Kings of the Wyld

3 out of 5 stars – See this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

In this rock'em sock'em epic fantasy tale, Clay Cooper reunites with his band of mercenary misfits to do battle with a dangerous horde of monsters. It is an undeniably fun journey across a brutal landscape that feels overstuffed with seemingly every fantasy creature...ever. Since the story follows the reunion of the since-retired band Saga, there's a full career retrospective that has to be explored and explained. This will serve subsequent books in the series well, but it was a lot of information to process while the main story was ongoing.

One fun aspect of Kings of the Wyld was the readily-apparent influence of rock band culture. It became a fun scavenger hunt to identify the parts of the mercenary band world that paralleled the world of rock — from going on tour, to groupies, frontmen, opening acts, headliners, tour bus skyships, battle of the bands, and many more. This was an amusing twist on a genre that often hits similar notes time and time again. While I never quite crossed the threshold from ‘like' to ‘love' on this novel, it was an entertaining ride, nonetheless.