I kindly received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was brilliant.

The main character, Kinch, was hilarious, genuinely making me laugh out loud at points. He had this real honesty to him that was just so likeable. He is part of the thieves guild, having been trained in all sorts of trickery and magic. He ends up having to go on a quest with a lady warrior who has fascinating tattoos that help her control a massive war corvid (giant murdering bird). Add into the mix witches, giants, goblins, krakens and a vicious assassin and you have quite a variety of characters.

I found the magical tattoos on some peoples bodies really interesting. You can literally hold someone in your body if you tattoo them there (magically of course). The quest is satisfying, with the right amount of peril, challenges and overcoming of obstacles to keep the story interesting.

I rate this as one of the best books I've read this year so far and am genuinely excited to read the 2nd instalment.

The Blacktongue Thief is the first book in the Blacktongue trilogy and is the authors first high fantasy novel. While I enjoyed this overall, for some reasons I just wasn't fully invested in the characters or the story. The characters are well written and the plot was compelling throughout. I would definitely recommend checking this one out if you're looking for a new fantasy trilogy to start.

Utter brilliance. The main character Kinch is just perfection : a thief, a vagabond, as cynical as you can find, and just up for whatever life sends his way.
He is written in as close a first person as you will ever get, foul mouthed, yet charming, and more than a little touch of the Irish leprechaun in his racial mix, you can be certain.
I can't want for more of this, and I recommend him to all you lovers of goblins and magick and all the beautiful stuff.
Oh and there are wonderful songs and tales woven in with the story of his life. You'll love those too.

Kinch is that guy.
The one you kind of know.
A friend of a friend.
You've met him a few times and you're not sure about him.
He's rough and raw and unpredictable and that's a little scary, like someone shouting on a train, you tense a little wondering which way things will go.
But he has this Bukowski kind of glow about him.
Like the wobbling light of a candle verses the white glare of a bulb. It's not charm. His paint is too worn from living hard for it to be charm. But that candle, it has a warmth man. It's a primitive attraction to fire you feel deep in your bones.

But, look at the state of him. He's a liar and a thief to start with. And he's open about that. Wears it like a medal rather than hiding it like a bad tattoo and, that's some of his glow.

He's magnetic. You want to walk away but you can't quite manage it. The excuse you'd been preparing dies on your lips.

There's something that pulls you to him even though you'll probably want to wash your hands afterwards.

Even though he's a filthy liar, there's an honesty about him that's brutal, even to himself. Especially to himself, and there's something commendable about that. It's surprising and refreshing and unusual and compelling. You're so used to people hiding behind the mask of a smile.

He wears no mask and makes no excuses for his frown and that means when he's smiling, you know it's real.

When he sits down to tell you a story, you reluctantly buy him the beer he requested, and only half listen and before you know it you're buying more beer just to keep him talking. His story has you by the horns, staring into your eyes and you can't look away.

This is The Blacktongue Thief.

It's a rambling tale, delivered over a beer, with background clatter and crowds and chatter, and singing and smoke layered heavy like fog and that guy brought his goat to the bar and maybe the goats made out of mud and twigs and that's OK and there's the odd distraction, you know, the curve of a girl passing or a fight falling over your table but you lift your tankards out of the way in time and place them back after the shadows noisily tumble past and you keep buying the beer and he keeps talking and that's good, that's what you need.

It's style is unusual and compelling is what I'm saying, and I took some time to decide if I liked it. If the risk of telling a story in such a different way was worth it. And then before I decided, I realized I loved the thing. Goddam it. Charming little shyte. It's delivery is more listing to a this guy you kind of know telling you about some things that happened to him, more than reading. There's a flow to it that sucks you in.

I mean he is a little bit of a passive protagonist maybe, but the way he delivers that story he makes that work in his favor. He's a victim of circumstance and his choices are limited and he doesn't always make the best choice anyway and that humanity, that fallibility. You can relate to that.

The world is surprisingly rich and innovative. It's delivered in such a matter of fact Murakami kind of casual-chat way, that it takes a moment to appreciate it for what it is. Man, this thing has some cool ideas that serve the story well. They're not just there to make the author look good. They are a cog in the mechanism. Subtle ideas but new. That feel real, like a wooden wooden bat. Splinters and all. There's a weight, a smell, that's satisfying.

There's some great history too, and races and cultures and places and prejudges lingering and for the most part they are delivered when you need to know about them, rather than dumped all over you for no reason you can figure out at the time.

Some very clever cogs turn quietly, behind the tale too, motivating the story, trick-shuffling the tale.

I'm all in to this.
I surrender Kinch.
You liar.
You thief.
Tell me more. I throw my hands in the air at this thing and call it a success and it may just be the many beers I've shared to hear your tale but I love you, you filthy bastard and I'll be banging on the tavern door tomorrow morning to hear more.

Dammit.

five stars for the humour alone. A strong start to a new series and I am very interested to see where it goes. The characters are brilliant with special praise going to the wonderfully written protagonist kinch.

A fun, breezy fantasy adventure, The Blacktongue Thief might not be breaking a lot of new ground, but is definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of the genre. The politics and history of the world are well set-up, though at times those sections feel a little like reading a D&D manual. It feels like a fully-world place with the weight of history behind it. I also really enjoyed the magic system that Buehlman created.

While the story itself is nothing new (circumstances bring unlikely companions together on a quest across a sprawling fantasy landscape), tropes are tropes for a reason and this book feels like slipping into a comfortably warm bath. Kinch is a fun and funny character and he makes for a good narrator.

I do wish that we'd gotten a deeper look at Galva, the Death-worshipping, noble war veteran who Kinch is assigned to accompany on this journey. As this is primarily Kinch's story, told from his perspective, she is more of a cypher of a character, at times seeming more prop than person. Considering she is the one with more meaty plot goal (Kinch's motivation for much of the book is merely do stay alive by doing as his Guild bids) it's a shame that we don't get to see her more fully realized. I hope that in the next book she gets more depth than "noble knight who drinks a lot".


I received an e-arc provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

“I was about to die. Worse, I was about to die with bastards.”

The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman is one of the most anticipated fantasy releases in 2021. This book has almost been unanimously praised, and as of 07.04.21, has a staggering 4.58 rating on Goodreads! Seeing all the praise for this book made me excited! So did this book live to the hype? Well, let’s talk about it.

The Blacktongue Thief follows Kinch Na Shannack, who owes a fortune to the Takers Guild. Kinch is a thief with personality, humour and wit. Unfortunately, Kinch’s fate gets entangled with the knight Galva, and he now finds himself forced to go on an epic journey.

So let’s start with what I loved about this book. Firstly, Buehlman does a phenomenal job at creating this world. This world feels vast and historic and is filled with ancient history and creatures such as goblins, witches, giants, HUGE birds, an interesting magic system and more. The reader is also introduced to the politics and religion in this world, making this world feel complex and exciting. The Blacktongue Thief is filled with memorable dialogue, humour and vivid battle scenes.

The highlight of this story is the main protagonist Kinch. Kinch is a funny character with a strong personality. He is self-conscious, loves adventure and coins, which makes his character stand out. However, if you do not connect with Kinch and his humour, you will have a tough time reading this book. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the humour in this book, and I didn’t connect with Kinch, which made me lose interests in the plot at 60%. I read the last 40% as fast as possible to get it over with.

Furthermore, the plot does feel forced at times. Throughout the book, the reader is sometimes left wondering what the main goal of Kinch’s journey is due to this book's pacing. This book is incredibly fast-paced, and it feels like there is a new adventure in each chapter, which does not leave the reader any time to contemplate the broader scope of this story and world.

However, I am not saying The Blacktongue Thief is a bad book. If you enjoy the humour and the character Kinch, this might be one of your favourite reads in 2021. I can see why there is so much love for this book, but unfortunately, this was not for me. Weirdly enough, I would still recommend all fantasy readers to give this book a try. Buehlman’s writing is solid and clever, and the world-building is phenomenal. Furthermore, if you connect with Kinch, you will probably have a fantastic time with this book.

Due to my mixed feeling about this book, I will break down my rating into three parts.

My enjoyment reading this book 2/5

Concept, world-building and character 4/5

Overall rating 3/5

Thanks to Gollancz and NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

What an unxpected joy this book is - not often I say that! This is certainly a book that deserves all the touting it recieves and I was intrigued from the outset. It is grim, it is dark but this is levened with a healthy dose of (gallows) humour but not to the extent that the story is ever detracted from.
Kinch Na Shannack is our main protagonist, he is a Prance in the Takers guild, a skilled thief, small magician,
and owes the guild big time for his training and education. The Takers guild is an octopus like organisation with chapters in every land, tentacles in multiple activities and who take very seriously a debt owed to them.
Settling his debt involves Kinch in thievery, however the highway hold up which he finds himself in at the start of the story goes badly wrong and so his fate becomes entwinned with Galva The Spanth, warrior and raven knight. Together they set off in search of a queen missing in a city destroyed by giants. Along the way they acquire help from a magicker called Norrigal and from an inscrutable blind cat called Bully Boy who is not all he seems.
The story cracks on at a spanking pace and we are led through good, horrific and sad events by Kinch with his warm self-deprecating humour. If ever there was an embodiment of a roguish character with a twinkle in his eye and luck in his corner then Kinch is your kynd!
The world Kinch travels through is not kind, it has fifedom states, been battered by war with goblins (who like nothing better than some fresh kynd meat), is a world without horses (killed off by the Stumbles) and now giants are introduced to the mix. The language used is fabulous, descriptions evocative and the whole reading experience was truly immersive.
Definitely recommend this and looking forward to following the further adventures of Kinch and Galva.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC of this most excellent novel - all views are my own.

The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Beuhlman. Readers are always told don’t judge a book by its cover. I suspect that most of us do without realising it. That was certainly the case for me with The Blacktogue Thief. The striking black and yellow cover illustration instantly drew my attention.

The synopsis instantly piqued my interest from the very first page. I warmed to the charismatic Kinch Na Shannack straight away. Kinch, who unfortunately owes the Takers Guild a small fortune for his education as a thief, which includes (but is not limited to) lock-picking, knife-fighting, wall-scaling, fall-breaking, lie-weaving, trap-making, plus a few small magics. His debt has driven him to lie in wait by the old forest road, planning to rob the next traveller that crosses his path. But today, Kinch picked the wrong mark and his life is about to change. Now he must work to clear his debt to the guild.

Buehlman’s characterisation is excellent as we are introduced to a diverse group of characters, which includes Galva a female Knight and the witch Norrigal. These characters become well-established almost from the first time we meet them. They felt like they were written with depth, which made them a pleasure to read and spend time with.

The writing style is smooth, written in a way that draws you into the world without trying too hard. The narrative is nicely paced with short chapters that kept me reading. These short chapters flew by without much notice. The story is entertaining, full of action, a plot that pulls you along with it. I found myself laughing along with the humour, it was snarky and packed with plenty of razor-sharp wits and punchy moments. This didn't take away from the plotting which included familiar adventure style fantasy elements but reworked in Beuhlman's style it was effective.

The world-building isn't too deep and came across as very imaginative without the overbearing infodumps. There was plenty of great ideas that I found refreshing in Buehlman’s hands. I especially liked the magically imbued tattoos. The world is filled with a myriad of cultures, politics, religions, humans, wizards, goblins, krakens and dark dangers, various guilds vying for power. It very much reminded me of Elder Scrolls online in terms of guilds etc, in a good way. There was a realism to the world, a certain type of grittiness without being too 'grim-dark.'

As the plot moves on swiftly, common enemies and uncommon dangers force Kinch and Galva to team up for an epic journey. Although the story feels like a typical adventure. It is written with style, the characters face plenty of dangers throughout, which made it both exciting and thrilling to read. Buehlman's has a very clever way of writing insights into ordinary everyday situations and elevating them to extraordinary. This is an excellent addition to the fantasy genre, I for one, cannot wait to see what Buehlman follows this up with!. A fantastic read, and very highly recommended.

I received an e-arc provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.
All opinions expressed are my own.

ARC provided by the publisher—Tor Books & Gollancz—in exchange for an honest review.

4.5/5 stars

The Blacktongue Thief is an immense entertainment manifesting in a fantasy novel.

Christopher Buehlman is most often known for Between Two Fires and more horror novels; this is about to change very quickly. The Blacktongue Thief is the first book in Blacktongue trilogy by Buehlman, it is his first high fantasy novel, and from my observation, it is quite likely that this is the most hyped adult fantasy debut of the year. I’m not kidding; I’ve seen so many authors highly praised this novel since late 2019 and early 2020 up to this day. I doubt this will die down soon; many fantasy readers will be talking about this book more once it’s officially published.

“If you’ve never fallen hard in love and lost your heart’s sovereign, go on and laugh at me. If you have, have a drink and dab an eye.”

The plot in The Blacktongue Thief revolves around Kinch Na Shannack; Kinch owes the Takers Guild a small fortune for his education as a thief, and his debt has driven him to lie in wait by the old forest road, planning to rob the next traveler that crosses his path. But Kinch Na Shannack has picked the wrong mark. Kinch picked Galva—a knight, a survivor of the brutal goblin wars, and handmaiden of the goddess of death. Galva is searching for her queen, missing since a distant northern city fell to giants. Unsuccessful in his robbery and lucky to escape with his life, Kinch now finds his fate entangled with Galva's. Many early reviews from both authors and readers have mentioned that this is a novel suitable for those who loved Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames, and I can certainly agree with this. I mean, even in my interview with Nicholas Eames himself, during his praises towards this book as the one book to definitely read this year, he agreed on these comparisons. The quest premise that Kinch and Galva took reminded me of Clay and Gabe’s journey in Kings of the Wyld; the jokes and senses of humor Buehlman included into the narrative were so delightful.

‘“The sirs won’t help you any more than your Guild will, blacktongue. You know what they say about caught thieves, aye?”
“I’m not a thief.”
“Yes, and I’ll just put the tip in, we know how these things go.”’

Kinch was undoubtedly the biggest highlight of the novel for me. He’s just such a lovable main character; snarky, sarcastic, continuously smile in the face of adversity. But he also knows when to be serious. The Blacktongue Thief is told through Kinch’s first-person perspective, and Buehlman did an excellent job in giving him a high level of distinctive voice that reminded me of what Peter McLean did with his War for the Rose Throne quartet. That being said, don’t misconstrue my words to call these two series similar to each other; they’re not. The Blacktongue Thief is like Kings of the Wyld without all the Easter Eggs, with the addition of Scott Lynch’s brilliant use of profanity language in The Gentleman Bastards. The balance between humor and tension-packed conflicts was achieved splendidly, and hey, have I mentioned there’s a blind cat as Kinch’s companion? Now you know, and why are you still reading my review?

“Monarchy is a bad system because, no matter how smart you are, you can still squirt a moron out of your plumbing. Maybe you get lucky and your son or daughter is at least half as smart as you—what about your grandchild? Probably a knob, and when they inherit the throne, everything you build fall to shyte.”

Alright, fine, if these aren’t enough to convince you to give this book a try yet, there are also stag-sized battle ravens, magic tattoos, Kraken, giants, witches, and goblins. Admittedly, there were a few moments in the middle of the novel where the pacing dragged a bit for me. However, this is more of a personal thing; long seafaring sections in high fantasy rarely worked for me. Fortunately, my overall enjoyment of the novel was not hindered. There are just so many things to love in this book, and the entire section involving the Towers card game was equally hilarious, breathtaking, and superbly executed.

“I won’t bore you with the whole set of rules; just know Towers is like a war right there on the table, and it sucks money out of purses faster than a two-squinny harlot. Starts more fights than religion and politics together. And it’s addictive.”

The ending sequence was pulse-pounding, and the conclusion + the acknowledgment was satisfying to read. The Blacktongue Thief is fated to steal a lot of reader’s hearts with its charm, humor, intensity, and unrelenting fun; I look forward to seeing future readers enjoying this novel. As for me, I will eagerly wait for the next volume in the daring and exciting adventure of Kinch Na Shannack, a thief with a blind cat’s luck.

Official release date: 27th May 2021 (UK) and 25th May 2021 (US)

You can pre-order the book from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Book Depository (Free shipping) | The Broken Binding (Use my code: NOVELNOTIONS121 for discount!)

The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions

The Blacktongue Thief – Christopher Buehlman

So what’s the book about?
After a band of highwaymen joined by Kinch Na Shannack is slaughtered by a magic-gifted knight, he does not know how to repay his debt to the thieves' guild, because he’s getting no money for his failed job. Kinch is a thief who, having completed his training, now owes the guild a large sum of money. He has to find a way to pay off his debt and therefore he’s returning to the guild to find another thrilling job. But this day, Kinch has found an unusual opportunity to pay off his debt, through a mysterious mission. And his path crosses again the knight, who he has battled before. Kinch's adventure through the world is marked by many sinister creatures and also by the goblins, against whom many wars had to be fought. And even though Kinch does not yet know what exactly is in store for him, he knows that this is his only chance to pay off his debts.

Why I wanted to read this series?
The reason why I wanted to read this book is more than obvious. The cover. I love yellow tones in combination with black and sadly, that was the only reason I wanted to read this book to begin with. But after reading the blurb, I was very intrigued by this book. I think there is hardly anything better in fantasy stories like thieves. Thieves are usually intelligent people who have many stunning skills and so thieves are one of my favourite professions in the fantasy genre. That's why I was very happy to be invited by Netgalley to read The Blacktongue Thief before it was published.
These aspects attracted me the most while reading.
• Kinch is an incredibly funny character. And especially through the interaction between his companions, his charm is only accentuated. I often had to smile at his words and jokes and had a few laughs too. He also seems to be clever and nimble, as a thief must be. But still, we don't meet Kinch here as a typical thief, as he is more adventuring than doing the typical thieving activities. And I love his obsession with coins, that makes him even funnier.
• The troupe that accompanies Kinch makes Kinch even more interesting and also the whole adventure journey. Each one of them, Norrigal, Galva and Bully Boy, are quite different and thus interesting in their own way. Norrigal who is a witch in her training and despite her rashness, is nevertheless more up to the task than she thought. Galva, who at times seems very humourless, but in a well-written way, is not quite as cold as she appears, especially by the topic of wine. And Bully Boy. I mean Bully Boy is a blind cat, who wouldn't love him?! Also that he is like a phantom who keeps disappearing and reappearing only makes him cuter. So the author has assembled the perfect travelling party here for a really exciting adventure.
• The world is breathless. It introduces politics, religion and also a great magic system. The fact that there are different nations is also really refreshing, as books often focus on one nation. So you travel through kind of different cultures and personalities. The inclusion of goblins is also refreshing. I think goblins are very underrated creatures in the fantasy world and that's why I was even more pleased to read about them. I also found it very exciting to read that there are different gods and that everyone believes in a different one. As I am not a religious type, I still like to read about them in stories. The fact that thieves can reach different ranks made the whole construct of thieves interesting. So not every thief is the same, as there are thieves who have had more than one training and thus have a higher rank, and there are also thieves who have only undergone basic training.
• The magic here is also depicted on a kind of tattoos. Different tattoos have different magical abilities. Even though this idea already existed in a similar way in The Demon Cycle series, I found the idea well thought out and exciting to read. Galva, in particular, has a very exciting and powerful tattoo that I'm sure you will get to know if you read the book as well.

So what are my final thoughts about it?
A very funny and action packed book awaits you here. Many adventures meet you on the way to the end of this book and each adventure is exciting and thrilling. You definitely won't get bored here! And also the explanations about this world were very exciting and I would have liked to read much more about it. However, for me personally, the book also has many drawbacks. First of all, the adventure journey is very exciting to read, but I find the actual goal very forced. It seemed rather as if a reason had to be sought for the journey and not the reason led to the journey. Thus, in my eyes, there was no real plot. As a result, I also felt the story was told far too quickly. Something new happened in every chapter without giving things time. While the main character is a thief, the real skills of a thief don't come out - yes, Kinch is witty and intelligent but the activities of a thief for me are more like running big coups as in in the Lies of Locke Lamora or the like and so the blurb was irritating for me, because it’s not a thief story. So it doesn’t matter for the story, if Kinch is a thief or not. Despite everything, I had fun reading this book and would recommend it as an easy read for a relaxing weekend. In the end, I would have liked more depth to this story, as this world had potential for it and with the combination of Kinch's witty manner would have only made the book better.

Any book that has an opening line that states “ I was about to die with bastards” not only gets my attention but my respect 😉 there is an awful lot of fantasy genre books available at the the minute and sometimes it can be difficult to find a book that grips the reader and takes them places they have not been before, I can say with pleasure this book not only does that it made me laugh too, thank you mr buehlman for the smile you brought to my face