The Blacktongue Thief

Product Information

This group is dedicated to an appreciation of important works of literature, both classic and contemporary... that happen to fall into the category of This group is dedicated to an appreciation of important works of literature, both classic and contemporary... that happen to fall into the category of Dark Fiction. And then around chapter 22 (of a 65 chapter book) I hit a massive wall. It all started when Kinch and company board the whaling ship with Malk. While I enjoyed some aspects of Malk's character and what he brought to the group, the story just really started to drag for me. I began to lose interest and found that I was just listening to the book to finish the story - not because I really still cared about what was going on. I cannot think of another book where I have had this happen. I was just forcing my way through it. Don't get me wrong: there were still moments of enjoyment and bright spots along the way. It wasn't all a lost cause. But I didn't find myself aching to listen to more of the story to learned what happened. It was more of an "eh, I'll get to it when I have time." I listen to most of my audiobooks while driving and have found myself finding excuses to drive places or sitting in the car to finish a chapter before heading inside and that was not the case here. The Author Resource Round Table on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_folder/116489?group_id=26989

deadhedge on The Secret of the Sul’Dam: Subtle Changes to the Way the One Power Works in The Wheel of Time TV Series 1 hour ago One of my favourite aspects was your use of humour. The main protagonist Kinch has such a distinctive, often cynical narrative voice, which I found really entertaining. Was the humour and tone something you had planned from the onset or did this just emerge as you began writing? One of the most impressive novels I've read in a long time— clever, imaginative, and extremely well written."—Arthur Golden, New York Times bestselling author of Memoirs of a Geisha Not everyone in the tavern would be a cards player. A few sheepherders and root farmers faithful to the gods of sour frowns held down edgeward tables, talking low about rain and weevils, their never-washed woolens insulated with decades of hand-wiped meat grease. Two younger bravos near the bar had short copper cups at their belts, used in Towers to collect coin. 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 also really enjoyed the musical performances by Andrew Sklar (sp?). Again, I am sure Christopher shared the tone and tenor that he wanted for each song with Andrew and it really helped with the immersion. Along with those creatures, there is also a lot of violence—more than a couple of folks meet horrific ends as Kinch shares his story, and even his tongue-in-cheek retelling can’t wash away the savageness that pervades this world. It differs from Science Fiction and Fantasy in that it explores human potential through philosophy and metaphysics. It lies within the broad boundaries of Speculative Fiction. ...more

Jarril sensed the bird coming up on his flank and stopped his run, wheeling to face it. He didn’t have time to do more than raise his axe before the thing speared him with its beak where no man wants beak nor spear. His heavy chain mail hauberk measured to his knees, but those birds punch holes in skulls, so what was left of Jarril’s parts under the chain mail didn’t bear thinking about. He dropped, too badly hurt even to yell. Frella yelled, though. I glanced left and saw Pagran bent over, covered in blood, but I think it was Frella’s—she was bleeding enough for both of them, spattering the ground from a vicious underarm cut that looked to run elbow to tit. What a fabulous kingdom the mind is, and you the emperor of all of it. You can bed the duke’s wife and have the duke strangled in your mind. A crippled man can think himself a dancer, and an idiot can fool himself wise. We always appreciate a beautiful book cover and yours is extremely eye-catching. How involved in the process were you? Was there a particular aesthetic you hoped they’d portray? A slightly bigger town, one with a full-time whore who doesn’t also brew beer or mend shirts, will have an Allgod church with a thatched roof and a bronze disc in a square of lead or iron, plus a proper temple to whichever local deity they feel will defecate least upon their hopeful, upturned faces. Dazzling. I heartily recommend this one.”—Robin Hobb, New York Times bestselling author of the Farseer Trilogy

Some of Buehlman’s skills in the horror genre come through, like that evocative prose. He’s got a strong voice and I felt a sense of resonance one of his novels in particular, The Lesser Dead. That novel is a first-person vampire tale narrated by Buehlman himself. The protagonist of that novel is a sarcastic wise-ass who manages to dispense some actual wisdom. As a result of how much I enjoyed listening to that novel, I found it difficult NOT to hear Buehlman’s voice in my head as Kinch and helped me to enjoy the novel to a greater degree. This a dysfunctional world presented through the lens of a cheerfully flawed young man. Kinch, our protagonist and narrator, is a thief indebted to his guild and commanded by them to follow a fearsome knight on her quest to find a lost queen. Along the way, encountering krakens, goblins, and witches in downward towers, he fills us in on the tragic history of the war-torn, horseless human kingdoms; though with such relentless gallows humor I would hesitate to call the book grimdark. Perhaps grindark.