Synopsis
A plucky underdog. A powerful necromancer. And the idiot heroes bent on killing them.
Kobolds are supposed to run away—it’s what they’re best at. But Jack? Born with a club foot, he’s had to adapt. Resilient and clever, he clawed his way to respectability as majordomo of a premiere subterranean estate. He even found a father figure in the famed necromancer who owns the place.
Life was perfect… until a superband of overpowered do-gooders arrived bent on burglary and murder. These mercilessly righteous warriors of light cannot be beaten, or at least that’s how it looks on paper.
Jack must choose between survival and the people he loves… unless he can somehow defy the stats and find an unconventional solution.
Review
I initially read this novella last year, and I instantly knew why this had received the praise it had. The story is set in a world with a lot of familiar elements from a D&D-style world but turned on their heads. The hero is Jack, a kobold who serves as majordomo to a necromancer who, as far as the traditional heroic adventurers are concerned, very much the villain. His role is to both run the estate and help see off the regular groups of heroes who come to raid his employer’s home.
As a kobold born with a clubfoot, Jack has been an outcast all his life until his necromancer employer took him under his wing and became like a father figure to him. Their bond is genuinely heartwarming and adds emotional depth to the story in addition to the humour inherent in the author’s subversion of traditional fantasy roles.
The protagonist’s voice is a delight, and all the characters felt fleshed out on a level that’s seriously impressive for such a short page count. In a short space of time, you come to care for these individuals despite them being very much in the “villain” roles of a D&D campaign or traditional fantasy novel. The plot moves fast and the novella length is perfect for this kind of story, which is simple in its setup yet so well-done that I’m very impressed with the author’s skill. Everything about this story is perfectly crafted and it manages to be both humorous and heartwarming. It reminds me of both Terry Pratchett and, more recently, J. Zachary Pike’s Dark Profit trilogy.
I’ll keep this review short (fitting as it’s a novella) to keep from spoiling too much of the story because it’s very much something you need to experience yourself. This has earned a place on my list of favourite novellas and I’ll definitely be checking out the author’s full-length work.
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