Kings of the Wyld - Nicholas Eames

KINGS OF THE WYLD
Book 1 of "The Band"

ISBN - 9780316362474
FIRST PUBLISHED - 2017
PAGES - 502
GENRE - Fantasy
PUBLISHER - Orbit

AUTHOR - Nicholas Eames

SYNOPSIS - Glory never gets old

Clay Cooper and his band were once the best of the best -- the meanest, dirtiest, most feared crew of mercenaries this side of the Heartwyld. 

Their glory days long past, the mercs have grown apart and grown old, fat, drunk - or a combination of the three. Then an ex-bandmate turns up at Clay's door with a plea for help. His daughter Rose is trapped in a city besieged by an enemy one hundred thousand strong and hungry for blood. Rescuing Rose is the kind of mission that only the very brave or the very stupid would sign up for.

It's time to get the band back together for one last tour across the Wyld.

QUOTES - 

“As individuals they were each of them fallible, discordant as notes without harmony. But as a band they were something more, something perfect in its own intangible way” 

“You should write a book," Matrick suggested.
Kit snorted. "Who wants to read the self-pitying lamentations of an old revenant?"
"There's your title right there," said Ganelon.”

“Well, you see how big he was. Apparently he broke through a latrine seat and drowned in the sewage below.” A shitty way to go.”

“Clay smiled like a man who’d won first place in a “Whose Life Sucks the Most” 

FL Speak - There are books that you collect, read and keep it in your shelves among other hundreds. And then there are books that you make sure people notice it. This is one such book.

Kings of the Wyld is a tale of heroes, friends, old legends and war. It is also a story of the one thing that is almost always common to epic fantasy - hope against all odds. And it still doesn't make it any less interesting.

The mercenary band 'Saga' reminded me a lot about Steven Erikson's Bridgeburners. Mercenaries, cutthroats and war. I finished it in one reading, foregoing food and fiancee. Although I'll be paying the price soon enough, it was definitely worth it.

The war scenes were particularly intense with a lot of wtf moments. The fact that I was laughing aloud in between some sombre sequences does go to show how the author has brilliantly added humour without going overboard. Even though this is book 1, this can very well be a standalone novel. And that makes me worry. Because the heart refuses to accept that this might very well be the end of something that I cherished.

RATING - 5/5