Kill All Wizards

The Barbaric Ledgers #1

by Jedediah Berry

SWORDS, SORCERY, AND A SPOT OF TEA

We could think of nothing but the barbarian. He had come here, surely, to murder or marry someone, to exact revenge, or to say or do something very scandalous. We could hardly wait to see which it was. We hoped it would be all of them.

The barbarian traveled far to consult the wizards of the empire. Instead of lending their aid, they ensorcelled him, exploited his strength, and stole his sword. They should not have done that.

Now the barbarian plans to kill every wizard who wronged him, even if that means blending in with their vile dressing in finery, taking tea in exclusive clubs, and reserving the best box at the theater.

Oh, he hates it all with the fiery passion of his savage heart—but not as much as he hates these wizards.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Novella

Kindle Edition

Expected publication June 16, 2026

About the author

Jedediah Berry is the author of two novels, The Naming Song (Tor Books, 2024) and The Manual of Detection (Penguin Press), and a story in cards, The Family Arcana. He lives in Western Massachusetts. Together with his partner, writer Emily Houk, he runs Ninepin Press, an independent publisher of fiction, poetry, and games in unusual shapes.

Reviews

[Asher · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a romp, a fun little novella. There's two things preventing this from having the heft of The Naming Song, which was maybe the best book I read in 2024 (and was the reason I jumped at the chance to read this): first, it's too short to really get deep into any of the emotions it might get to over the course of a novel, and second, there's no real sense of true peril for our main characters. The first of those things comes with the territory of being a novella, though, and the second one doesn't prevent it from being a lot of fun, so I'd still recommend it without hesitation.

Gotch, our barbarian protagonist, keeps having things revealed to him that give the sense of him being a tool moved around by more powerful entities, in much the same way that the gods of Discworld directly play with the fates of Rincewind and the rest. This means that he doesn't have as much agency as he might; I couldn't help but feel that whatever he did would be part of some larger plan of mage or god, and that therefore there was no real chance of his death or failure. The flipside of this is that it allows us to pay more attention to the world around him, which is certainly very cool, and to more or less relax. It means it's not a stressful read, and there's enough cool ideas and magical baubles everywhere to keep things moving apace and keep the reader having fun.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe I'm just being too picky here, but I feel like a book whose blurb calls it “a blood-soaked romp” and “a comedy of manners” should actually be funny? This was a decent read and it had its entertaining bits, but there was very little romping and pretty much zero comedy. And honestly, there was also much less wizard killing than I would have expected considering the title … I think the final count was three dead wizards? Maybe four? Certainly not all the wizards, at any rate.

Anyway, I dunno, this book is fine for what it is, but it definitely is not what I was expecting. I wanted romping and humor and wizard killing, and instead I got a rather serious tale about a barbarian with PTSD. And just for the record, I would never knowingly choose a book about a traumatized barbarian if it weren't funny because I don't do serious high fantasy.

But, I mean, if this is your usual sort of read, it's entirely possible that you'll enjoy this one more than I did. There's magic and wizards and battling and romance and a mystery of sorts, and there's even a pretty surprising twist near the end. It's not funny, though. Don't expect funny. Or maybe I just have a lame sense of humor and this book is hilarious, who knows?

So, yeah. This was fine, but I almost certainly won't be reading the next book in the series.

3.2 stars, rounded down.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Tordotcom for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review. Its expected publication date is June 16, 2026.

[me _ librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is between a two and three star read (please can we get 1/2 stars?). it attempts a lot that it can’t quite accomplish. it’s a comedy of errors but where are the jokes? in trying to sound mannered the speech comes off of like a stilted attempt - a connecticut barbarian in mansfield park. it feels like a treatment for a novel that good be good.

savage review aside, i’d add it to the teen collection at the library; it would have its readers.

exciting to get my hands on arc through tor publishing group and netgalley ✌️

[LordTBR · Rating 5 out of 5]

The crème de la crème of novellas, Kill All Wizards mixes sarky humor, succulent prose, and resplendent action to tell one of the best stories I’ve ever laid eyes on