It's not what he'd dreamed of but Kinch Na Shannack finds himself in a forest by the highway waiting on someone to rob. He needs to pay the Takers Guild for his education. All that education on stealing, lying, robbing and how to tell a tattoo that contains a spell needs to be paid for and Kinch has no other way to find the money. But sometimes you are lucky and sometimes not. Kinch and his cohorts rush out to rob a company only to find it contains a female knight, Galva. She makes short work of Kinch's crew but at the end of the fight, the two decide to travel a bit together. Galva is searching for her queen, rumored to be in giant country and she is willing to spare Kinch's life in exchange for his help.
Thus starts an epic quest. There are dangers aplenty. Goblins abound and there is nothing they like more than a dinner of human flesh. Krakens kill everything in their path indiscriminately. Giants are not jolly folk but terrifying behemoths who can kill with a swat. Witches abound, including one called Deadlegs who lost her legs in a fight and now gets around by hacking off the legs of her dead enemies and using them until they rot past use. A blind cat takes Kinch as her soulmate. Kinch is alternately terrified and amazed, falling in love or fighting for his life.

This book is a five star rating for me. It's one of the best fantasy books I've read lately and I read a lot of fantasy. It is humorous and thrilling by turns. Kinch is a thief and a rascal but his exploits hide a heart of gold. The book is getting a lot of positive buzz with accolades such as editor's choice for Best Books of 2021 in the fantasy genre. It is the first of a proposed trilogy and the reader will finish the last page desperate to read the next. This book is highly recommended for fantasy readers.

Actual rating 2.5/5 stars. This is the first instalment in the Blacktongue series.

Kinch is a thief indebted to the Takers Guild, which forces him to venture far from his home and comrades along with the knight, Galva. They are an unlikely duo: the first is all witty banter and impulsive decisions and the second all honed muscle and razor-sharp mind. They must work together if their journey is ever going to come to an end that is not inside some creature's jaws, however.

The cover, the synopsis, and the rave reviews all led me to believe I would find a new favourite here. The first entire quarter of the book also convinced me of that fact. Slowly, however, I started to become less invested in the storyline when so many new elements were introduced into it.

This is a story that features so many different types of magic systems, creatures, and places. Usually that would be a selling point for me but here it just felt a little too overwhelming. I struggled to retain all of the information and then stopped trying altogether when I didn't see how it could all be necessary to the story-line.

I know this book will appeal to so many fantasy fans, and the protagonist Kinch was one of the best I have ever read with his constant humour and snark, but unfortunately this just was not the book for me.

I stayed up till 2am to finish the last bit of this book. It's joining my Favourite Books shelf.

The writing style alone caught my attention. The careful bits of world-building throughout brought the world and the multitude of minor characters to life. Kinch is an intriguing protagonist who isn't necessarily the Good Guy, but a sympathetic character I rooted for the entire time. His soft spot for a blind cat made me love him early on and root even harder for him. His character development progresses so naturally and I never thought a decision he made was out of line with his development at that time.

Buehlman seems to have mastered the art of subtlety and foreshadowing. There were totally unexpected twists that blew my mind and legit gasp out loud and curse Kinch's enemies. The deaths of even minor characters were sad; the small happy moments were bright stars, and the funny moments had me nearly cackling.

Full review still to come

Blacktongue thief was a surprising book that pulled me in like the tide. The novel felt like a D&D quest, horny, clever, and inclusive (in its own way). The writing was good and at times I was startled by the way the writer made his novel seamless. Each story element flowed together nicely. If you’re used to reading fantasy novels, you develop an eye for noticing poorly placed flashbacks or info dumps. Blacktongue Thief had none of that. The novel was continuously inventive and its made up fantasy world wasn’t demoralizing gritty. The world simply felt like a world, a little dirty but livable.

I loved the in-world history and the idea of “the Daughter’s War.”

If the author wanted to turn his attentions to some more “high” art, he would find himself well received in the echelons of more prestige lit fic.

In the end note, the author thanks George RR Martin, crediting him as the gold standard of fantasy writing. But I would disagree. I don’t think GRRM could have come up with brave Galva or tricky Flink.

This has to be one of the most confusing books I've read recently. Also, I'm not quite sure I know exactly how I feel about it. Here's me trying anyways.

First of all, even for a story not based on pirates, this felt very Pirate-y. Kinch, our protagonist, is a thief working off his debts to his guild. And now, he has to go on a journey towards the other side of the land on an unknown, but very likely to be fatal mission. But he has a few tricks up his sleeve. Those taught to him by his guild and those he's been living with for longer.

And so we meet his company for this journey, a Spanth knight and a witchling. And others they meet up on the way. And a blind cat. (Who's the most important character in my opinion. Fight me.)

To start with a very obvious choice - the world building. It was immense and immensely interesting too. What with historical wars between humans (or kynd I should say) and goblins, and the rich variety of people among the kynd itself, the various cultures, all with a magic system which will make your head spin. There's so much of everything. Sometimes it was overwhelming. But, also, I was too intrigued by it all to really mind. Also, also, really not one I want to live in though. 😅

The cast of characters was a huge plus point for the book too. You are constantly learning new things about them, and they are interesting enough to make you anticipate doing that. To speak of the MC, Kinch, who's pretty important given that we have a First person narration, is a captivating enough from the start, (though sometimes, feels like the one irritating brother you can't get rid of😅) and you grow to love him as you progress through the story. The writing was, like him, sassy, self-deprecatingly hilarious, rough around the edges and a lot of times, quite crude. But, like Kinch, you grow to get used to it.

As for the plot, it felt more like a series rather than movie. Not to say it was disjointed, but it wasn't in the typical format of a story with an introduction, conflict and conclusion (to speak in the broadest terms😅). Keeping it non-spoilery, as you read the book you have an expectation of where and when the story is going to end, but it's not really all that exciting. To go back to the analogy, it felt like we left off mid-season, though with an episode with quite a satisfying ending - 'cause, damn, those last few chapters were quite good.

Overall, I'd just like to say that I am very much looking forward to that sequel.

Not really my cuppa tea. Too dense with its description and writing.. Not really many problems with the book...just didn't align with my personal tastes. Not exactly what I expected. Not as action-packed. Kinda too slow in the beginning and the middle. The pace picked up too late. I didn't care much for the characters.

There is quite a lot to say about this book, so I’ll try to be not too verbose and try to say everything I can but I am not making promises here, be warned! One of the best things about the book is Kinch. He is our MC and our narrator, and even if he is not always the most relatable or the most objective, obviously, it was a real pleasure following him and his voice around this marvelous world. He is a rascal, but an adorable one, he is a thief, a real good one at that, even if he is deep in debt to the Thieves Guild, and he is, at heart, a good fellow. And he has a great sense of humor. Sure, sometimes he has the sense of humor of a male teen but… but I found him adorable, and quite funny all the same.

We have some other really interesting characters, but I have to say that with the lot of them I could not really feel them, it was like there was something lacking or like there was a subtle screen between me and them. They all were pretty great, but it was one of those cases of “almost but not enough” if you get what I am trying to say. But, anyway, they were interesting and good companions for this very long trip. Galva is an interesting character, she is a survivor at heart with a strong sense of honor (and yes, I know that these two features usually don’t go really hand to hand, but here they go!), not a lot of sense of humor, usually, and she was the perfect counterpoint to Kinch. Norrigal is another good counterpoint to Kinch, and I loved her character too. She is a witch, and she has a wicked sense of humor, sometimes, but she is also a no-nonsense girl most of the time, and she manages to rein in Kinch. And, last but not least, we have Malk. I have to say that he is usually the kind of character that I don’t like, and in the beginning, I wasn’t liking him, but then he joined our marry band of mismatched “heroes” and I slowly came to appreciate him, too.
And let’s not forget about Bully, the cat. He was such a nice touch! And he has some surprises of his own!

But the best thing about this book is the world-building. The author creates a world so rich and so full of marvel that it is really worth a visit. We have magic, we have gods, we have goblins, we have giants (yes, giants… how cool is that??), we have krakens (and smart krakens at that!), witches, and wizards, big enchanted crows, really dangerous assassins and more. We get to visit a magical tower with a really powerful Witch, or better two, and we get to visit the “home” of a really powerful Wizard and let me tell you that the part in which we are visiting the wizard mansion and his reign if I can call it so, was my favorite. It has something from Baba Yaga’s mythology, and it was just so so good. This part alone is worth the book! I loved it.
And there is really a lot about this world. For example, the goblins are the enemies here, they are the ones with whom humanity went to war in the last years, and they were really bad wars (well, sure there is no such a thing as a good war, so this was quite a given, but they were really bad), and one of the consequences of these wars was the almost extinction of horses. In all the world there are almost no horses alive. And this is a bad scar for all humans. It is moving to see how much impact the disappearance of horses has on the human genre of all the different cultures, sure some are suffering more than others, but all people feel deeply for them (and then, humans being humans, they suffer for the horses, but they can kill and abuse cats. Because we suck that way… sigh!).
Anyway, this world is full of amazing things and wonderful places to visit, and we get to see a really good chunk of it, because our characters are traveling around, and they cover a lot of distance. And I really appreciate that they take us with them on this long travel.

We have also a captivating plot. There is much happening here, we get travels, we get to be on the sea too (and meet the frightful krakens!). we get fights, magic, and twists and turns. It is quite fast-paced and there is not a moment to be bored. Between things happening, great characters, dark humor, and marvel to see, this book kept my interest from the beginning to the end. And it was epic!

And, last but not least, like all the good fantasy, you can read this book as a fun adventure in a completely new world, where you can enjoy the novelty of it, and you can meet some interesting people, but you can also see a mirroring of our own world, with our problems, and some, well earned, critics to it.

So, if you want to meet an adorable rascal with a band of mismatched companions, and live an adventure in a magical and new world, this book is the right one for you!

ARC provided by the publisher—Tor Books & Gollancz—in exchange for an honest review. Review by my co-blogger, Petrik Leo.

4.5/5 stars

The Blacktongue Thief is an immense entertainment manifesting in a fantasy novel.

Christopher Buehlman is most often known for Between Two Fires and more horror novels; this is about to change very quickly. The Blacktongue Thief is the first book in Blacktongue trilogy by Buehlman, it is his first high fantasy novel, and from my observation, it is quite likely that this is the most hyped adult fantasy debut of the year. I’m not kidding; I’ve seen so many authors highly praised this novel since late 2019 and early 2020 up to this day. I doubt this will die down soon; many fantasy readers will be talking about this book more once it’s officially published.

“If you’ve never fallen hard in love and lost your heart’s sovereign, go on and laugh at me. If you have, have a drink and dab an eye.”

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. But Kinch Na Shannack has picked the wrong mark. Kinch picked Galva—a knight, a survivor of the brutal goblin wars, and handmaiden of the goddess of death. Galva is searching for her queen, missing since a distant northern city fell to giants. Unsuccessful in his robbery and lucky to escape with his life, Kinch now finds his fate entangled with Galva's. Many early reviews from both authors and readers have mentioned that this is a novel suitable for those who loved Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames, and I can certainly agree with this. I mean, even in my interview with Nicholas Eames himself, during his praises towards this book as the one book to definitely read this year, he agreed on these comparisons. 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 sirs won’t help you any more than your Guild will, blacktongue. You know what they say about caught thieves, aye?”
“I’m not a thief.”
“Yes, and I’ll just put the tip in, we know how these things go.”’

Kinch was undoubtedly the biggest highlight of the novel for me. He’s just such a lovable main character; snarky, sarcastic, continuously smile in the face of adversity. But he also knows when to be serious. The Blacktongue Thief is told through Kinch’s first-person perspective, and Buehlman did an excellent job in giving him a high level of distinctive voice that reminded me of what Peter McLean did with his War for the Rose Throne quartet. That being said, don’t misconstrue my words to call these two series similar to each other; they’re not. The Blacktongue Thief is like Kings of the Wyld without all the Easter Eggs, with the addition of Scott Lynch’s brilliant use of profanity language in The Gentleman Bastards. The balance between humor and tension-packed conflicts was achieved splendidly, and hey, have I mentioned there’s a blind cat as Kinch’s companion? Now you know, and why are you still reading my review?

“Monarchy is a bad system because, no matter how smart you are, you can still squirt a moron out of your plumbing. Maybe you get lucky and your son or daughter is at least half as smart as you—what about your grandchild? Probably a knob, and when they inherit the throne, everything you build fall to shyte.”

Alright, fine, if these aren’t enough to convince you to give this book a try yet, there are also stag-sized battle ravens, magic tattoos, Kraken, giants, witches, and goblins. Admittedly, there were a few moments in the middle of the novel where the pacing dragged a bit for me. However, this is more of a personal thing; long seafaring sections in high fantasy rarely worked for me. Fortunately, my overall enjoyment of the novel was not hindered. There are just so many things to love in this book, and the entire section involving the Towers card game was equally hilarious, breathtaking, and superbly executed.

“I won’t bore you with the whole set of rules; just know Towers is like a war right there on the table, and it sucks money out of purses faster than a two-squinny harlot. Starts more fights than religion and politics together. And it’s addictive.”

The ending sequence was pulse-pounding, and the conclusion + the acknowledgment was satisfying to read. The Blacktongue Thief is fated to steal a lot of reader’s hearts with its charm, humor, intensity, and unrelenting fun; I look forward to seeing future readers enjoying this novel. As for me, I will eagerly wait for the next volume in the daring and exciting adventure of Kinch Na Shannack, a thief with a blind cat’s luck.

Official release date: 27th May 2021 (UK) and 25th May 2021 (US)

You can pre-order the book from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Book Depository (Free shipping) | The Broken Binding (Use my code: NOVELNOTIONS121 for discount!)

The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions

Wow, what a great book! Completely blown away by this story. I didn't know what to expect from Christopher Buehlman's, but I'm glad that I gave this book a try. If you enjoy fantasy books, you really need to read this. This is the first book by Buehlman that I've read, and I will be adding his other books to my reading list right away.

Thanks to Tor Books and NetGalley for providing an early copy for me to review.

Review: 5 Stars

I’ve been reading a lot of high fantasy novels lately, so when I finished my last book I had a look through my books to see if I had another high fantasy that I might enjoy. I requested a review copy because the main character was a thief, but I didn’t have high expectations for The Blacktongue Thief. When I saw that Robin Hobbes and Nicholas Eames both had blurbed the book so I decided to give it a shot. From the very first page I knew I was going to love this book. The Blacktongue Thief was an incredibly fun book to read that completely took me by surprise.

My favorite thing about this book is the writing. The voice and the way this book is written really make the story come to life. It’s told in first person as if the main character is telling you a story, kind of like how Name of the Wind is told, but a little different. Kinch is a morally grey character and at times an unreliable narrator and getting the story from his point of view is incredibly entertaining. I found Kinch to be pretty funny and I enjoyed his narration of this adventure.

The book has a classic fantasy feel to it and follows Kinch and his friends on a quest-like journey. The plot was full of action and adventure. I found it hard to set it down at all and wound up procrastinating many things just so I could keep reading. There were many well written fight scenes against giants, goblins and assassins that kept the journey interesting. The journey took many twists and turns, just when I felt like I knew what would happen next something totally unexpected would occur taking the book in a different direction.

The world builiding was really fascinating. I loved the idea of the Thief’s Guild, who trained thieves all over the world and had their hands in every pot. Since the book was told as if the main character was telling the story Kinch was able to explain certain aspects of the world to the reader. While in a book not told this way that sort of info dumping wouldn’t work well, but in Kinch’s voice it was entertaining and also helped give the reader a real sense of the world. I really enjoyed that there were goblins and giants in this story. I’ve read a lot of fantasy, but I rarely come across books with those types of creatures in them.

There was a bit of a found family vibe with Kinch and the other characters that tagged along on the journey. While the relationships were full of banter, they were also heartfelt and meaningful. Galva, an Ispanthian warrior, was probably my favorite side character just because she was so honorable that I couldn’t help but admire her. But I also really loved Norrigal who was a witch and was a bit bold and pretty funny. There was a bit of a romance between her and Kinch, but it didn’t eclipse the rest of the story. I also really loved that Kinch brought a cat on his adventure, Bully Boy was such a fun addition to this story.

The Blacktongue Thief was a really fun book to read. I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes the feel of a classic fantasy, but also enjoys banter and levity in their books. While it is a pretty long book I found that it went by really fast because I loved the writing and the plot was full of excitement. Based on the way the book ended I assume that it’s the first book in a series and I’m very excited to get my hands on the next installment.

The Blacktongue Thief, by Christopher Buehlman, is a book that more than most will either win you over
or not by virtue of its voice. More specifically, the bawdy, vulgar, romantic, scatological, jaded, at times
lyrical (sometimes literally) voice of its thief narrator Kinch Na Shannack. For me, the voice was hit and
miss, not in its execution, which was always consistent, but in my reaction to it. Sometimes I loved it,
sometimes I didn’t care for it, but it mostly carried me smoothly along in a book that throughout my
reading and at the end I felt I should have enjoyed a lot more, even with its four-star ranking.
Thanks to being in debt to the Takers Guild (I.e. the usual thieves guild of fantasy works), Kinch finds
himself tasked with joining a quest undertaken by Galva, a fierce women warrior from Ispanthia and a
veteran of the devastating Goblin Wars. Kinch is aware of neither Galva’s purpose nor the Guild’s
intentions or motivation in setting Kinch as a spy. He does know, unfortunately, that their destination is a
land recently overrun by an invasion of giants. As he and Galva travel, they pick up a few companions: a
young apprentice with named Norrigal that Kinch quickly falls for, an old acquaintance of Kinch’s who is
also a veteran of the Goblin Wars and who has since turned whaler, and a very odd cat (yes, the cat is
important). After a series of events that run from inconvenient to horrific to traumatic (many life-
threatening), they arrive at their destination, where the truth of both Galva’s quest and the Guild’s plans
are revealed, forcing Kinch to make a life-changing choice.
I’ve already noted the voice as a major aspect and its basic tone. It relies a lot on humor, which is so
individualistic in terms of how one responds that there isn’t much to say beyond if you like Kinch’s style
of humor snd don’t mind a sort of constant rambling narrator, you’ll mostly likely happily sail through the
book, maybe even love it. I preferred wry Kinch to puerile Kinch, and lyrical Kinch to cursing Kinch, but
wry and lyrical were greatly outnumbered by puerile and cursing. Your mileage may vary on that
balance.
As befits the raconteur style of voice, the structure is heavily episodic, maybe a bit too much for me,
especially as there isn’t a lot of breathing space between the sequential events. I think too the episodic
nature suffered a bit from the lack of knowledge of what either Galva or Kinch were actually doing,
Characterization is a bit of a mix. Kinch is obviously quite fleshed out, privy as we are to all his
thoughts. Galva is given short shrift I thought, though she has her moments. Norrigal falls somewhat in
between. That same mixed result occurs in the relationships. While the romance between Kinch and
Norrigal eventually feels real, it happens too quickly (I’m never a fan of the insta love plot), and the same
is true of the trust between Galva and Kinch, especially given how they meet. The spiky relationship
between Kinch and his old acquaintance though feels utterly real and its emotional ups and downs fully
earned.
My favorite aspect was the depth of world building here, in particular in the haunting legacy of the series
of Goblin Wars, which had a massive impact psychologically, socially, emotionally, and economically in
ways still playing out today, as when Kinch reflects on the oddity in one location of seeing so many men
of a certain age, since one of the wars was known as the Daughter’s War because the last one had killed
nearly all the young men. And in an added bit of complexity, one of the human nations declared itself
neutral in the war and not only continues to trade with goblins, but has quarters in their cities where
goblins live (leading to one of the more tense and horrific scenes in the book). There’s a true sense of
history in The Blacktongue Thief. And not a checklist kind of history (“let’s see, I’ll come up with a cool ancient battle, name some ancient sites . . .”) but the kind of history that like all real history isn’t really
history, just a less recent ongoing present.
I also liked the magic in the novel, with its mix of witchcraft and minor cantrips and magister guilds and
independent mages, and magic tattoos, and giant ravens, and more. The magic feels original and wide
ranging in terms of style, power, and the degree to which it is “tame”or “wild”. The magic goes hand in
hand with the many scenes which could be classified as more horror than fantasy. Similarly, Buehlman
does more with the Thieves Guild than simply roll out the usual fantasy trope with all its props and stock
characters.
Honestly, I enjoyed my time reading The Blacktongue Thief through most of the story, despite a few
quibbles here and there. But I also always felt there was a stronger story just out of sight, Maybe one that
was a bit tighter, a bit quieter in spots, one where the depth and originality and poignancy of the world
building and magic permeated the rest of the book. But if I didn’t love the book, it’s certainly a good
novel that bodes well for the sequel.

Kinch Na Shannack is a thief who owes a lot of money, but this is it: his one last job. He's to accompany the knight he attempted to rob to the far reaches of the continent, and deal with everything that comes with that—man-eating goblins, humongous krakens, cantankerous witches, hidden assassins, bone-crushing giants, bothersome acquaintances, and a particularly persistent blind cat. And like all last jobs, this one is going to be a bit more than Kinch bargained for.

*The Blacktongue Thief* is the first book in Christopher Buehlman's new *Blacktongue* trilogy, but it works well as a standalone novel, too. You certainly won't feel robbed if this is the only fantasy book you pick up this year: it's a sprawling novel full of magical adventure. Buehlman has crafted an entirely unique world with different continents, languages, magic styles, cultures, even swear words, as well as a vibrant cast of characters from all over the land.

The danger with such extensive world building, of course, is that the reader will get confused or unable to keep track of all the moving parts. This, too, Buehlman handles efficiently; not only does he only focus on three or four countries (out of about sixteen), introducing them one by one as we move through the novel, he also does an excellent job associating them with Earth counterparts. Names, places, even the invented languages call to mind real-world regions. I will admit that without a map, the journey can be a little confusing—the countries in relation to each other as well as the sheer number of them can get muddled in your mind, but thankfully both the ebook and physical book have a map included. For audiobook listeners, you can check out the Kindle preview on Amazon. However, I *did* read it without the benefit of a map, and still ended up having a fantastic (and minimally difficult) time.

Besides the world building, the prose is the shining star of *The Blacktongue Thief.* Buehlman strikes the perfect balance between dry wit and elegant poetry. Kinch, besides being a thief, is something of a bard: he plays the violin and composes poetry about the towns they visit. A lot of the time, poetry feels invasive in fantasy books; who hasn't skipped over the *Lord of the Rings* songs? In *The Blacktongue Thief*, though, it fits right in. Everything is wrapped up in Kinch's unique narrative voice, so nothing feels out of place.

If I had one complaint about this book, it's that the plot ambles along at a fairly slow pace, which is the nature of books about a journey from point A to point B. Although there's plenty of action along the way, I spent a long time getting through this book, although I may just be reading slowly as of late. I really found myself hooked around the 50% mark, and while I enjoyed all of the book, it didn't grab my attention as much as other books of the same caliber.

That gripe aside, I loved *The Blacktongue Thief* and am absolutely looking forward for the next installment in the series. I love getting into new series and this is one I'll be following—I highly recommend picking it up if you like high fantasy with grimdark and horror elements.

[[Will be posted at link provided on June 18 at 7am EST]]

Thank you to Tor books for this arc in exchange for an honest review. Quotes shared may be not in the finished copy of the book. The Blacktongue Thief comes out May 25 in the US and May 27th in the UK.

This is a book where the plot primarily revolves around traveling. Typically for me, a plot about a journey being undertaken is not really my thing. I don’t hate it, but it oftentimes feels like not much happens during the traveling portion and I would much rather the author skip everything but the “important” bits and move the plot along. With that in mind, I was delighted that I ended up enjoying The Blacktongue Thief quite a lot.

Don’t get me wrong, I had high hopes when starting this book. First off the main character and only POV for this story is a thief which immediately grabbed my attention. Hints of Goblin wars, warring Giants, a missing queen, and Krakens hooked me completely and I knew that this was a book I had to read.

“I was so scared, I half wanted to piss myself, but the difference between the strong and the weak isn’t that the strong don’t piss themselves. It’s that they hitch their pissy pants up after and go through with it.”

I want to start with a con since I only have one. Though I did enjoy the plot overall and the first installment came to a satisfying ending, I did wish that the plot was a little more focused. This could be due to my typical aversion to travel stories, but I felt that there were just a few parts that felt irrelevant to the overall story and therefore unncessary.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s look at the many positives. I really enjoyed the characters in this story. The main character Kinch and his companions Galva and Norrigal are just so dang likable! Kinch is the wisecracking, sarcastic thief who is always getting himself hit, punched, or generally smacked around for his quick witted remarks. Galva is serious, devoted to the goddess of death, a deadly warrior, and dedicated to her mission. The type of person that when the author writes that she smiled, you know its a big deal. Last but definitely not least there is Norrigal. Norrigal is an apprentice witch who is invaluable in fights and can match Kinch wit for wit. Norrigal and Galva do a majority of the aforementioned smacking of Kinch, which even he will tell you was deserved at least most of the time.

I really enjoyed this trio that we follow for the majority of the story. They are complete strangers at the beginning, but by the end they form deep bonds of friendship even if Galva would never say so. I love how each of their personalities played off of each other to great effect. Kinch needling both Galva and Norrigal every chance he got. Galva keeping the whole group focused and often keeping them alive. Norrigal just being the all around confident, brave, and smirky lady that she is. These characters felt like real people and the small things that make relationships feel real and deep were very present. There is also a cat companion that Kinch carries around that actually becomes an important part of the story later on, but alas spoilers keep me from going further into it. Suffice it to say that Bully the cat is a fun addition to the story that I didn’t expect.

“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. The day a magicker peeks into the thoughts of commoners for some thin-skinned duke or king will be a bad day. Those with calloused hands will rise on that day, for a man will only toil in a mine so long as he can dream of sunny fields, and he’ll only kneel for a tyrant if he can secretly cut that tyrant’s throat in the close theater of his bowed head.”

The worldbuilding was really solid. I enjoyed the lore about the not so distant 3 Goblin Wars and how they have affected the present world. I also enjoyed the monsters that were introduced throughout the story. Another thing that I thought was a cool addition is how powerful and involved the Takers Guild is within this world. The Takers Guild is the organization that trained Kinch in all manner of thieving and small magic. He owes them a debt of loyalty and coin. This debt is enforced by a hand tattoo on his face and a threat hanging over his mother and siblings. There is a really unique little tidbit about the hand tattoo that I thought was very unique and fit the tone of this story really well, but I will let you discover that on your own. One other thing that was really well done were the different cultures of each nation had very distinct qualities that they valued and typical characteristics of each people that were mentioned and intigrated into the story. I liked how that made the world more immersive.

Speaking of tone, I loved how both Kinch and Norrigal’s wit along with Buehlman’s clever prose made this relatively dark story feel lighthearted. The great thing was that it didn’t feel like forced comedic relief, but rather the natural way the characters and the world that Buehlman has created played out. I really am appreciating consistent tone more and more in books and Buehlman does an excellent job in this area.

The Blacktongue Thief was a fun ride and I am excited to see where the story goes. If high stakes action, an unconventional quest, an unusual trio, monsters, and a cat companion sound good to you, read this book!

This was a very enjoyable book written with a unique voice and texture. The story is told from the POV of a thief traveling through these (irish-esque) land and the dialog, the slang and the vulgarities all reflect that. Lot of 'tosser' 'slipper' and those kind of things. You'll learn a lot about the vulgarities of the land throughout the book and that kind of led to it's enjoyment. There were plenty of quips and jabs and lots of action and an interesting crew of characters. Throw in a witch and an assassin animal companion and you have quite the quest.
I found the style a little difficult to get into at first but fell into the rhythm and terminology of it all. It was definitely different than anything else i had read before and I really enjoyed it.

The Blacktongue Thief is a welcome new addition to the ever-expanding fantasy genre. For a novel that was around 980 pages, The Blacktongue Thief never felt long. There was never a dull moment as we followed Kinch, a trained thief who owes the guild that trained him more money than he has. To satisfy his debt in the eyes of his masters, Kinch joins a ragtag crew, each with their own special skills and motives, Along the way they encounter monsters and magic, and they learn more about themselves and their place in their broken world.

Though some parts of the plot were dark, the humor of Kinch and his crew provided a good balance. Unlike in some novels where humor and banter are used, the humor never felt gratuitous or cheesy in The Blacktongue Thief. There was never any humor that relied on sexism or fatphobia, and that's something that can't be said for a lot of fantasy written by men. The humor fits seamlessly into the framework of the world that the author built.

I also really enjoyed the way that women were worked into the world. Oftentimes in fantasy written by men, the plot, worldbuilding, and character work for the male characters are fantastic, but the women fall short. Not so in The Blacktongue Thief. The women are part of every aspect of society and they are respected; one of the main characters is a warrior that Kinch not only looks up to but is intimidated by because she's so powerful. That's true for all of the women that are in his crew, and it never felt like it was included to pander to female readers.

Overall, I loved The Blacktongue Thief, and I cannot wait to see what happens in the next installment. ***eARC provided by the publisher, Tor Books, via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review***

UNPUBLISHED DRAFT: will go live next week sometime.

Genre: Adventure, Fantasy
Release Date: Out Now!
Rating: 3.5/5

The first in a series, "The Blacktongue Thief" stars snarky-but-sentimental thief Kinch Na Shannack. He has a black tongue, some decent fiddle chops, and a whole lot of debt to a thief school known as "The Takers Guild." In order to pay his debts, Kinch must join a knight name Galva on a secret quest that will test his loyalties and his ethics - especially after he adopts a blind cat that turns out to be just so much trouble.

You may better know Christopher Buehlman for his horror titles like 2016's breakout "Suicide Motor Club" or the cult classic "Between Two Fires." Buehlman is out of his cage a bit here, with his first full-on fantasy novel (though some titles such as "The Necromancer's House" definitely had elements of fantasy). 
Like Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy (which wouldn't have had the same sense of grit and danger had Jackson not cut his teeth in indie horror cinema), The Blacktongue Thief's darker corners are swimming in slime, gore, and broken teeth -  a perfect contrast to the peaceful life our heroes desire. 

Buehlman's impeccable horror chops are most noticeable in the book's goblins. Unlike the usual copy/paste cannon fodder monsters of your typical fantasy novel, these goblins are absolutely fucking horrific. They walk asymmetrically, with sharp talons, and commit brutal atrocities without a second thought. Every encounter oozes tension. Still, Buehlman doesn't let us assume these creatures are cartoonishly evil -he constantly hints at the underlying misunderstandings and cultural differences that led men and goblins to go to war in the first place. 

The novel isn't without flaw, however - no time is taken to earn the novel's gruesome deaths. If you suspect a character has plot armor, they probably do- somewhat of a disappointment from the author of Suicide Motor Club and The Necromancer's House, which both had some shocking turns. Those familiar with Buehlman's work know his climaxes are to die for, and while "The Black Tongue Thief's" final act isn't his best, it still refuses to disappoint. Even lesser Buehlman is fucking good.

The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman, an interesting tale. A good fantasy story of a thief, a soldier, and a witch. They fight goblins, curses, assassins and guilds. Enjoyable.

Christopher Buehlman ha escrito una novela de fantasías con algunos elementos típicos de fantasía mezclados con humor negro que es muy resultona, aunque algunas veces resulta difícil de leer por la cantidad de slang y lenguajes inventados que llega a introducir.


El protagonista de la narración en primera persona es Kinch Na Shannack, el ladrón del título, que está endeudado hasta las cejas con el Gremio de Ladrones por su formación en el arte del levantamiento de posesiones y otras habilidades necesarias para ejercer su oficio. Me resulta muy interesante este uso de un tema tan actual como es la deuda por estudios a una sociedad pseudomedieval, pero al fin y al cabo los gremios funcionaban así. El hecho de que tenga un tatuaje que permite a cualquiera abofetearle mientras no redima su deuda es solo añadir un detalle más de crueldad a una situación de difícil resolución.

Me gusta también el detalle de la extinción de los caballos por la intervención del enemigo goblin, algo que ha desestabilizado la sociedad, ya que el principal medio de transporte ha desaparecido.

Esta primera entrega de la saga Blacktongue nos cuenta un viaje y como en todo viaje habrá momentos peores y mejores, con compañeros que se unen en el camino y otros que no proseguirán hasta el final. Casi se podría definir como una road movie, en la que cobra más importancia el trayecto que el destino.

Me gustaría destacar que utilizando recursos muy típicos de la fantasía (tatuajes mágicos, razas como gigantes y goblins, gremios…) consigue escenas de acción muy bien planteadas y mantiene la tensión en cada instante. Quizá no peque de excesivamente original, aunque hay que admitir que algunas de las revueltas que le da al uso de los tatuajes están muy bien pensadas. También el juego de cartas que plantea y que tiene cierta importancia en algunos de los capítulos del libro me tiene muy intrigada.

La prosa es bastante funcional, aunque como he dicho anteriormente algunas veces utiliza tanta jerga inventada propia de cada reino que hace difícil seguir los diálogos.

El final al menos no acaba bruscamente, pero sí es cierto que se deja muchas cosas y resoluciones para la siguientes entregas. Así que The Blacktongue Thief es un libro introductorio y una buena carta de presentación por parte del autor, pero tendremos que esperar a las siguentes novelas para ver cómo evoluciona la narración.

If you like world building you will love this book. Creative new cultures and new fascinating details about the bad guys we love to hate: Goblin and Giants to name a few. Colorful characters tell a magical and meaningful story. I am excited that a second in the series is coming soon.

I got an arc of this book and i really enjoyed it. it was a good adventure following Kinch around. Never felt like an info dump. beautiful integration of Languages mixing and misinterpretation. No map, but the geography wasn't confusing. I never felt lost in the story.

CAWPILE SCORE
C-9
A-9
W-9
P-7
I-7
L-8
E-9
TOTAL-8.29/10
<spoiler>
CAWPILE
I don't enjoy songs in books, but i thought they were done well, just not for me.

<b>Characters.</b>
Characters are all people, some people we only meet briefly don't necessarily feel 100%, but most are.

<b>Atmosphere</b>
Atmosphere is amazing, it really pulls you into the story and you don't want to leave

<b>Writing</b>
Beautiful writing, excellent prose and word choice. very creative cursing and general amazing use of language. could have a bit shorter

<b>Plot</b>
The Plot is good, but mostly hidden from us and Kinch for the Majority of the book, but i think he forshadowed enough things to not completely surprise me so i enjoyed that

<b>Intrigue</b>
There was a lot of intrigue, and misdirection but it all played well towards a good end

<b>Logic</b>
Logic existed and was used. Nothing was every brought up that was outside the bounds of what was explained

<b>Enjoyment</b>
I very much enjoyed this book and look forward to many things from Christopher Buehlman in the future
</spoiler>
I will be talking about it on Libromancy 06/06/2021
https://libromancy.podbean.com/e/the-blacktongue-thief/