Set in a world devastated by Goblin wars The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman is a darkly humorous fantasy adventure. This was a breath of fresh air that I greatly needed. It made me tense, but also laugh out loud. Now I did the audio book, which I highly recommend. Why do I recommend this way so much? Its because Buehlman narrates it himself! I mean not only does he write the characters, but then he voices them, it was phenomenal. It really brought the story to life as he knows exactly how to read them at peak effectiveness. It’s such a flex by him. I also want to say if Robin Hobb is my favorite first person writer, Buehlman is now my second.
The book follows Kinch Na Shannack who is a thief that owes his guild some back money for training him. The whole guild setup is fascinating in this world. While they can certainly help pick you up from awful circumstances, you may also be indebted to them for a long time. The whole system is well thought out and written. Kinch is a thief and draft dodger from the Goblin wars, but he has heart. He isn’t the best fighter, the strongest, or smartest, but what he does great is think on the fly. Most importantly his dialogue is HILARIOUS but feels real. Kinch can lighten any situation which helps so much in this grimdark world. Sometimes these worlds can feel suffocating & oppressive, but Kinch makes you feel hope more than any powerfully trained stoic knight could.
Speaking of Knights, ours second character we meet is Galva, a veteran of the Goblin wars. She worships Dalgatha, The Skinny Woman, a goddess of death which is as fascinating as it sounds. In a world shattered by war with Goblins it makes a lot of sense. Galva is a bit more than just a Knight though, she has tricks up her sleeves or clothes, but I won’t say more. Her more serious, mission-oriented personality plays well with Kinch. She is someone you want as a traveling companion with high stakes.
Finally, our main third character is a witch named Norrigal. I adore her. She is a nice balance of being able to keep up with Kinch’s wittiness, but also understand the importance of the mission Galva is on. She is still learning her craft being an apprentice to a very powerful witch who operates outside the guilds. Norrigal adds some magic to this adventure in more ways than one.
The lore and world building in this book one was so well done too. While Buehlman’s strength is character development, he certainly knows how to paint a picture of the past, present, and potential futures of this world from the perspective of our main characters. Many in fantasy dismiss Goblins, but this story really breathes some fresh terrifying air into the species. Though there’s are also Assassins, wizards, sea monsters, Giants, among other things in this world. Like any interesting human world, there are the politics with kingdoms and guilds. However, our main crew traverses these, they do not play them directly. It’s more about how to navigate them to accomplish goals then become part of the mechanizations.
The magic in this world is intense. There is definitely more to learn, but there are some powerful magic users in this world. The coolest thing that those with magic powers can do is tattoo others that imbues them with certain magical properties that are active or can be activated by the person. It certainly can create tiers of people in this world just based on how much magic they are imbued with and what its for. Its just pretty cool and Kinch is adept at deciphering what they do on others. I look forward to learning more about this in future books.
Overall, I loved this book. I could reread this easily, just for the entertainment of the character interactions. Its almost like a professional Dungeons and Dragons adventure where even Kinch has cantrips he can use! Such a cool world to explore with Kinch and others. I also enjoyed the ending to this book, but cannot wait for the next book in the series now.