Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames

I loved reading Kings of the Wyld.

The story is a straightforward one. A father wants to rescue his daughter from certain death. To do so he must reform his old band Saga, cross the wild Heartwyld, destroy a vast horde of monsters and break the siege that is holding her captive. It’s something he could not have imagined doing in his prime and now that he and his friends have been dormant for 20 years the odds seem even more remote. Except that he never had a daughter to rescue before.

So we meet the honourable Gabriel, the face of the band, Clay Cooper on base guitar with his unbreakable shield, Matrick on drums with his spinning knives, Ganleon on lead guitar with his axe and Moog the Wizard…well Moog is something different entirely.

I don’t think I have ever found myself chuckling along at either the dialogue between a band of brothers or the circumstances they face quite as much as I did during Kings.. A funny book is a rare thing but a hilarious book is like hens teeth and I think this particular one romps into that second category. There is a reoccurring joke about the death of every bard to ever join the band despite the rest of them making it through thick and thin that had me in stiches. There are all manner of beasites, ghouls and monsters including bright orange monkeys that discharge magma hot shit, minotaurs with anger issues due to their actual height vs their mythical height, cyclops as tall as houses, a zombie (he hates being called that) who was bitten by a Phoenix and gained immortality, chimeras the list goes on. Eames has managed to include almost every mythical or legendary creature ever created, given them all a place in this world and done it all without it seeming silly or unmanageable. You get the feeling he was one of those kids that teachers refer to as having an overactive imagination and thank god because it all works brilliantly from start to finish.

The finale is spectacular, a massive battle royale that I was not sure would come together but the way it does and what takes place is one of the most satisfying mega set pieces I’ve every experienced. I cannot wait for the next volume in the series and will be recommending this book to others for years to come.

10/10