Blacktongue is a fantastic fantasy novel that has diverse characters, gut-busting humor, magical tattoos, horse sized crows, goblins, giants, and so much more. With its well executed world building, Blacktongue sets the ground work for a new favorite series. It’s odd and complex and I am in love with it all.

I have to start by saying that Blacktongue is funny. The narrator is on par, if not surpassed, the humor of legendary Locke Lamora. The writing never felt like it wa trying too hard to come across as funny, but naturally flowed and exuded wit through small descriptions and commentary. I never laugh out loud while reading, but Blacktongue had me chuckling during work.

The characters are diverse in their personal goals that intermingle to give us a ragtag team of individuals going on a quest. No one character is boring (a witchling, a thief, a war corvid warrior, a cat filled assassin, etc) and adds a new layer to the dialogue and decisions made by the group.

Blacktongue was also fun. I was always quick to pick up my iPad to see what misadventures these characters got into next. The world was so well fleshed out that every new page unraveled the map of this world just a little bit further.

Blacktongue is yet another grand slam in the fantasy genre I’ve read this year.

Wow! This book is absolutely fantastic! The humor is unmatched and the world-building is brilliant. The magic system is intricate and so interesting to learn about. I belive this will become an absolute favorite series.

I can't think of anything else to say but I have nothing but praise for this book.

Insert Lady Gaga gif here.

The Blacktongue Thief is the fantasy adventure telling the story of Kinch Na Shannack and his companions. It’s a first-person story narrated by Kinch, who has a cheeky personality to give the novel a good dose of humour.

As a thief in the Takers Guild, Kinch owes his masters a small fortune in tuition fees, and must do their bidding to repay his debt. Galva is a survivor of the terrible goblin wars, a knight of honour searching for her missing queen.

When Kinch’s band make the mistake of trying to rob Galva, the fate of thief and knight become entwined. They embark on an epic journey where they’ll face witches and wizards, goblins, giants and kraken. With interesting characters and a well-developed world, The Blacktongue Thief is one of my favourite books of the year so far. The humour is expressive without being overbearing, and the cheeky nature of the storytelling helps to move it along at a quick pace.

Worldbuilding

One of the things I like the most about The Blacktongue Thief is the worldbuilding. There’s a rich history here, showing us a well-crafted world and people from many varied lands. Each country has its own language, accent and mannerisms, which we see little snippets of throughout the story.

This is all delivered from Kinch’s narrative, so there’s no info dump to trawl through, no big long passages of set up to break the flow of the story. Instead, we’re handed little morsels of information, a delicious tasting menu of knowledge in bite-sized chunks.

This works well, and serves to keep us experiencing new things right to the final chapters, without feeling like we were missing out early on. The world that we see is largely shaped through a series of wars which, although recent, have had a devastating effect on the people.

We see a very different world to what it might be even a few decades later. At the time of the story, the impact of war is fresh, everyone has lost someone or something as a result. Many places lost an entire generation of men, horses have been all but wiped out by a virus, and many survivors of the war are physically marked by the finger-biting goblins.

Looking at magic, the information given is accessible without divulging the inner workings of something Kinch wouldn’t fully understand himself. This works well to show us what’s happening, and what we might expect going forwards, without getting us bogged down in the details.

There are several different types of magic, or magic delivery systems. There are magical items – rings, torques, books – which don’t need much explanation beyond what they do. We have witches and wizards who use potions and spell books to work their magic. Kinch himself can use cantrips for breaking a fall, hiding himself, putting someone to sleep and more.

The more interesting and intricate form of magic comes via tattoos, and there are a number shown through the book. This shows a whole host of possibilities when it comes to magic and inking, and what we see in the story is well handled in both explanation and unveiling.

Characters

Seeing the story from Kinch’s perspective, he becomes a “make or break” character, and for me it was the former. His storytelling is light-hearted, with a few tongue-in-cheek moments and a whole thesaurus of new words.

Right from the start you can see the type of character Kinch will be, and he keeps this up for the whole book. I find this style easy-going, even though I’m not generally a fan of a first-person narrative.

One of the highlights of Kinch’s narrative is that he will give you something new, and then explain it in a few short words – including the occasional translation of something said in a foreign language. This is all without skipping a beat, which gives us that intricate worldbuilding without exposition.

Kinch is, in underworld terms, a bit of a man-of-all-trades. As well as knowing several dozen cantrips, he is “trained in lock-picking, wall-scaling, fall-breaking, lie-weaving, voice-throwing, trap-making, trap-finding, and not a half-bad archer, fiddler, and knife-fighter besides.”

Galva is a bit more guarded, but we don’t see the story from her point of view so this is perhaps natural. She’s an honourable knight with a sole focus, but she’s willing to take a detour or two along the way if it helps her achieve her goal.

She keeps her cards tight to her chest, but before long you can see how Kinch starts to wear her down, and she starts to trust him. Galva is portrayed as a bit of a brutish swordswoman, but inside she definitely has a warm heart.

The other key character is Norrigal, who gives us more magic as well as becoming a love interest to Kinch. As a character, Norrigal doesn’t seem to stand out so much, but there is some interesting backstory to her. I like how this played out towards the end of the novel, and to some it might come as a bit of a shocking twist.

Malk is another character who added an interesting dynamic to the group. He joined late on though, so there wasn’t much time to see more of this playing out. Having a history with Kinch gave a bit of flavour to their interactions, especially early on as the two are reacquainted.

Plot

The main arc of the story is the quest to find Galva’s lost queen, but as this is Galva’s quest, it often seems a secondary point. Kinch is compelled to join Galva but not given any reasons for this, and as the book goes on, he starts piecing the story together.

The quest, to Kinch’s mind, becomes a mission to escape the clutches of the Takers Guild. He is forced to make desperate decisions and these only increase as he unravels more secrets along the way.

There were a couple of parts around the two-thirds mark where I thought the story was losing its way a little, but these quickly turned around. I could have done without the whole section involving the wizard and golems, but this did play a part in the story, it was just my least favourite part.

This is a story with quite a defined beginning, middle and end, the latter definitely providing a springboard to book two. I really enjoyed the payoff at the end, the revelations uncovered and the implications they will have, not just for Kinch, but for the world as a whole.

Overall, The Blacktongue Thief is a really enjoyable read which I found to be light-hearted and intelligent. I’m looking forward to reading more in this world, and especially to see where Kinch’s adventures take him next.

A terrific beginning to this new fantasy series!! This fantasy has everything that you could want: intriguing characters, magic system, animal companions, humor, battles, goblins and giants!! Kinch na Shannack is a Prank, the lowest level of trained thief with minor magical skills, who is unfortunately, quite in debt to the Taker's Guild, the folks who train and control all the magikers. While out thieving to pay his debt he encounters Galva, a mysterious woman with powerful, magical skills. The guild sends Kinch with Galva on a quest which, if successful, will put him back in good standing. From the get-go things get interesting, hilarious, then dangerous and deadly.
The world building here is really fantastic with the different countries and their relationships, the Taker's Guild with their schools, all the different types of magic, from simple spells to complex tattoos and magical books. All of these countries have been greatly affected by the goblin wars and especially the loss of all horses and most of the men of fighting age. I love the humor that is spread throughout the story and how unique each of the characters is and how they interact with each other, I really did become attached to the characters, especially Bully Boy and who doesn't want a huge war corvid?? Kinch and Norrigal's relationship is wonderful and of course there are twists and turns that you don't see coming, and so much that there is left to explore. I so enjoyed the pacing of the story as it just moves right along from one crazy situation to another while still allowing you to get to know the characters better, how the magic works, and how all the events have come to pass. The twists at the end left me really wanting to jump right into the next book. Definitely recommend this for fantasy lovers!!!

I have spent the last month and a half trying to make myself read this book, and it just isn't going to happen. I'm about 15% in and I am not enjoying it at all, so I am officially DNFing at this time.

I usually never rate books that I DNF, and will not be cross=posting this to Goodreads as a result, but based on something I found online, I will give this one 3 stars on Netgalley as I believe that others may like it, but it just is not for me.

I found the premise behind the world extremely interesting. There was a lot of info-dumping to build the world at the beginning, which really intrigued me and is honestly the only reason I got as far as I did. The world is very different from a lot of fantasy I've been reading lately and has lots of different creatures and beings that interact to form society. The thieves guild that the MC was part of was interesting, and I feel like there would have been a lot more really interesting world building elements throughout the story.

However, I was immediately turned off by the main character. The book is written in first person POV, which can be really hit or miss for me, and it personally felt like a chore to read from his perspective. I also feel that this is a book that is meant to be humorous but none of it really landed well with me - it just felt very crude and unappealing. I obviously didn't read the whole thing, but I feel like it had similar vibes to Kings of the Wyld based on what I read. I also didn't enjoy that book, so if you liked that, you may like this one.

I recieved a copy of this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I quite liked this book, particularly the narrator and his cat. Of course, I'm always a bit biased towards any character with a cat. It incorporates some of the standard high fantasy staples - goblins, giants, witches, a long journey - yet feels fresh and new. I'll likely read the sequel, especially if it includes more about Galva.

4,5*

<b><blockquote>"If honor decided to attend our adventures, I only hoped I’d recognize her; she’d been pointed out to me a few times, but we’d never really gotten acquainted."</blockquote></b>

I didn't have to know what this book is about to get me interested, Buehlman's name was enough. I'm hopping constantly between fantasy and horror since that's what I read the most and I keep asking myself why, despite the appeal, there isn't more works where two genres intersect. That's why I am incredibly happy for Buehlman's book to be introduced to fantasy crowd as one of Tor's flagship releases because he has a great imagination and an even greater range.

So here are some things about TBT you may be interested to know:

-It's told entirely from pov of main character, Kinch Na Shannack, in a sort of oral recollection of events transpired. As it's the case with such stories, your enjoyment is entirely dependent on how much you like the his voice and in a broader sense, how much you like him as a character. And Kinch is, well, <i>unique</i>. Usually, in a story, Kinch with his small bones, ginger beard and pointy ears would be a sidekick character- the one to lift the tension with some quirky come up, the one to have a brilliant cunning plan to come out of the sticky. A thief by profession with a huge debt to the Guild who provided education in these unsavoury arts, he is a morally disreputable character, but with just enough of a heart to doubt that and plenty enough humour to charm your socks off. He is flagitious, iniquitous but also funny and witty and he saves a blind kitten just because. On alignments grid he would be closest to chaotic neutral. This is why some of his thoughts and actions can be crude, suggestive and just frustratingly reckless, which I can understand not being everyone's cup of tea. Personally, I liked him and cackled with him more than a few times and I had only some quibbles. Of course he is an unreliable narrator, and it is the big part of why the story works, but sometimes Buehlman colours his narration with so much quirks in attempt give Kinch an attitude and spice, it overwhelms its basic role- to narrate. I loved his sarcastic view of the classic post-war fantasy world and power figures as a clever inversion of tropes, but he was prone to rambling in places. Still, much of the good simply overcomes those minor issues I had, because ultimately, I had so much fun reading this book and a large part of it is Kinch's voice.
-Because of Kinch's "tongue in cheek narration" I started this book thinking that goblins and giants are kind of like ~joke fantasy races to be introduced. It was definitely not the case. The story is simple: a thief goes with a war veteran to giant-infested lands on a suicidal quest to find a long lost queen, but this is brutal and harsh world with grimdark and horror themes and, to be frank, it's familiar ground with Buehlman. His goblins are a nightmare, his giants are fucking terrifying and the less to be said about witches the better. They are personification of uneasiness and creepiness and if you read [book:The Necromancer's House|17674968] it shouldn't be a surprise. I especially liked Kinch's female companions, a Spanth knight Galva and witch in training Norrigal who are likeable from his pov, but they too have something about them that makes them scary. Eldritch horrors, hybrid creatures and magicians who are operating on godlike levels and inescapable assassins are just some of the terrible things introduced and you know that feeling when you just know we barely saw everything author had in mind for this world? That's how I felt with TBT. It's wild and I can't wait to see what Beuhlman comes up with next.
-There are numerous influences from different mythologies. Beside the obvious Gaelic similarities (if his name wasn't a clue enough Kinch says his people, Galts, are what's left of elves), Slavic is still his favourite go to when it comes to witches and his pantheon of Gods introduced is pagan practice of polytheism, but I recognized some nods to Norse mythology as well. That and his horror background is what makes it a rich and original world every dark fantasy fan can enjoy.
-It's the horror vibe Buehlman excels in, but TBT has a metaphorical view of this fantasy world with some philosophical observations raised. There is a complex postwar politics and relationships between different kingdoms, the questions of economy (hell, Kinch's debt he is burdened with is basically a fantasy metaphor for a student loan), PTSD in war veterans and bad governing.
-The writing is fantastic. Christopher Buehlman has a way with words, but something about Kinch's sarcastic and shambolic thoughts, clever turn of the phrase aplenty and cheeky observations makes it look like he had so much fun writing it. I loved his dedication note and his story about Luther made me cry.

With all that being said, <i>The Blacktongue Thief</i> is certainly worth backing even if you are not familiar with Buehlman's previous work. It has a distinctive narrative voice, interesting and complex characters and "on the road" fantasy adventure storyline with just enough unique elements not to be generic nor bland. It's bold, ambitious and darkly humorous and it appealed to my Dark Soul-ish heart. I have no idea where will Beuhlman takes this story next, I just know I can't wait to read it. "If you're half the wolf I think you are, you found a fox to run with."

First, let me say. This author has a tremendous imagination and some very cool concepts and ideas. And I really wanted to love it. But, I just ended up mildly enjoying it. It was good, but the constant language and coarseness got old really quick. This could have been SPECIAL. As it was it was good, but just over the top with some things.

I loved this book so much and I already can't wait until the next book in the series. This will definitely be going on my to-buy list for my library and I'll be recommending it to any patrons who are at all interested in adult fantasy. I thought the characterization was well done, the action was well-paced and engaging, the magic system was clear and interesting, and the world-building overall was very effective. One of my favorite reads so far for the year and I'll be looking for book 2!

Thank you #Macmillan-Tor/Forge and #Netgalley for providing me with an e-arc of #TheBlacktongueThief by #ChristopherBuehlman

First I just want to say, I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this book! I suspect this book might well be my "best of the year". So 5 stars from me!

The setting is in a grimdark world fraught with perils, where humans have to both fight and learn to coexist with maneating goblins and giants. Our main character a young thief by the name of Kinch Na Shannack ran off from home when he was young, to escape being marched off the goblin wars and instead he joined up with the Takers Guild. He has a hard time staying out of trouble though and when the story starts he's in considerable debt to the Guild, which is in no way adding to his quality of life. After a short introduction, Kinch finds himself on the road with two companions, a blind cat he just rescued and Galva, a spanth woman fighter and her horse size war corvid. They’re off into the storms eye up in the north, where giants are on the march laying everything they come across in ruin and a queen/princess in hiding needs to be saved in order to be able to claim her rightful throne. Life on the road offers a lot of adventures; witches with dead legs, kraken and hungry goblins are only a few of them. And as often happens, a few more people will join their ragtag gang along the way adding to the story and worldbuilding.

All in all, this story is just brilliant, it is well written and as far as it can get from being any cookie cutter fantasy. Plus it’s very, very humorous! The author has written several books in the contemporary fantasy/horror genre, but I believe this is his first “pure” fantasy fiction. I’m glad he dived in; I absolutely loved this book and hope there will be more, because I cannot wait to read more about Kinch and his adventures! Read this one, people!

Thanks, Macmillan-Tor/Forge for sending the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Blacktongue Thief is an amusing story with witty dialogues and characters. The creativity of Christopher Buehlman is evident and I quoted many dialogues. The prose is first-person straightforward with many poems in it. The narration of the protagonist is well done by the author and has a strong voice to it.

The characters are explored with the movement of the plot towards the end, which makes it a well-paced book and not a slow burn.

The world-building is found in every chapter and it feels like this first book sets the whole world for the series. The author holds your hand in every chapter to explain the Magic system, geo-locations, traditions, and history. It has a lot of history and backstories for the world, which not all but have some part to play in the overall plot.

There are multiple sets of creatures in it just like a fantasy should have. The Magic system works well with the plot and there should be more to it in coming books.

If you like world-building with many different cultures, many backstories, a good amount of action scenes, magic, characters swearing with wit, and amusing chapters then this book is worth your time.

I would definitely come back for the future books in the series as I enjoyed it a lot.

"I was about to die. Worse, I was about to die with bastards."

These first words of The Blacktongue Thief provide a pretty good idea of the nature of this wonderful book. Kinch Na Shannack is the speaker of these words and he's the narrator of this tale. He's a Galt thief, who owes a massive debt to the Takers Guild. He also has a bit of magic, which isn't exactly common knowledge. Kinch is offered an opportunity to reduce his debt and is asked to either accompany or follow Galva, a Spanth he and his associates attempted to rob earlier. The task is supposed to take him to Oustrim but he's not given much more information than to be there by a certain date.

Galva is an elite fighter, a hero in the Goblin Wars and she's got her own fighting corvid to assist her in battle. In fact, her corvid was quite effective at repelling Kinch and co during their recent encounter. Of the group, it was only Kinch who got a single shot on target. For that, Galva has some respect for Kinch, and after some persuasion, they do set off together on the journey to Oustrim.

The adventure gets them into all sorts of tight places and situations and they acquire a few new members to the party along the way. Through it all, Kinch remains a steady character, with a bawdy mouth and a propensity to good luck. He's also fond of a bit of verse and quotes it readily throughout. Not to mention he plays the fiddle a bit and is quite the entertainer. You wouldn't call him a hero, exactly, but it's his character that drives the story.

This book was a lot of fun and quite an easy read. It's broken into many chapters, most of which are short enough for the reader to decide it might be okay to go for another one. The worldbuilding is quite immense, with attention to paid to the language. In some ways it's reminiscent of Tolkien in that regard but just a bit less serious. KInch may not be a hero, but he definitely follows his own code and is serious in his worship of the God of Mischief. And there's even room in his heart for a bit of romance. I mostly enjoyed the humour, which in some ways reminded me of Terry Pratchett, just on a different plane and with a filthier mouth. Speaking of which, if that sort of language is a problem for the reader, this book many not be a good fit. As for me, I found it fit the character and seemed as realistic as a fantasy character could be.

Overall this is a delightful read and I can see it will be worth rereading in the future, especially as the next books in the series are released. I give this 4.5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Books for sharing an advanced reader arc in exchange for a fair review.

The Blacktongue Thief (TBT) is a fourth-wall breaking high fantasy, set a world in vein with the trends of the 70s Sword&Sorcery. This book has been in my radar for moths now, since that beautiful cover was revealed along with an excerpt of the first chapter. I was really exited to read TBT: the general public response had been very positive, and many of my go-to reviews had highly prised this book, especially for its original execution and over-the-top narration. I am a huge fan of trope-breaking, weird books that present fantasy worlds through ridiculous characters, and this book seemed to check all the boxes. I predicted TBT would fit into my top reads of 2021... I find myself disappointed , because in the end it was only a pleasant, very far from my sky-high expectations.

The world TBT is heavily reminiscent of old school fantasy: a world caught in a war between magical races, a soft magic system, medieval Europe, magicked Towers etc etc. Buehlaman created a compelling “vintage” world, with a refreshing approach to magic. The reduced focus on how magic works made the world whimsical and unpredictable. By the end of the book, readers have some understanding of how magic works, but really, all the fun lies in not knowing what to expect next. And Buehlman is a master in making his readers go ‘wow’.

The true highlight of TBT is it’s protagonist and narrator, Kinch Na Shannack.
Brazen, cocky, idiotic, horny, self ironic, and with a tendency to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, Kinch’s existence is essentially a huge ‘fuck you’ to every over dramatic paladin prick who calls himself a hero. Always prone to expose the hypocrisy of society and the sad truths of reality, Kinch is the total opposite of the hero, but at the same time too ridiculous to be an anti-hero. Being a figure in-between, combined with his cheerfulness and indifference toward heroism makes him a unique protagonist, as is experiencing the world through his perspective.
If Kinch is TBT’s biggest strength, he is also one of his biggest flaws. Kinch narrates the story as if on a stage: his intermissions to explain what is happening often result in lengthy info-dumps filled with rather useless informations. Another problem is that the constant intromissions break the pacing and add nothing to the story. Buehlman dives into lengthy paragraphs where Kinch sings, complains, or overly explains very simple concepts just because. On the long shot the temptation to skip them was unavoidable.

Another huge problem is that TBT starts off strongly, but then loose itself meandering Kinch’s adventures. The whole book feels like an jumble of short stories stitched together for an absence of ideas. At one point I mistakenly skipped a block of 4 chapters, but I ended up not going back to reading them since the story was perfectly understandable even without those 30 pages. The episodic nature of TBT made it really difficult to care about what was happening, too many times I found myself falling asleep because nothing relevant happened. I don’t mind slow books, but the sluggishness has to be justified!

TL;DR

The Blacktongue Thief opens a new and must read fantasy series. It blew me away. Kinch is my new favorite character in fantasy, and I can’t wait to learn more about his world. Highly recommended.

Review: The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman

First person point of view stories rest on the voice of the narrator. The reason I love the Dresden Files so much is because Harry is an interesting observer and commentator. The narrator needs to observe things in ways that the reader wouldn’t and delight us with their personal monologue. This is tough to do, but when it’s done right, it’s a thing of beauty. Christopher Buehlman’s The Blacktongue Thief excels at this. The main character, Kinch, is interesting, funny, and just self-aware enough to note when bad things are going to happen. Yet, because he worships the god of mischief, he can’t help but nudge those bad things into motion.

The Blacktongue Thief opens with the main character, Kinch na Shannack working with a group of thieves looking for their next score strolling along the highway. A stranger comes walking down the road, and Kinch gets a bad feeling. After all, what type of person would walk alone in a wooded area with brigands about? Kinch’s companions should have listened to his warnings, but instead, their greed gets them in trouble and sets him free to find another job. Only Kinch owes the Takers (thieves) Guild. The Takers are serious about their debts, and when Kinch got a little behind, the Guild tattooed his face. Anyone may slap him in a tavern to claim a drink paid for by the Guild. Read the book to find out what tattoo he gets if he defaults again.

Kinch, lacking money, returns to the Guild. The Takers give him a job. He’s to accompany the woman he tried to rob in the forest. This woman, Galva, is a hero of the Goblin Wars, and she’s a badass. Her quest means traveling to the north where giants have left their homes to invade the lands of humans. Kinch and Galva journey across the Manreach carrying their own secrets.

Buehlman has a lot going on in The Blacktongue Thief. The world building is wonderful; it has depth to it. The world feels lived in. Kinch is a helluva narrator. I loved his voice, and I loved the characters Buehlman built. Galva is the strong silent type, but she’s got more going on that just that. Oh, and there’s a blind cat that’s adorable.

The Goblin Wars

Buehlman has built quite the world here. The Blacktongue Thief lives in the shadow of a series of Goblin Wars. Three, IIRC. The goblins here are sinister, and they’re not like the standard D&D goblins. Buehlman’s descriptions are both creepy and fascinating. I’d love to see artwork of these goblins. Anyways, the war decimated the population of the manreach. In fact, the standard trope of men and boys going off to the war is used here, but the goblins return after decimating the men and boys of a certain age. Thus, the women and any people left had to go to war. Buehlman describes the goblin wars as pure hell. The Blacktongue Thief in no way glorifies war, and Buehleman takes it a bit further than most fantasies by adding the use of biological weapons.

While the goblin wars aren’t the main part of the story, they make this world so great. Horrors are committed by both sides. Human magicians created monstrosities and giant war crows to battle the goblin menace. It makes the setting dystopic because they are living in the aftermath of devastating wars. Life is cheap, and people do what is needed to survive. It adds just another layer to an already deep world.

World Building

Whether it’s magical tattoo’s or the deadly assassins, the horrors of the goblin wars or the depravity of human sorcerers, the human bureaucracy or interpersonal kindness, The Blacktongue Thief takes place in a wondrous yet uninviting world. Survival is tough, and their world requires a certain harshness. But that doesn’t mean beauty or love is absent. The Blacktongue Thief has an intriguing setting that I look forward to exploring more. I feel like it just started opening up as the story came to a close.

Kinch na Shannack

Kinch makes The Blacktongue Thief such a wonderful read. His voice is always entertaining, and the way he views the world lightens the dark setting. He’s a rogue through and through, and he worships the god of mischief. Kinch is a devout worshiper as well. Never once did he pass up the opportunity to praise his god by creating mischief. In addition, he’s a thief trained by the Taker’s Guild, where he learned a little magic, a lot of thievery, and more.

Kinch is a character in more than one sense, and if a reader likes an irreverent child-like mind, then they’re gonna like this book. Kinch’s voice and descriptions carry the reader quickly through the book. He’s funny, and he balances out the horrible world he lives in. For me, he elevated this from a good to a great story. His descriptions, his phrases, and his love of a blind cat had me waiting to see what came next.

The Guilds and Shadow Governments

The politics of The Blacktongue Thief would seem to be that of the monarchy. However, the Takers Guild runs a shadow government that works for its own prosperity. They will interfere in monarchical affairs when it suits their agenda. It’s well done here, and I thought about how assassins and thieves really would have outsized influence in a magical world. The Takers have an ominous air from the beginning, and their ruthlessness is literally tattooed on the protagonists face. This extra layer to the political world is excellent. I like it when stories layer extra-governmental organizations, like a guild or a religion, on top of traditional governmental forms. Beuhlman does it well. Kinch even lets us in on their internal hierarchy, which is fascinating.

Conclusion

Christopher Buehlman’s The Blacktongue Thief rocked. Its irreverent yet insightful main character carries this story through the brutal world of the manreach. Buehlman created a world worth exploring, and The Blacktongue Thief opens a dark but thrilling new series in the best way.

Every once in a while a book comes out that blows me away.

This is no easy feat, I’ve been reading prolifically since I was about seven. Now nearly thirty years later, I’d say I’ve read more than most. It’s not so easy to topple me from my reading perch.

To be blown away not only requires a fantastic story, superb plotting, exciting characters, and interesting world building - it also needs to be different, to push boundaries, to feel new.

The blacktongue Thief does this and more. For me, it excels in all areas.

Firstly, if we think of world building, imagine Lord of the Rings, but instead of orcs there are goblins, and instead of Gandalf there is a witch (or two), and instead of noble Aragorn there is a thief (with a bit of magic) who worships the God of Mischief....

so not very like Lord of the Rings at all... except...

The world is epic, just like Middle-Earth. There are several human kingdoms, all of which are distinct from the other, and different to the usual fantasy kingdom cultural set up. And just as Tolkien enjoyed creating languages, Christopher Buehlman has invented his own languages too - some of which involves cursing, some of which is poetry and song. There is a journey. A quest. There is love and magic.

I don’t write spoilery reviews, but just to set up the world (using content from only the first few chapters) this is a land scarred by war. Men and women both fought against the goblins and very few survived. The horses are nearly all dead, due to a plague caused by goblin magic. However, another war is looming and the human kingdoms are no longer aligned.

Kinch is a thief who owes a debt to his guild. He has more magic than most realise, though not as much as he would like. He loves money, the smell of it, the taste. He isn’t a hero. He doesn’t always do the right thing, and yet he is certainly a character worthy of following.

His travelling companion is Galva, owner of a large and dangerous bird known as a corvid. She is loyal and honourable. The opposite in many ways to Kinch, and yet this makes for an interesting dynamic.

The set up feels like many a buddy movie/ book. The Hound and Arya. Geralt of Rivia and Jaskier. This duo really excels like the duo’s I’ve mentioned. They bounce off each other, sometimes in a way of deep friendship, other times they made me laugh out loud. If anybody has read the bathtub scene, they will know what I mean.

The prose is masterful. Kinch is hilarious, and somehow Christopher Buehlman manages to keep his voice entertaining. I haven’t read a character so witty since Tyrion Lannister. However, Tyrion’s chapters were scattered within a multi-POV book. It’s difficult to tire of a voice when they don’t last for long. Kinch is able to be hilarious throughout the novel - his humour moving from dry wit, lurid cursing, and stream-of-consciousness style stories.

In terms of the magic system, it is Kinch who tells us what is going on and how the world operates. Don’t expect any Sanderson-style detailed explanations though. You will learn how the magic works bit by bit. On a need to know basis, you might say. That isn’t to say the system is haphazard or soft - it isn’t. There are strict rules, things you must remember, and layers will be added to the rules as the story progresses.

I would add this is a character driven story. The plot at times meanders, we go places that sometimes seem to have little relevance (they always matter in the end), we pick up extra characters, only to loose them a while later. I loved that about this book, because it drew me in. There is a whole chapter dedicated to a card game called Towers - which by the way somebody actually needs to make.

I left the book wanting to drink wine in Ispanthia, to play a game of Towers in a tavern in Edth. I want to avoid Molrova at all costs.

In short, I want the sequel.

There were many things that I liked about this book. I liked the plot. There were some cool creatures. The main characters love arc, well that was different, in a good way. The expansive descriptions of the different parts of the world.

I am sure the author would have realised he would lose some readers when writing swearing/cursing in this book, I am one of them. When you use the word “cunny” and don’t mean someone cunning, you lose me. I physically winced every time I read this word. This book would have been a 5 star read for me otherwise and I won’t be picking up the next book in the series. If this and the 50 odd mentions of the “f word” doesn’t bother you, then you will find a 5 star read in The Blacktongue Thief.

The Blacktongue Thief is my new favorite book! This dark and charming fantasy is the funniest, most quotable, cleverest novel I’ve read in some time. The characters and world building are insanely addicting and I’m ready to read it again!

I have been eagerly anticipating this book for over a year, so when i got the opportunity to review an ARC from Netgalley for an unbias review, I was SO excited.

Initial impressions, this book felt wholly original to me. The author took classic fantasy tropes (elves, thieves guild, magic guild) and spun them on their head. They created a fascinating magic and "debt" system that drives the Protagonist to act agains't his own better nature, and how to deal with these consequences.

I particularly loved the flashbacks to Kinch's educations. It reminded me of Scott Lynch's Locke Lamora, and i would love to see more.

The only reason I gave this a 4 star versus a 5 is I felt the ending was really rushed. He built out this awesome world, new magic system, and built out Kinch as a character, to then rush to setup for a sequel. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited for the sequel I just hope the adventure doesn't feel rushed and forced.

I think the main character won’t appeal to everyone but if you like a tale of a scoundrel you’ll probably love this book!
His heart probably isn’t quite gold but he certainly loves his coin enough that it perhaps glints silver. He’s got a vile tongue and a gallows sense of humor. Do try not to think too hard about the unlikely uber powerful thieves guild actually working in a barely more subsistence society, just presume the magic makes it work and roll with it! I wish I had book two now!

I really enjoyed this one. Kinch, the main character, is hilarious. He's sarcastic and snarky with a wicked sense of humour. I genuinely laughed out loud several times throughout this book. There are some great one liners scattered throughout and some epic swearing as well. Despite the grim dark nature of the book and some of the horrible things that Kinch goes through, he retains his sense of humour, which was kind of refreshing.

The world building was really good, including the murder birds. I really liked the idea of the murder birds, the tattoos of magic, the other magic systems, goblins, giants, and the religion. The god that Kinch follows is a bit of a trickster god, which is fitting for a thief, and there are some pretty funny moments when it seems his god answers his prayers, but not always in the way he intended.

The pacing is quite quick with a new adventure in almost every chapter. It seems like there is almost always something going on. At times, however, this might detract from the overall mission. It isn't always clear exactly what Kinch is trying to accomplish.

I'm very much looking forward to the next book. This one is a solid 4.5/5 stars.