Kill the Farm Boy is delightfully quick witted, intensely fun, and wonderfully self-reflexive. If you’ve been searching for something out of the ordinary, a fantasy that is hilarious and clever – Kill the Farm Boy is for you.
Summary
Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, a hero, the Chosen One, was born . . . and so begins every fairy tale ever told.
This is not that fairy tale.
There is a Chosen One, but he is unlike any One who has ever been Chosened.
And there is a faraway kingdom, but you have never been to a magical world quite like the land of Pell.
There, a plucky farm boy will find more than he’s bargained for on his quest to awaken the sleeping princess in her cursed tower. First there’s the Dark Lord who wishes for the boy’s untimely death . . . and also very fine cheese. Then there’s a bard without a song in her heart but with a very adorable and fuzzy tail, an assassin who fears not the night but is terrified of chickens, and a mighty fighter more frightened of her sword than of her chain-mail bikini. This journey will lead to sinister umlauts, a trash-talking goat, the Dread Necromancer Steve, and a strange and wondrous journey to the most peculiar “happily ever after” that ever once-upon-a-timed.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this free book from Netgalley. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
I want everyone who grew up on fantasy to read this book. Not only is it incredibly clever, but it is wonderfully hilarious. I had the most fun reading this book because it takes all the tropes you know – the ones you love and hate – and turns them on your head. It’s one of those books that is fun from the very core outwards. There are these witty references, but then also this sort of self-reflexive desire to keep challenging what we expect. And it’s brilliant.
At the same time, there are some lovely and endearing characters. I couldn’t even pick a favorite because each of them have something I love in them. There’s such personality and flavor to each of them. You truly have the whole pick of main characters to find secrets about them that you love. And a the same time, a question that revolves around this book is – can we find our inner hero? In these stories, these tropes, we know our hero will find their heroism, but can our unlikely heroes find something heroic in their mistakes, their blunders, and their courageous hearts?
Kill the Farm Boy is worth a read on every level. It’s the type of book I’ll have to give to everyone who loves fairy tales and who has been frustrated with the chosen farm boy trope. Check out Kill the Farm Boy on Goodreads.
I wish this book was out now–I LOVE humor like this and can’t wait to read it. I hope my library gets copies. If not, I shall request they do.
YES! DO it, I love my library so much
I love the tagline on the cover. ‘Once a PUN a time’! Brilliant!
I KNOW! That’s kind of the tone for the whole book