Worse yet, the King decides the princesses hand will be given to the one who storms the Fortress of Doom and defeats the plan - and Kevin's competitor Lord Logan is a renowned military general. Kevin is reduced to a desperate plan to infiltrate the fortress on his own and attempt to steal the artifact.
Very humorous, usually funny though often silly
Not all the humor is in time period - the heroic technique for swinging through a plate glass window in a nick of time without getting cut up is an anachronism, and the Evil Overlord has a Mad Scientist working for him. Kevin's father wears shades and has the title King Eric the Totally Cool, and jams with anachronistic jazz bands. The majority of the jokes are sort of based on classical fantasy. If you've ever wondered where ancient artifacts came from, they're made by John B. Ancient, or were before the company was taken over. Somehow nobody gets a chance to ask the soothsayer about the stock and futures market - but everyone thinks of it. She knows the future, but has a little trouble thinking up rhymes for her prophecies. It seems the Evil Overlord has heard about people sneaking into the castle through the ventilation ducts - and Kevin suspects it might be a bit too easy. This is just a tiny random sample of the humor - there's some on every page.
Good light fantasy
This passes the test of good light fantasy - you're pretty sure the good guys will win because that's the kind of book it is, yet you manage to forget amidst the deadly dangers that assail your favorite characters, and the constant cliffhanger moments. When it suddenly turns out the Ice Princess already knows and is secretly attached to Kevin, we believe it because the clever Kevin doesn't seem quite the type to voluntarily seek a marriage to a woman who won't warm up to him - no matter how beautiful. We cheer for the unmartial Kevin when we discover his diplomatic credentials have involved him in the odd bit of spying, providing him unexpected cunning, skills, and resources to aid him in his mission. The princess may not do well in her short stint as a barbarian swordswoman, but she ultimately manages to take a hand in deciding her own fate. We even learn to care about Valerie, the Overlord's evil assistant, despite her interest in sexually molesting chained up female prisoners - though she's perfectly willing to demonstrate the differences in kinds of whips on a man if she can drug and immobilize him. Unfortunately the Evil Overlord is sick of having assistants seduced, and demands she dresses in the most unattractive uniform imaginable. He himself is uninterested in her, and doesn't respond when she asks if Evil Overlords ever have slightly greying assistants. If you've ever wondered how and why anyone becomes and Evil Overlord, the answer which emerges in pieces is amazingly credible given the overall silliness and variety of the source material.
Summary
Despite the obvious warnings that this could reasonably by solved by a cliched Deus Ex Machina, the ending is fair and logical. This book is fun, and I recommend it.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
DavidWeisman
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Member: David Weisman
Location: Carle Place, New York
Reviews written: 169
Trusted by: 70 members
About Me:
I'm mostly writing fiction right now.
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