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Unreliable Histories
If you enjoy tales of epic battles, fearsome dragons and dark, brooding evil, then you'll almost certainly enjoy the works of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, who, in addition to being very good at that sort of thing, had possibly the most splendid name in the history of the fantasy genre.
On the other hand, if you have a penchant for lovelorn vampires, feisty warriors and unnecessarily cryptic ancient prophesies, then you should have absolutely no difficulty in finding something suitable - albeit not in this particular novel.
But on the other hand (and this being a work of fantasy, having three hands is not entirely out of the question) if your keenest wish is for a strange and digressive saga about cartography, magic and perhaps just the small matter of changing history itself, then you've hit upon a niche in which this book is largely without peer.
'Unreliable Histories' is the first in a two-part duology known as 'The Written World.' Its sequel, also now available, is 'The Endless Land.' Both are published as ebooks for Kindle.
On the other hand, if you have a penchant for lovelorn vampires, feisty warriors and unnecessarily cryptic ancient prophesies, then you should have absolutely no difficulty in finding something suitable - albeit not in this particular novel.
But on the other hand (and this being a work of fantasy, having three hands is not entirely out of the question) if your keenest wish is for a strange and digressive saga about cartography, magic and perhaps just the small matter of changing history itself, then you've hit upon a niche in which this book is largely without peer.
'Unreliable Histories' is the first in a two-part duology known as 'The Written World.' Its sequel, also now available, is 'The Endless Land.' Both are published as ebooks for Kindle.
429 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 12, 2014
2 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
Rob Gregson
3 books21 followersRob Gregson spent much of his youth reading fantasy novels, immersing himself in role playing games and generally doing everything possible to avoid life in the real world. In his defence, we're talking about the late 1980s - a time when ridiculous hair, hateful pop music and soaring unemployment were all very popular - so it wasn't altogether a bad decision. However, had he abandoned the realms of elves and wizardry at an earlier age, he might have developed one or two useful life skills and he would almost certainly have found it easier to get a girlfriend.
Since that time, he and reality have developed a grudging tolerance of one another although their relationship still goes through the occasional bad patch and his first two novels - Unreliable Histories and The Endless Land - are evidence of that.
Rob lives in Lancashire, although he has absolutely no idea why anyone should find that interesting.
Since that time, he and reality have developed a grudging tolerance of one another although their relationship still goes through the occasional bad patch and his first two novels - Unreliable Histories and The Endless Land - are evidence of that.
Rob lives in Lancashire, although he has absolutely no idea why anyone should find that interesting.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 20, 2016
When I begun reading 'Unreliable Histories', I was firstly taken aback by how similar the authors intellection is to Terry Pratchett, and his novel ideologies of storytelling. We are taken through a dreamy miasmic curtain to an alternate place in another time, were Myrah, and her sidekick, Alaethar resides in a world of magic and humour, skilfully written in equal proportions.
The characters, created colourful in a dystopian society, gripping and light-hearted, while travelling along the breadth and plain of this weird universe, and lend much to the imagination through the author's narrative, making the wizard and the others they meet enroute, somewhat animated; tangible even.
This is a highly recommended read, full of magic and sorcery, portals to other dimensions and places.
A highly intelligent and entertaining read from an up and coming author!!
The characters, created colourful in a dystopian society, gripping and light-hearted, while travelling along the breadth and plain of this weird universe, and lend much to the imagination through the author's narrative, making the wizard and the others they meet enroute, somewhat animated; tangible even.
This is a highly recommended read, full of magic and sorcery, portals to other dimensions and places.
A highly intelligent and entertaining read from an up and coming author!!
May 28, 2015
Rob Gresgson asked me to read his novel "Unreliable Histories". It's an urban fantasy that looks to take place in a fantasy counterpart of the British Isles during the Age of Exploration. I will examine plot, characters and polish and then decide on a grade.
NOTE: this review is about the first edition. I was 1/3 finished with it by the time Mr.Gregson put out the second. He informed me that the chapter ordering is a little different, Jul has a little more screen time and the opening was rearranged, but in terms of content and story, they are the same.
PLOT
What we have here is two characters investigating a mystery. Myrah and Al encounter a wizard in a big and flashy event who tells them to find a certain object before dying. Mostly because they're bored, they go off on this little scavenger hunt. They travel from place to place learning about this thing they've found and uncover pieces of information relating to alternate histories for their country and their own lives.
What I like the most about this story is its angle about the Commercialization of Adventure. Myrah's uncle is one of the three heads of an empire spanning company that supplies explorers, adventurers and the like. It's called FMS Exploration and it has everything from ships to equipment to crew for its customers. Most of it is just for show because the adventurers are just for show. They're trying to become rich, famous or some other self-serving goal by lying about their boring and profitless adventure. There's a running gag about how they name innocuous and harmless places something intimidating and fearsome like "Light of Dragon's Blood" or some other such silliness in order to spice up their tale.
It's the opposite of the trope No Hero Discount. While the hero sees the merchant as greedy for not cutting him a break when he's trying to save the world, the merchant sees the hero as walking money whose not as special or important as he thinks he is. It's even this sort of merchant that keeps the traps in all those dungeons fresh and ready. HOWEVER, this is all done is good fun (narratively speaking). It's not a dark and gritty sort of angle but a light hearted mocking angle. I find that much more appealing than someone who piles on the tragedy.
About half way through there's a genre shift where Myrath and Al go through a genuinely threatening dungeon that houses a genuinely threatening demon and receive aid from a genuinely heroic adventurer (Myrth, in her jadedness, still thinks he's a scoundrel, despite a smidgen of infatuation). There's still more of the Commercialization of Adventure going on, but I got the sense that the vain glorious adventurers of the start are just the most public and visible; there's a deeper layer going on.
Ending is great. There's closure for the book's conflict and a funny lampshading of the remaining plot threads and how everything is not all neatly tied up. It also works well as a launching pad into the second book.
CHARACTERS
Myrah is the hero of this story and a character I like. She's practical, she's both intelligent and cunning, and she has heroic spirit. She's also jaded from her uncle's "profit above all else" business model, poser explorers and the general misogyny of her society. Third, she has this British wit which I believe is a gift direct from her author.
Al (Alaethar) is her partner and foil. He's this big guy that helps Myrah because he's in love with her. He's routinely Mistaken For Badass because of his size and an innocent scar on his collarbone. At the start, you think he is the one going to be the Ascended Fanboy but then he becomes Myrah's voice of reason as she tries to figure out the Index. It is quite amusing to see Agent Mulder turn into Agent Skully so quickly. The genre shift has quite an effect on him.
Nevigorn is a fun character. During his previous adventure, he found The Truth and gained an Enlightenment Superpower that changed his view of the universe and everyone in it. As a result, he rarely makes any sense to anyone. It's cloud cuckoo lander humor that is at the same time very pertinent to the plot. His Lack of Empathy can come off as Leaning On the Fourth Wall.
Fievelus is Myrah's uncle and one of two villains for this story. He may be the Big Bad or an Unwitting Pawn by the end but he's certainly The Heavy. He's greedy. He's a Corrupt Corporate Executive that has developed a Social Darwin style philosophy to explain how he is not corrupt despite his actions. Myrah tries to keep him out of the loop regarding her adventurer activities as much as possible because she knows that he will push her aside to make as much profit as possible regardless of anything else.
Hahn is a minor character but I wanted to include him but he is a fascinating case. He is every bit the Ideal Hero: brave, charismatic, kind, generous, defender of the innocent and scourge of oppressors while also very skilled in combat. For this reason Myrah thinks he's a scoundrel because he's known as an outlaw (because of the scourge of oppressors thing) and because she's never met an adventurer that wasn't a selfish glory hound. On the contrary, he spends all his praise on Al, a rookie warrior and a stranger to him. He also speaks in a formal heroic style, which Al and Myrah both find strange but fitting with his character type.
POLISH
It looks good. No spelling or grammar errors. The foot notes have some funny and interesting world building.
Trickster Eric Novels gives "Unreliable Histories" an A+
This is a free review request. I received nothing in exchange for it but a free copy of the book.
NOTE: this review is about the first edition. I was 1/3 finished with it by the time Mr.Gregson put out the second. He informed me that the chapter ordering is a little different, Jul has a little more screen time and the opening was rearranged, but in terms of content and story, they are the same.
PLOT
What we have here is two characters investigating a mystery. Myrah and Al encounter a wizard in a big and flashy event who tells them to find a certain object before dying. Mostly because they're bored, they go off on this little scavenger hunt. They travel from place to place learning about this thing they've found and uncover pieces of information relating to alternate histories for their country and their own lives.
What I like the most about this story is its angle about the Commercialization of Adventure. Myrah's uncle is one of the three heads of an empire spanning company that supplies explorers, adventurers and the like. It's called FMS Exploration and it has everything from ships to equipment to crew for its customers. Most of it is just for show because the adventurers are just for show. They're trying to become rich, famous or some other self-serving goal by lying about their boring and profitless adventure. There's a running gag about how they name innocuous and harmless places something intimidating and fearsome like "Light of Dragon's Blood" or some other such silliness in order to spice up their tale.
It's the opposite of the trope No Hero Discount. While the hero sees the merchant as greedy for not cutting him a break when he's trying to save the world, the merchant sees the hero as walking money whose not as special or important as he thinks he is. It's even this sort of merchant that keeps the traps in all those dungeons fresh and ready. HOWEVER, this is all done is good fun (narratively speaking). It's not a dark and gritty sort of angle but a light hearted mocking angle. I find that much more appealing than someone who piles on the tragedy.
About half way through there's a genre shift where Myrath and Al go through a genuinely threatening dungeon that houses a genuinely threatening demon and receive aid from a genuinely heroic adventurer (Myrth, in her jadedness, still thinks he's a scoundrel, despite a smidgen of infatuation). There's still more of the Commercialization of Adventure going on, but I got the sense that the vain glorious adventurers of the start are just the most public and visible; there's a deeper layer going on.
Ending is great. There's closure for the book's conflict and a funny lampshading of the remaining plot threads and how everything is not all neatly tied up. It also works well as a launching pad into the second book.
CHARACTERS
Myrah is the hero of this story and a character I like. She's practical, she's both intelligent and cunning, and she has heroic spirit. She's also jaded from her uncle's "profit above all else" business model, poser explorers and the general misogyny of her society. Third, she has this British wit which I believe is a gift direct from her author.
Al (Alaethar) is her partner and foil. He's this big guy that helps Myrah because he's in love with her. He's routinely Mistaken For Badass because of his size and an innocent scar on his collarbone. At the start, you think he is the one going to be the Ascended Fanboy but then he becomes Myrah's voice of reason as she tries to figure out the Index. It is quite amusing to see Agent Mulder turn into Agent Skully so quickly. The genre shift has quite an effect on him.
Nevigorn is a fun character. During his previous adventure, he found The Truth and gained an Enlightenment Superpower that changed his view of the universe and everyone in it. As a result, he rarely makes any sense to anyone. It's cloud cuckoo lander humor that is at the same time very pertinent to the plot. His Lack of Empathy can come off as Leaning On the Fourth Wall.
Fievelus is Myrah's uncle and one of two villains for this story. He may be the Big Bad or an Unwitting Pawn by the end but he's certainly The Heavy. He's greedy. He's a Corrupt Corporate Executive that has developed a Social Darwin style philosophy to explain how he is not corrupt despite his actions. Myrah tries to keep him out of the loop regarding her adventurer activities as much as possible because she knows that he will push her aside to make as much profit as possible regardless of anything else.
Hahn is a minor character but I wanted to include him but he is a fascinating case. He is every bit the Ideal Hero: brave, charismatic, kind, generous, defender of the innocent and scourge of oppressors while also very skilled in combat. For this reason Myrah thinks he's a scoundrel because he's known as an outlaw (because of the scourge of oppressors thing) and because she's never met an adventurer that wasn't a selfish glory hound. On the contrary, he spends all his praise on Al, a rookie warrior and a stranger to him. He also speaks in a formal heroic style, which Al and Myrah both find strange but fitting with his character type.
POLISH
It looks good. No spelling or grammar errors. The foot notes have some funny and interesting world building.
Trickster Eric Novels gives "Unreliable Histories" an A+
This is a free review request. I received nothing in exchange for it but a free copy of the book.
October 15, 2015
Unreliable Histories' ‘is a delightful satire of many themes familiar to readers of fantasy; of alternate worlds, of heroic quests, of wizard academies, and of portals to other realms. What I enjoyed most of all about it is this: despite the humorous intention, the reader is anyway drawn into the adventures of Myrah – determinedly individual in a society that places no value on individuality in women at all – and her often bumbling but invariably loyal ally, Alaethar.
These characters are likable and lifelike, sketched in skilfully, while the dystopian world in which they live is depicted with a wonderfully light ironical touch. We see in the hideous monopoly of the giant feral monopoly of the hideous ‘FMS’ points relevant to our own society. Swift comes to mind, but while there are many literary allusions and puns this story will be as enjoyable to those to whom they are obscure, as it will be to those to whom they are familiar.
The characters are likable and lifelike. The astute and determined Myrah and the giant and tender hearted Alaethar, combined with the wonderfully detached humour in the author’s narrative style combine to make their series of over-the-top adventures gripping and somehow believable.
Although this is an epic length novel, it is entirely action packed; adventures in the shape of occult displacements, portals to other realties, evilly animated statues and dangerous adventures of the 'Sword and Sorcery' type abound, wonderfully satirized.
In the dystopic world inhabited by Myrah and Alaethar, the monster monopoly of the terrible FMS – run by Myrah’s Wicked Uncle, who exploits her as a cartographer – dominates and distorts an economy at the stage of manufacturing capitalism and encourages pointless voyages of exploration in pursuit of its profits. In this world (as indeed in ours) there is no escaping the endless round of corruption, and nobody is more involved in this than the greedy wizards, who are regarded with equal parts of fear and contempt. When Myrah feels obliged to abandon her despised ‘good girl’ image and set off with Alaethar on such an adventure herself, they are soon caught up in violent hostilities between rival wizards.
Over-the-top occult adventures involving fearsome malevolent caves, cursed pursuing statues and such phenomena abound, and so do a set of equally extreme but somehow credible characters.
There are novels I have read where I have sighed when I have learnt at the end that ‘this is part of a series’ and thought, ‘that was quite enough for me, thank you’, as the characters and accordingly, their adventures, failed to engage my interest or sympathy; not so with this; I really am looking forward to the next volume.
Some of my favourite quotes:
‘Such tireless incompetence has become something of a personal trademark, has it not?’
‘…murmuring loudly, like badly paid extras in a street theatre production.’
‘Oh come on, you didn’t notice anything odd about the way he talks? All this “zounds and forsooth” rubbish? “Let not the dragon’s breath set thy naughty parts aflame, my liege.”
“He’s just heroic, that’s all. That’s the way they talk.’
Recommended for those who love a trenchant wit combined with occult adventure.
These characters are likable and lifelike, sketched in skilfully, while the dystopian world in which they live is depicted with a wonderfully light ironical touch. We see in the hideous monopoly of the giant feral monopoly of the hideous ‘FMS’ points relevant to our own society. Swift comes to mind, but while there are many literary allusions and puns this story will be as enjoyable to those to whom they are obscure, as it will be to those to whom they are familiar.
The characters are likable and lifelike. The astute and determined Myrah and the giant and tender hearted Alaethar, combined with the wonderfully detached humour in the author’s narrative style combine to make their series of over-the-top adventures gripping and somehow believable.
Although this is an epic length novel, it is entirely action packed; adventures in the shape of occult displacements, portals to other realties, evilly animated statues and dangerous adventures of the 'Sword and Sorcery' type abound, wonderfully satirized.
In the dystopic world inhabited by Myrah and Alaethar, the monster monopoly of the terrible FMS – run by Myrah’s Wicked Uncle, who exploits her as a cartographer – dominates and distorts an economy at the stage of manufacturing capitalism and encourages pointless voyages of exploration in pursuit of its profits. In this world (as indeed in ours) there is no escaping the endless round of corruption, and nobody is more involved in this than the greedy wizards, who are regarded with equal parts of fear and contempt. When Myrah feels obliged to abandon her despised ‘good girl’ image and set off with Alaethar on such an adventure herself, they are soon caught up in violent hostilities between rival wizards.
Over-the-top occult adventures involving fearsome malevolent caves, cursed pursuing statues and such phenomena abound, and so do a set of equally extreme but somehow credible characters.
There are novels I have read where I have sighed when I have learnt at the end that ‘this is part of a series’ and thought, ‘that was quite enough for me, thank you’, as the characters and accordingly, their adventures, failed to engage my interest or sympathy; not so with this; I really am looking forward to the next volume.
Some of my favourite quotes:
‘Such tireless incompetence has become something of a personal trademark, has it not?’
‘…murmuring loudly, like badly paid extras in a street theatre production.’
‘Oh come on, you didn’t notice anything odd about the way he talks? All this “zounds and forsooth” rubbish? “Let not the dragon’s breath set thy naughty parts aflame, my liege.”
“He’s just heroic, that’s all. That’s the way they talk.’
Recommended for those who love a trenchant wit combined with occult adventure.
May 17, 2014
this is my favorite book I've read in a long time. the adventure story is good, although a little hard to follow but the writing style, sarcasm and vocabulary (holy cow this put me to shame!) guarantees I will read it again. oh yeah and its about geography and economics....score!
August 27, 2014
EXCERPT
"It's witches, you see. If you don't scare 'em away with some dirty great obelisks, they come ridin' in and spoil all your crops at night. That's why this place is so run down: we're plagued by witches."
"Heck," said Myrah, which wasn't actually the first phrase that had occurred to her, but this seemed more appropriate given her surroundings. "How d'you know it's witches?"
"Well, they're invisible aren't they?"
"Are they invisible?"
"'ave you seen one?"
Myrah shook her head. "No. No I haven't."
"Well, there you are then."
If you locked Rob Grant, Robert Rankin and Terry Pratchett in a room together and told them to write, I suspect the result would be not too dissimilar to Unreliable Histories. It’s got laugh out loud humour aplenty, wizards, memorable main characters, evil villains, action, adventure and wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey (thank you, Doctor).
Basically, it’s got all the elements of a Bloody Good Book, and even better, it is one.
A chance encounter with a dying wizard sends Myrah and Al on a series of hilarious adventures, and sets them on a path that’s likely to change without warning. Adventuring is big business in their hometown, but the duo soon find out that it’s not as easy as it looks, especially when you do it properly, instead of just for fame and fortune...
The story is easy to follow, the plot is solid, the dialogue is humorous, and there are a variety of secondary characters to spice things up a bit, from Myrah’s evil scheming uncle, Fievelus, to the diminutive badger-codpiece wearing augur, Nevigorn, who is simply hilarious and never once failed to make me chuckle. This book doesn’t take itself seriously, and that’s part of what makes it brilliant.
The only thing that lets Unreliable Histories down, is that too much emphasis is placed on World-building and the far reaching influence of FMS in the early chapters. It felt like an info-dump and the vital ‘must know’ elements could have been slipped into other parts of the story to make it less overwhelming.
That aside, an author’s got to do something impressive to get me to compare them with the great Pratchett, Rankin and Grant, so Unreliable Histories gets a four out of five, and yes, I absolutely enjoyed it enough to want to purchase the second book in the duology; The Endless Land.
Reviewed for Bit'N Book Promoters - View it on our blog
"It's witches, you see. If you don't scare 'em away with some dirty great obelisks, they come ridin' in and spoil all your crops at night. That's why this place is so run down: we're plagued by witches."
"Heck," said Myrah, which wasn't actually the first phrase that had occurred to her, but this seemed more appropriate given her surroundings. "How d'you know it's witches?"
"Well, they're invisible aren't they?"
"Are they invisible?"
"'ave you seen one?"
Myrah shook her head. "No. No I haven't."
"Well, there you are then."
If you locked Rob Grant, Robert Rankin and Terry Pratchett in a room together and told them to write, I suspect the result would be not too dissimilar to Unreliable Histories. It’s got laugh out loud humour aplenty, wizards, memorable main characters, evil villains, action, adventure and wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey (thank you, Doctor).
Basically, it’s got all the elements of a Bloody Good Book, and even better, it is one.
A chance encounter with a dying wizard sends Myrah and Al on a series of hilarious adventures, and sets them on a path that’s likely to change without warning. Adventuring is big business in their hometown, but the duo soon find out that it’s not as easy as it looks, especially when you do it properly, instead of just for fame and fortune...
The story is easy to follow, the plot is solid, the dialogue is humorous, and there are a variety of secondary characters to spice things up a bit, from Myrah’s evil scheming uncle, Fievelus, to the diminutive badger-codpiece wearing augur, Nevigorn, who is simply hilarious and never once failed to make me chuckle. This book doesn’t take itself seriously, and that’s part of what makes it brilliant.
The only thing that lets Unreliable Histories down, is that too much emphasis is placed on World-building and the far reaching influence of FMS in the early chapters. It felt like an info-dump and the vital ‘must know’ elements could have been slipped into other parts of the story to make it less overwhelming.
That aside, an author’s got to do something impressive to get me to compare them with the great Pratchett, Rankin and Grant, so Unreliable Histories gets a four out of five, and yes, I absolutely enjoyed it enough to want to purchase the second book in the duology; The Endless Land.
Reviewed for Bit'N Book Promoters - View it on our blog
May 28, 2014
This is a good book. It’s also a funny book, and beautifully written. UH is a comedy fantasy. It tells the tale of Myrah and Al who, after what seems to be a chance encounter with a wizard set off on a series of adventures to recover an artefact.
Rob’s style of humour will be more familiar to fans of Douglas Adams than those of Terry Pratchett. His world is populated largely by powerful and manipulative psychopaths and their victims. There never seems to be any shortage of stupidity, greed, and venality. A cynic might say that this makes it remarkably similar to our own world.
That said, Gregson’s comic invention never flags and there are a few genuine laugh out loud moments.
In general I am not a fan of comic fantasy – Pratchett being the exception. The problem is that it’s difficult to take the events in the story seriously, but Gregson neatly sidesteps this problem by not taking them seriously himself. Indeed, as the title suggests, there is a remarkable degree of malleability to the course of history.
My only reservations are firstly that I didn’t feel that I really got to know Myrah very well. It’s almost as though she’s more defined by the things she’s not, the things she rejects, than the things she stands for. Al is a likeable lummox, Myrah’s uncle is a relatively straightforward corporate monster, but Myrah, even when she meets someone who seems to be decent, heroic, honest and principled simply can’t bring herself to believe it. Secondly there are a couple of ill fitting moments. Al’s parents appear to be channelling Blackadder and there are one or two painfully contrived puns, but they are few enough merely to elicit a shake of the head and a wry smile.
There is more to come. This is the first book of a series, and though we reach the end knowing a lot more than when we began, a new quest threatens and we have troubling hints that Myrah, at least, is more than she seems to seem (this is a layered thing). She keeps using phrases and words that are familiar to the reader but not to the other characters (fortnight, for example), and once she glances at her wrist when she wants to know the time, and then wonders why she did. I look forward to the continuation.
Rob’s style of humour will be more familiar to fans of Douglas Adams than those of Terry Pratchett. His world is populated largely by powerful and manipulative psychopaths and their victims. There never seems to be any shortage of stupidity, greed, and venality. A cynic might say that this makes it remarkably similar to our own world.
That said, Gregson’s comic invention never flags and there are a few genuine laugh out loud moments.
In general I am not a fan of comic fantasy – Pratchett being the exception. The problem is that it’s difficult to take the events in the story seriously, but Gregson neatly sidesteps this problem by not taking them seriously himself. Indeed, as the title suggests, there is a remarkable degree of malleability to the course of history.
My only reservations are firstly that I didn’t feel that I really got to know Myrah very well. It’s almost as though she’s more defined by the things she’s not, the things she rejects, than the things she stands for. Al is a likeable lummox, Myrah’s uncle is a relatively straightforward corporate monster, but Myrah, even when she meets someone who seems to be decent, heroic, honest and principled simply can’t bring herself to believe it. Secondly there are a couple of ill fitting moments. Al’s parents appear to be channelling Blackadder and there are one or two painfully contrived puns, but they are few enough merely to elicit a shake of the head and a wry smile.
There is more to come. This is the first book of a series, and though we reach the end knowing a lot more than when we began, a new quest threatens and we have troubling hints that Myrah, at least, is more than she seems to seem (this is a layered thing). She keeps using phrases and words that are familiar to the reader but not to the other characters (fortnight, for example), and once she glances at her wrist when she wants to know the time, and then wonders why she did. I look forward to the continuation.
May 15, 2015
If you locked Rob Grant, Robert Rankin and Terry Pratchett in a room together and told them to write, I suspect the result would be not too dissimilar to Unreliable Histories. It’s got laugh out loud humour aplenty, wizards, memorable main characters, evil villains, action, adventure and wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey (thank you Doctor).
Basically, it’s got all the elements of a Bloody Good Book, and even better, it is one.
A chance encounter with a dying wizard sends Myrah and Al on a series of hilarious adventures, and sets them on a path that’s likely to change without warning. Adventuring is big business in their hometown, but the duo soon find out that it’s not as easy as it looks, especially when you do it properly, instead of just for fame and fortune…
The story is easy to follow, the plot is solid, the dialogue is humorous, and there are a variety of secondary characters to spice things up a bit, from Myrah’s evil scheming uncle, Fievelus, to the diminutive badger-codpiece wearing augur, Nevigorn, who is simply hilarious and never once failed to make me chuckle. This book doesn’t take itself seriously, and that’s part of what makes it brilliant.
The only thing that lets Unreliable Histories down, is that too much emphasis is placed on World-building and the far reaching influence of FMS in the early chapters. It felt like an info-dump and the vital ‘must know’ elements could have been slipped into other parts of the story to make it less overwhelming.
That aside, an author’s got to do something impressive to get me to compare them with the great Pratchett, Rankin and Grant, so Unreliable Histories gets a four out of five, and yes, I absolutely enjoyed it enough to want to purchase the second book in the duology; The Endless Land.
Basically, it’s got all the elements of a Bloody Good Book, and even better, it is one.
A chance encounter with a dying wizard sends Myrah and Al on a series of hilarious adventures, and sets them on a path that’s likely to change without warning. Adventuring is big business in their hometown, but the duo soon find out that it’s not as easy as it looks, especially when you do it properly, instead of just for fame and fortune…
The story is easy to follow, the plot is solid, the dialogue is humorous, and there are a variety of secondary characters to spice things up a bit, from Myrah’s evil scheming uncle, Fievelus, to the diminutive badger-codpiece wearing augur, Nevigorn, who is simply hilarious and never once failed to make me chuckle. This book doesn’t take itself seriously, and that’s part of what makes it brilliant.
The only thing that lets Unreliable Histories down, is that too much emphasis is placed on World-building and the far reaching influence of FMS in the early chapters. It felt like an info-dump and the vital ‘must know’ elements could have been slipped into other parts of the story to make it less overwhelming.
That aside, an author’s got to do something impressive to get me to compare them with the great Pratchett, Rankin and Grant, so Unreliable Histories gets a four out of five, and yes, I absolutely enjoyed it enough to want to purchase the second book in the duology; The Endless Land.
October 29, 2014
REVIEW: UNRELIABLE HISTORIES by Rob Gregson
If you like your fantasies high-church and solemn, look elsewhere; but if you're into tongue-in-cheek subtle hilarity tucked into the pages of "medieval"-type epic fantasy, stop right here, and read Rob Gregson's UNRELIABLE HISTORIES. Some of his characters are just--well, not really smart enough to be on stage; thank goodness for the intellect and character of Myrah! But what comes away with me from this story is the single funniest apocalyptic scene I have ever read--unforgettable! If you think "The End of The World As We Know It" can't possibly be humorous, get this book and read to the end. I'm still chuckling.
If you like your fantasies high-church and solemn, look elsewhere; but if you're into tongue-in-cheek subtle hilarity tucked into the pages of "medieval"-type epic fantasy, stop right here, and read Rob Gregson's UNRELIABLE HISTORIES. Some of his characters are just--well, not really smart enough to be on stage; thank goodness for the intellect and character of Myrah! But what comes away with me from this story is the single funniest apocalyptic scene I have ever read--unforgettable! If you think "The End of The World As We Know It" can't possibly be humorous, get this book and read to the end. I'm still chuckling.
May 3, 2014
This is a fantasy novel with a clever sense of humour and characters that are believable and easy to like. I found the story intriguing and thought it was something a bit different. This smart and funny fantasy adventure should appeal to most fans of the genre as it is well written and the story is fun and original. Highly recommended for those who like their fantasy mixed with witty humour!
July 18, 2014
I enjoyed unreliable histories but it took a while to get into it. The author has clearly got a vision of the characters and a builds a convincing world. The book suffers from a bit of data dumping in the early stages as the world is brought to life and there are occasions when the humour can cause the pace of the book to really stall. Having said that there were a lot of parts that made me chuckle and I wanted to know what happened to the main characters.
The plot is complicated and intriguing with the question of what is reality for our protagonist and is it the same as everyone else? Unfortunately because this book is the start of the story it doesn’t reach as satisfying a conclusion as I might’ve liked. Myrah and Al are a likeable duo and they drew me along with them on their adventures.
Action scenes are well written and the bumbling accidental nature of a lot of the characters brought plenty of laughs. The explanations for the convoluted economic and political situations were fantastic and frequently made me laugh out loud.
There’s no doubt that the author’s wit carries this book along and there’s a mix between the Pratchett and Douglas Adams where a tangent is travelled along to allow us to better understand the world we are visiting. Despite taking a while to get into it I do want to know what happens next and will probably pick up the next one.
The plot is complicated and intriguing with the question of what is reality for our protagonist and is it the same as everyone else? Unfortunately because this book is the start of the story it doesn’t reach as satisfying a conclusion as I might’ve liked. Myrah and Al are a likeable duo and they drew me along with them on their adventures.
Action scenes are well written and the bumbling accidental nature of a lot of the characters brought plenty of laughs. The explanations for the convoluted economic and political situations were fantastic and frequently made me laugh out loud.
There’s no doubt that the author’s wit carries this book along and there’s a mix between the Pratchett and Douglas Adams where a tangent is travelled along to allow us to better understand the world we are visiting. Despite taking a while to get into it I do want to know what happens next and will probably pick up the next one.
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