"Kings of the Wyld" by Nicholas Eames (2017)

 **The author attempted to write a fun, silly 'what if fantasy adventurers were like rock stars?' novel, but accidentally wrote a surprisingly thoughtful story about aging and mortality amidst a fantastic adventure world.  But also, to be clear, it's a pretty solid fantasy adventure**

WHEN WE SEEK TO RULE ONLY OURSELVES, WE ARE EACH OF US KINGS.

(an epitaph, from the grave of fallen heroes)

At its core, this is a pretty simple book--not in a bad way, it's a tried-and-true formula.  The narrative is a solid "getting the band back together" story, where a legendary band of heroes reunites for one final job.  Their adventure will take them across a magical and dangerous land, post-Tolkien/DnD in flavor with the right amount of original twists (some cool new monster ideas, and a great mythology backstory that ends up being more important than we think, no spoilers) to make it fun.  We've got some great villains, a few solid betrayals, and a ton of badass action scenes.  Really, what more could we ask for?

The twist, as it were, is that the novel started with the idea "what if fantasy Adventurers were like rock stars?" and it takes that to some fun places.  While this could (and, to hear the author Nicholas Eames tell it, almost was) gimmicky, I was actually impressed with the book's restraint.  The most noticeable part is simply the vocabulary--while some fantasy novels choose to use made-up words in order to make their worldbuilding stand out, this book instead uses the vocab exactly as you'd expect from that twist:  Groups of mercenaries are referred to as "bands", travelling fighting monsters and fulfilling quests is called "touring", the leader and most famous member of a group of mercenaries is referred to as the "frontman", etc.  While this could have been over-the-top with nonstop references, it's actually not too prevalent, which I appreciated

This theme extends to our main characters, in kind of a fun way.  While it's never explicitly stated, it's pretty obvious that each member of our band, "Saga", corresponds to a role in a metaphorical rock band:  Gabriel, the frontman, is obviously on vocals; Ganelon, who happens to be the most gifted fighter of them all, wields a massive ax (aka a guitar); Matrick with his lighting fast dual daggers is the drummer, thematically consistent with him being the ladies' man of the group; Moog the wizard with his bottomless bag of tricks is of course on synth.  And that leaves us with our main character, Clay "Slowhand" Cooper

It's an open secret, an if-you-know-you-know kind of thing, that at any good rock show, the coolest motherfucker on the entire stage . . . is the bass player.  Without a doubt.  He's not worried about the spotlight, he's not there for the glory, he just wants to hang out and play his groove.  And yet, without him, the whole song falls apart.  Oh, and when he does get going, when he starts getting into it and jamming, that's when you know the real good stuff is coming.  I know it, you know it, and in writing the character of Clay Cooper it's clear that Nicholas Eames knows it too

So that's our Clay "Slowhand" Cooper (within universe, that name is, "a nickname he'd earned thanks to his propensity for getting hit first in almost every fight), our main character.  His signature weapon isn't even a weapon like all the others', it's his shield.  And when the novel starts, years after Saga's reign as the most famous band in the land, he's the one of the five who has mostly has his shit together.  While he was never the most famous and certainly didn't make the most money, now as the others are various degrees of washed-up or ill or incarcerated, he's the one who's quietly living a happy life with his wife and daughter.  That is, until his broke and bedraggled best friend "Golden Gabe" shows up, begging him to help on one last gig . . .

I said above that Eames accidentally wrote a thoughtful novel, and that does appear to be what happened.  He chose to write a novel where the main character is inspired by a bass player, "That guy on bass whose name is never remembered, but without him the song just doesn't feel right." (from the Author's Afterward).  And in doing so, in writing a story where the main character is a bass player, it's a fantastic and unique perspective on the genre.  Like "Unforgiven", this is an adventure told from the perspective of a guy who doesn't want to be on an adventure, who really does just want to be there to back up his friends, get the job done, and go home

I mean, how common is it to see a hero whose signature weapon is a shield?  It's basically Athena, Ajax, Captain America, and Clay Cooper.  Perseus, maybe?

I loved this book because of how easy it would have been for this book to be merely good, not great.  The author ended up writing a book that was great, but he didn't have to.  A classic road travel adventure story with a fun twist on the worldbuilding vocab?  Easy, bam, call it a day.  Eames has a flair for writing action scenes, and just the delightful melodrama that makes this genre so damn fun:

Then again, that was the point of being in a band, wasn’t it? A tiger, however fearsome, could be hunted into a corner. It fought alone, so it died alone. But to hunt a wolf was to constantly look over your shoulder, wondering if others were behind you in the dark.

He's also frequently funny and occasionally genuinely hilarious (at one point, Clay offers a quick prayer to "whichever of Grandual’s gods was in charge of killing people at random with the corpses of [falling] chimeras, 'grant me this one … fucking … thing.'" . . . sadly, the prayer goes unanswered and the chimera fails to fall on and kill our main villain, alas)

And to hear him tell it, that almost happened.  From the Author's Afterword:  "I set out to write a funny book.  A ridiculous book.  A book that didn't take itself too seriously (hence the goblins, the erectile dysfunction potions, and the fact that my antagonist has bunny ears).  But the characters just . . . got away from me.  I blame Clay Cooper"

One other thing, besides the vocab and the character archetypes, that Eames took from his theme, is the notion of rockstars in this world--but not just rockstars, aging rockstars.  As good as Clint Eastwood did it in "Unforgiven", there ain't nobody in the whole world who does "washed up" better than a rockstar.  And so as Eames writes this book, his characters are forced to look back on their lives, and they're not always proud of what they see there.  This novel really is a fantasy novel crossed with "Almost Famous", and it's glorious.  It has heart and thoughtfulness about what exactly the life of an adventurer, the life of a rockstar, means

I give this book my highest rec, just because it is simply a ton of fun to read.  Oh, and by the way, one final point he takes from the theme of rock and roll is the way the new generation looks back at the legendary bands of old.  Because while they're glitz and glam and flash and bravado, deep down they do wonder if they'll ever live up to the titans that came before them.  Well, no spoilers, we'll see how that goes

This is the first book in a series, and actually the second book follows a newer generation of heroes--adding in some much-needed female representation that was missing in the first, and with more of a glamrock vibe than pure rock and roll.  Yeah, I'm moving it up on my list

I loved this book

And by the way, I'd be remiss if I didn't tag on this passage, from the book's Acknowledgements section:

Lastly, I must thank my taller, broader little brother, Tyler.  You have played many roles for me, Ty:  the Robin to my Batman, the Man-at-Arms to my He-Man, the Luigi to my Mario.  And finally, if you would indulge me once more, the Clay Cooper to my Gabriel.  You're a good man, Tyler Eams.  And when all is said and done, I'd say it's fairly obvious which of us is the real hero.

A book in which the author-insert character is actually kind of washed up, and the hero of the novel is inspired by someone he loves.  How do you not want to read that book?