Nah, nah, my name is the Foul Mouth...and I'm almost finished with this stinking tape recorder.
Finally reached the last year of my schooling, kiddies, at the glorious Institution of Elements, Learning Academy and Nature Camp, or better yet known as the Asylum by its oh so adoring student body. Seven years in this place and got anima dripping from my pores, strong in the Mancy like never before. Ready to go out into the world and face down Vampires and Shifters and...pay taxes and stuff.
Now, I thought there was no way the faculty would ever let me become a student-advisor, responsible for the care and welfare of my younger fellow students, cuz...who is that stupid? But they lost their minds at last, kiddies! They did it!
Thirty new Singles to care for, thirty new strings just itching to stitch themselves into my flesh and complicate my life. Make matters worse, Heinrich von Welf, spoiled Old Mancy patrician that he is, ain't so happy with the class I got given. Thinks it should've been his honor. Lots of words I'd use to describe Welf, but ain't the words you can get away with in a blurb, got to start the story for them. What you doing? Click that "start" button!
Needless to say...Welf ain't happy. And being he's working day and night to complete his Construct...might be the first time he backs me into a corner. Dead men don't care about being punched after all, don't care about pain, don't care if you even blow an arm off, they just keep coming.
Richard Raley was born and raised in Fresno, California and even still lives there on account of the city being an evil vortex you can't escape. He grew up on Star Wars, Transformers, Legos, and Everquest--he never escaped them either. His rise to fame/infamy began with "The Foul Mouth and the Fanged Lady", the first book of THE KING HENRY TAPES, an Urban Fantasy Series that has been described as "Harry Potter meets Pulp Fiction".
King Henry is back after over a 2 year hiatus, foul mouthed as ever. This book covers the first semester of year 7 for the class of 2009.
All of the colorful cast is back, including the new Singles of the class of 2015. Ironically enough King Henry is placed in charge of the freshmen as their class advisor.
Welf's hatred of King Henry has been festering all summer and will come to call in a quite interesting fashion.
Much fun and mayhem ensues, as expected in this enjoyable series. Glad to have you recovered and able to continue your livelihood Mr Raley.
This is a [profanity] genius author!! Moving from deep guffaws to gut wrenching howls of laughter to profoundly poignant moments, Mr. Raley has done it aga.
No spoilers since I got to read an advanced copy, but I cannot begin to express how much I needed this book. Not only was this one the most well-written of the series, showing Raley's continued growth as an author, but it was also my favorite.
So many protagonists I've read in the past few years seem to be complete unlikable assholes. King Henry is the likable one, and it makes all the difference. I actively find myself hating all the other ones after I'm several books into the series because they just become insufferable, and who wants to root for a character that you wouldn't give the time of day to in real life? King Henry is abrasive and an acquired taste, but he has a heart of gold, and this book seems like it was literally made to showcase all of those facets together.
Hell, there is even a new character that is literally the epitome of what I hate in pretty much every other situation I've ever encountered this type of character, but I love her. She was almost my pick for favorite new character, just lost by a smidgen. And barely beat out another by a smidgen. So 3 new characters that I absolutely loved, and plenty more that I greatly enjoyed, they just couldn't be given as much screen time because then the book would be 5000 pages long. Which would have been ok with me.
The biggest compliment I can give this book, besides just the utter joy I felt when finally getting it my grubby little hands, is the sadness I felt when it was all over. Not because the book was sad, but because it was done and now I will have to wait any amount of time until reading more. More about these new characters, more about old characters, more about the world of King Henry. Even if that time was only to be a week, I'd still be a little sad. Since it will be longer than that, you see where my despair comes from. Perhaps it is time to do another total series re-read just to keep my spirits up.
If you love King Henry, you will love this book. You already know it, I shouldn't have to tell you!
I wouldn't give it a 5. But it deserves. I cried a few times in this one too. I REALLY wanted to know more of the "current" timeline. But ok. This one is really special. We saw KHP growing in REAL TIME. He wanted to get angry, so his shits but ... As someone that grow in the same kind of troublesome environment, yeah. When they give you power over children, we don't abuse. We care, care deeply. We fear that we would disappoint, hurt or... Do something bad. And we start to... Not over protect, but to prepare. Prepare to not suffer anything we went thru. KHP grow. A LOT. In just one semester. We watch how the trouble boy, the Foul Mouth, into the KHP we see in the "current" timeline. And just to ensure: we remember. First book, he's talking to HIS DAUGHTER. And yeah, I laugh at NUMEROUS parts in the similar veneer. Lots of nods to future events It's an excellent one. Hoping RR gets better health wise and we get the next one soon
It's been quite a while between drinks for King Henry and his friends. KH is still the loveable rogue, just as likely to kick you in the backside, whilst swearing a blue streak, with a cheeky grin. Year 7 at the asylum shows significant growth in the characters. His love life, whilst still a shambles, does show glimmers of hope, but he once again, can't keep his fists to himself, to his own detriment.
It's almost a 'unicorn', to read a true charcter-driven fantasy story, especially one so brilliantly well told.
I'll be waiting for the war to end all wars with baited breath.
Glad to have another entry, it was missed. It did seem a little rough in the beginning as Raley got his writing brain revved up again(or maybe just writing through the pain), but it evened out and was good. KHP tread a bit close to actual bigotry lines instead of just being obstinate about being told what he can't say. Enjoyed the story, though I did miss the back and forth of the earlier books.