Name: Briar's Reviews's review of Kill the Farm Boy by Kevin Hearne
Item: Kill the Farm Boy
Rating: 4
Author: Briar's Reviews

Kevin Hearne

Delilah S. Dawson

In an irreverent series in the tradition of Monty Python, the bestselling authors of the Iron Druid Chronicles and Star Wars: Phasma reinvent fantasy, fairy tales, and floridly written feast scenes. “Ranks among the best of Christopher Moore and Terry Pratchett.”—Chuck Wendig “When you put two authors of this high caliber together, expect fireworks. Or at least laughs. What a hoot!”—Terry Brooks 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. Praise for Kill the Farm Boy “A rollicking fantasy adventure that upends numerous genre tropes in audacious style . . . a laugh-out-loud-funny fusion of Monty Python–esque humor and whimsy à la Terry Pratchett’s Discworld.”—Kirkus Reviews “Dawson and Hearne’s reimagining of a traditional fairy tale is reminiscent of William Goldman’s The Princess Bride and William Steig’s Shrek! Irreverent, funny, and full of entertaining wordplay, this will keep readers guessing until the end.”—Library Journal “Will have you laughing out loud until strangers begin to look at you oddly.”—SyFy “A smart comedy . . . nuanced, complicated, and human.”—Tordotcom “[Delilah Dawson and Kevin Hearne] make fun of the typical ‘white male power fantasies,’ and in that, they succeed, with their heroes all characters of color and/or falling somewhere under the LGBTQ umbrella.”—Publishers Weekly

The Tales of Pell

Kill the Farm Boy

Hannah DCamp

Briar's Reviews

Kill the Farm Boy is a fantastic mix of two genres: fantasy and comedy.

This book gave me Monty Python and The Princess Bride vibes. It's packed tight with comedy, all the while in a fantasy world. 

A magical curse is placed in a far off kingdom, but it's not exactly like the fairy tales suggest. Suddenly, the "Chosen One" is dead and everyone must figure out how in the world they are going to complete the quest. A rabbit girl bard, a talking goat, an evil dark lord and a wicked fighter chick in a chain-mail bikini makes this story quite the tale.

This book is satirical, hilarious and quite the ride. There is constant comedy and action, so I had to put it down a few times or else I'd get burnt out of the constant comedic comments. A lot of the funny tropes of fairy tales is twisted and turned into the funniest possible option. There's also lots of play on words and witty one liners. It's great if you want to chuckle along to something.

I did think the book was a bit too long and that the comedy was getting old. I don't think I could continue this series because of that. The constant comedy is spot on for consistency, but you end up getting tired of it. 

Four out of five stars.

Jeff James

Kill the Farm Boy is a silly book that sends up and undermines some well-worn clichés of the fantasy genre’s hero narrative. It asks questions like “What does it mean to be the Chosen One?” and “Who deserves to be a protagonist?” and then unloads goat poop on them. This succeeds with varying results.

I read most of the book on a three-hour plane ride, and at first I did enjoy it. Somewhere in the middle, though, it started to drag a bit, and I still hadn’t finished it by the time my trip was over. Instead, I switched gears and finished Meddling Kids, which I read at a snail’s pace over the last few months.

I think part of the reason that I lost momentum was that the book started feeling a bit muddled, as though the story underlying the jokes and satire wasn’t as robust as it needed to be. Also, I was no longer trapped inside a metal tube hurtling through the sky, so I had more things to distract me.

The main twist to Kill the Farm Boy is that the protagonist isn’t who you think it’s going to be after the first chapter. When the book opens, we meet an unremarkable farm boy named Worstley anointed as Chosen One by a sketchy-seeming fairy who also gives Worstley’s goat the power of speech. Worstley and Gustave, the goat, set off on a quest to do something or other involving destiny and then the story takes a decisive left turn that I won’t spoil here.

As the adventure continues, the cast of characters grows and we meet an oddball assortment of misfits and outcasts. Each one gets some time in the spotlight, but it’s sometimes hard to tell which character is driving the story, and I quickly forgot the aim of their quest after putting the book down for a few days.

The general silly tone also means that the stakes feel non-existent, even when characters suddenly and unexpectedly die. Every death plays as comedy. Also, there are several moments where it feels like the authors are summarizing something tedious to save time and jump ahead even though the book still feels like an overlong joke.

I definitely laughed or chuckled several times while reading this book, so it was an enjoyable read. I just wish there was something more interesting underneath all the silliness. Not every comic fantasy author can be Terry Pratchett, though they might try.

Full disclosure: I received a free review copy of this book from Net Galley.

Review originally published at Full of Words.

danielle bush

This book was pretty entertaining and had me laughing out loud and scratching my head. I definitely had no idea what was happening from one minute to the next.

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and then bought my own copy. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book Series: The Tales of Pell Book 1

Rating: 3/5

Publication Date: July 17, 2018

Genre: YA Fantasy Satire

Recommended Age: 15+ (some violence, some gore, talking goats, some slight sexual innuendos)

Publisher: Del Rey

Pages: 384

Amazon Link

Synopsis: 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: I thought this was a pretty good book. The character development was well done, the plot was pretty good, and the world building was really amazing. The book had a William Goldman feel to the book. It was sarcastic and hilarious and it pokes fun at your average fairytales.

However, I felt that the pacing was really slow in a lot of places and it really made the read not so fun to read at times. The book also switches POV a lot, so you gotta pay attention. The book is still entertaining either way.

Verdict: Hilarious and funny!

b.andherbooks

I got about half-way through and I just couldn't do it anymore. The two authors were very delighted with their puns and and jokes to the detriment of me losing interest in the story arc. There are also a ton of character POV switches which distracted me. I think I'm just in a romance novel mood and this was trying to be so clever it hurt.

Enfys J. Book

Lots of indulgent fun!

Between groaning at puns and giggling at skewered tropes, this was a great vacation read. If you like Terry Pratchett or The Princess Bride, you'll dig this one.

Liz Griffin

Hilarious from cover to cover! In the style of Monty Python meets The Princess Bride, every trope you could imagine gets flip-flopped on its head. Many times during this read I burst into laughter. If you need a good belly laugh, pick up this book! The next one in the series comes out sometime late spring/early summer 2019!

Hannah DCamp &
Kill the Farm Boy by Kevin Hearne

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Kill the Farm Boy by Kevin Hearne