The Blacktongue Thief

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The plot in The Blacktongue Thief revolves around Kinch Na Shannack; Kinch owes the Takers Guild a small fortune for his education as a thief, and his debt has driven him to lie in wait by the old forest road, planning to rob the next traveler that crosses his path. Now the war bird grabbed the glaive-head and wrenched sideways so Pagran had to turn with it or lose the weapon. This story meanders around, sometimes on long tangents, almost as though some scenes were worth writing just to see what funny thing the narrator protagonist would say.

On the High Fantasy Spectrum of Self-Seriousness, with Tolkien on one end and Pratchett on the other, Christopher Buehlman’s The Blacktongue Thief sits comfortably in the middle, though perhaps favoring the wry humor and deprecation of Discworld over the portent of Middle-earth. The Blacktongue Thief is told in first person, with Kinch giving us an intimate account of all that happened to him from the day he met Galva. For example, a village with one mud road, one tavern that’s really just the back of a fat man’s house, and a dying ox everyone shares at plowing time will have an Allgod church. Anyway, this was fun and often funny as hell, with some great invented swear words and ways to swear.The Blacktongue Thief is fated to steal a lot of reader’s hearts with its charm, humor, intensity, and unrelenting fun. On the other end of the spectrum, Kazuo Ishiguro’s ‘The Buried Giant’ (2015) had a lot of mainstream critics comment rather condescendingly as to why the literary darling would embrace genre. Buehlman brings an incredible voice, tone, style and dry humor to thief first person POV that will endear you almost from the beginning. This was a world full of rich culture too, from the Spanth, Norholter, and Galtish races each with their own distinct language, accent, beliefs, and Gods.

This also enforced the strength of our main character, and also those around him, as the gradual crafting of the surrounding cast was natural and very well done.I was a bit confused during some of the magical interventions, but never to a degree where I wasn't firmly of the opinion this was a 5* book. Despite their swords, these fellows seemed leery of a trio of hard-looking older women clink-clinking away at Towers around a worm-bitten table. I've touched on the humour and the fantasy elements which are both well-worked throughout, but it's absolutely worth noting that some of The Blacktongue Thief's standout moments are horror-tinged sections that play on the mind long after the eye has read those chapters.

I’ve seen this book talked about for almost a year now (writing this as of 10/23/20) and it still has seven (7) months to go before it is released into the world.That they weren’t really my friends wasn’t a good enough reason to leave them maimed and wrecked on the White Road, nor was the fact that they deserved it. Christopher Buelhman is a favorite author of mine, but I've been caught up with his work for a while now. There’s a brutal reality to these wars, and to the goblins themselves, devastating in their effects both personal and worldwide.

In fact, I often failed and laughed my butt off, much to the concern and chagrin of my family and/or coworkers who were around at the time. The quest premise that Kinch and Galva took reminded me of Clay and Gabe’s journey in Kings of the Wyld; the jokes and senses of humor Buehlman included into the narrative were so delightful. The works of modern masters Joe Abercrombie and Patrick Rothfuss influenced this author, it is fair to say; in a world so full of good books and so short on time, theirs are among the stories I gladly revisit. As far as I can tell by reading it, The Blacktongue Thief is a standalone, yet the fine worldbuilding and the fact we don't know how far in the future Kinch is retelling his tale from means there could be many more adventures in this world.

Galva, una caballera superviviente de las encarnizadas guerras contra los goblins y leal seguidora de la diosa de la muerte, está buscando a su reina, desaparecida desde que una lejana ciudad del norte sucumbiera a los ataques de los gigantes. I was lucky enough to be provided by an ARC from the publisher through Edelweiss and as usual, that does not affect my opinions on this one. The Blacktongue Thief’ joins that special list of good books you would do very well by investing your time in reading. All you need to make sense of this world is embedded in the story itself and the experiences and histories of the characters. As much as I hoped he’d move his cupped palm down like he was snuffing a candle, I knew he would jab his thumb forward and the attack would start.