MY ⭐️ RATING: 4.25/5
Format: Kindle Whispersync
BOOK DESCRIPTION
THIS AIN’T A JOB FOR THE GOOD GUYS
Varcade fled to the deserts of Harrah to escape his past as an Educator, a member of an order of zealot warrior-monks that aims to shape the world according to their sacred Teachings by force. Varcade makes his living as a reckless sword-for-hire, caring only about himself, until his self-centered lifestyle is turned on its head when he is contracted to recruit a misfit team of unruly assassins and take out the mighty Bone Lord of Akrab.
But the Bone Lord is aware of the plot and sends her band of Dusters to stop them; individuals who have gained bizarre and lethal magical powers by snorting the pulverised bones of dead gods. Hunted by Educators and Dusters in a city-state where an escalating conflict between the human and demon population threatens to boil over in a civil war, will Varcade and his ragtag crew save Akrab from the cruel Bone Lord, or will they make things even worse?
MY REVIEW
🚨 I was given a copy of this by the author as a review request, to which, that did not affect my opinion in any way. 🚨
Describing this as Kings of the Wyld meets Deadpool is an understatement. I’m not sure if anyone else has put this together, but I also got a little bit of Guardians of the Galaxy as well. The GotG element that comes into play is based on the bizarre characters and their personalities. There are some truly unique characters that you just don’t get anywhere else, and it’s littered with them. The main character, Varcade, definitely has that Deadpool feel to him with the dark sense of humor but that also fits with Peter Quill aka StarLord as well. Some of the other charcaters that you’ll meet will also remind you of the rest of the ragtag band of misfits that is the guardians.
This book is fun, it’s crazy, and it’s absurdly entertaining, packed full of excitement and laughter. It is honestly one of the strangest books I’ve ever read, and I mean that in a good way. The characters are unforgettable, so much so, that when I wasn’t reading, I would giggle at lines I remembered while I was working out or just watching tv. I will say this, if you don’t like dark comedies like Deadpool, Suicide Squad and Guardians of the Galaxy, this may not be for you, but if those are things you like, you’re going to find yourself laughing so much. Now, with that said, as much as I enjoyed all the laughs, I do think that the humor did overshadow the story quite a bit, to a point that I kinda forgot what was actually going on at times.
“I like to think I’m an easy-going kinda person; but, and listen carefully, when I don’t get to eat, I’m not responsible for my actions, ‘kay?”
Beyond the comedy the world that Samir created is Arab inspired and very imaginative. The names of places and things will give clear indications of inspiration, like the Harrah desert and the setting being in Akrab. That really helped paint a picture to understand the surroundings of the world. There was also quite a bit of action that lead to some really cool, and again, very humorous scenes, including a clear inspiration from Deadpool that had me laughing out loud. I should also say that the only other thing that I had a small issue with was that the names of the protagonists felt a lot more thought out compared to the very basic, but again, funny, names of the antagonists, like Fish City, Fat Pudding, Bonky Bonk and a few others.
With that said, this was a raucous hack and slash adventure of a debut filled with humor and excitement at the turn of a each page. What’s even better though, is that a audiobook is in the works, and I will 100% be getting that, because I HAVE TO hear the humor coming from a professional narration… and that could make me raise my grade up despite the minor issues I had.
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