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Sin du Jour #1.5
Small Wars
The Sin du Jour procurement team has been tasked with acquiring a substantial cache of rare Welsh gold for a rather important event, but when they stumble upon rivals factions of the smallest warriors they've ever encountered, they'll need to bring out the big guns if they're to survive.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
40 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 19, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
January 23, 2016
http://www.tor.com/2016/01/19/small-w...
The procurement team from Sin de Jour, an exclusive catering and hosting company, are back, traveling to Wales in search of some rare gold, perfect for celebrating goblin nuptials.
While I love the idea of the specialized restaurant, this installment from Tor doesn't work as well as the novella Envy of Angels. Events during the current mission are interrupted with backstory on team members, changing both location and time. Essentially a short-short story within a story, it causes a serious problem with flow. It also means that with a five member team, we aren't learning about the members soon enough to care. For those that read Envy, it is also disconcerting because Moon is lacking a critical piece of equipment seen in the earlier story.
Still, characters are created fast, and the magic used by the gnomes was fabulously creative. I'll continue to look for more from Wallace, but will tone down expectations.
The procurement team from Sin de Jour, an exclusive catering and hosting company, are back, traveling to Wales in search of some rare gold, perfect for celebrating goblin nuptials.
While I love the idea of the specialized restaurant, this installment from Tor doesn't work as well as the novella Envy of Angels. Events during the current mission are interrupted with backstory on team members, changing both location and time. Essentially a short-short story within a story, it causes a serious problem with flow. It also means that with a five member team, we aren't learning about the members soon enough to care. For those that read Envy, it is also disconcerting because Moon is lacking a critical piece of equipment seen in the earlier story.
Still, characters are created fast, and the magic used by the gnomes was fabulously creative. I'll continue to look for more from Wallace, but will tone down expectations.
September 19, 2017
Surprisingly for me, this story is not funny in general. Only at the beginning story I had smiles at the jokes. But after that, it is a pretty dark fantasy. As if it is a fan-fiction that using Sin du Jour characters.
February 1, 2016
2.5 stars. Review first posted on www.FantasyLiterature.com:
This short story from Tor.com follows the first book in Matt Wallace‘s Sin du Jour urban fantasy series, Envy of Angels, which tells the story of two out of work New York City chefs, Lena and Darren, who are thrilled to get jobs with Sin du Jour, an exclusive catering company. But they soon find out that the clients of Sin du Jour are also an exclusive group: demons and goblins, who have very demanding taste buds and a predilection for highly unusual dishes.
In order to create these dishes, Sin du Jour has a “stocking and receiving team” that will go to almost any lengths to obtain the rare ingredients necessary for the recipes that will keep the demons satisfied … and non-murderous. The team members have various talents, including sword-fighting, taste-testing deadly foods, and magical alchemy powers:
There’s both humor and poignancy in this story of how various misfits came together to form a team, reflected also in their experiences in the violent, waning underground world of the gnomes and leprechauns. Ultimately, “Small Wars” feels a bit too episodic: it’s not really a complete story by itself, but a piece of a larger tale. I think it would be preferable to start with Envy of Angels rather than here if you want to check out the Sin du Jour series and Wallace’s humorous, gritty writing (short excerpts from both Envy of Angels and the second book in the series, Lustlocked, which follows “Small Wars,” are also on Tor.com). However, “Small Wars” works reasonably well as a stand-alone story and has the benefit of providing a freebie introduction to this urban fantasy world.
By the way, the excerpt from Lustlocked on Tor.com has a cameo appearance from a recently lost, beloved icon as the goblin king who is insisting on Welsh gold for his son's wedding--it's both hilarious and touching.
Read online at Tor.com.
Content advisory: fairly frequent F-bombs.
This short story from Tor.com follows the first book in Matt Wallace‘s Sin du Jour urban fantasy series, Envy of Angels, which tells the story of two out of work New York City chefs, Lena and Darren, who are thrilled to get jobs with Sin du Jour, an exclusive catering company. But they soon find out that the clients of Sin du Jour are also an exclusive group: demons and goblins, who have very demanding taste buds and a predilection for highly unusual dishes.
In order to create these dishes, Sin du Jour has a “stocking and receiving team” that will go to almost any lengths to obtain the rare ingredients necessary for the recipes that will keep the demons satisfied … and non-murderous. The team members have various talents, including sword-fighting, taste-testing deadly foods, and magical alchemy powers:
After having his beverage service cut off less than two hours after takeoff, Ryland began requesting cups of water and changing them into white wine.“Small Wars” follows this ingredient-hunting team on one of its expeditions to Wales, searching for Welsh gold to use in a recipe, “[b]ecause it’s the rarest in the world and it’s a royal goblin wedding. They want the best." When the team blasts a hole in an abandoned gold mine and enters, they unexpectedly run afoul of some extremely small but dangerous gnomes and leprechauns, who split up the team and force them to participate in their deadly turf war.
The only reason they weren’t all detained upon arrival was because, when confronted, the air marshal couldn’t find any hidden supply [of] alcohol or a corresponding empty vessel.
There’s both humor and poignancy in this story of how various misfits came together to form a team, reflected also in their experiences in the violent, waning underground world of the gnomes and leprechauns. Ultimately, “Small Wars” feels a bit too episodic: it’s not really a complete story by itself, but a piece of a larger tale. I think it would be preferable to start with Envy of Angels rather than here if you want to check out the Sin du Jour series and Wallace’s humorous, gritty writing (short excerpts from both Envy of Angels and the second book in the series, Lustlocked, which follows “Small Wars,” are also on Tor.com). However, “Small Wars” works reasonably well as a stand-alone story and has the benefit of providing a freebie introduction to this urban fantasy world.
By the way, the excerpt from Lustlocked on Tor.com has a cameo appearance from a recently lost, beloved icon as the goblin king who is insisting on Welsh gold for his son's wedding--it's both hilarious and touching.
Read online at Tor.com.
Content advisory: fairly frequent F-bombs.
December 12, 2018
Again this is a short which was included at the end of book #2 for the Sin du Jour series and it's a small tale about the procurement of Welsh Gold and the tiny guardians who watch over it. It's a bit of a laugh with some good moments although fairly forgettable I'd imagine in the end. 2.5*s
January 22, 2016
4 *it sucks being small* stars.
Read and find out ;)
“Small Wars” is up on Tor.com and you can read it right now for free
Read and find out ;)
“Small Wars” is up on Tor.com and you can read it right now for free
January 25, 2016
SMALL WARS is a short story set in author Matt Wallace's fresh, new Sin du Jour series. In ENVY OF ANGELS we were introduced to the culinary crew manning the lines and concocting crazy creations for the Sin du Jour catering company, and got a good glimpse at the adventures of the procurement team responsible for tracking down the rare ingredients necessary to feed demonic hordes.
SMALL WARS gives us a larger look at the procurement team, headed up by Ritter, as his band of recipe-minded mercenaries take a hop across the pond and venture into the abandoned mines of Scotland in search for gold. When they run afoul of some tiny adversaries, things go south quick.
At less than 40 pages, this story is a rapid-fire read, and it continues on in the lighthearted, good-natured tone of Wallace's prior Sin du Jour novel. It's comical and action-packed, never taking itself too seriously while still maintaining a peculiar and respectful sensibility. The best part is that it gives readers a deeper insight into the men and women that make Sin du Jour run, treating us to snippets of each crew's history and how they were recruited by Ritter. Fun stuff! This story serves to give a bit more depth to Wallace's world, filling in some of the gaps in character narratives while we wait for book 2, LUSTLOCKED, to drop in a few days.
If you enjoyed ENVY OF ANGELS, or are looking for a small taste of what this series is about, SMALL WARS is a fine place to begin.
SMALL WARS gives us a larger look at the procurement team, headed up by Ritter, as his band of recipe-minded mercenaries take a hop across the pond and venture into the abandoned mines of Scotland in search for gold. When they run afoul of some tiny adversaries, things go south quick.
At less than 40 pages, this story is a rapid-fire read, and it continues on in the lighthearted, good-natured tone of Wallace's prior Sin du Jour novel. It's comical and action-packed, never taking itself too seriously while still maintaining a peculiar and respectful sensibility. The best part is that it gives readers a deeper insight into the men and women that make Sin du Jour run, treating us to snippets of each crew's history and how they were recruited by Ritter. Fun stuff! This story serves to give a bit more depth to Wallace's world, filling in some of the gaps in character narratives while we wait for book 2, LUSTLOCKED, to drop in a few days.
If you enjoyed ENVY OF ANGELS, or are looking for a small taste of what this series is about, SMALL WARS is a fine place to begin.
June 11, 2017
Utterly fantastic. I almost think I'd recommend reading this before jumping into the novellas. Even more of a Ritter crew superfan!
January 16, 2020
It's been a while since I read the first book so I thought I'd delve back into the series with this short story but I kind of wish I hadn't as I didn't enjoy it at all. Firstly, our heroes by slagging off everything about Wales as they arrive to collect Welsh gold for an upcoming event. This seems to happen a lot in books by authors who seem to take delight in making the various nations of the UK like Wales and Scotland look like crappy places to be and it annoys me.
The story is frequently interrupted by half baked flashbacks to when Ritter recruits each team member but there is no meat on the bones in these flashbacks and we learn nothing of real interest about the team. It just slows down the flow of the main story. The main plot isn't really that interesting and I wasn't a great fan of the ending. I was also getting annoyed with the foul mouthed characters just bickering all the time. I really didn't like this and I've now decided based on this, not to continue with the series.
The story is frequently interrupted by half baked flashbacks to when Ritter recruits each team member but there is no meat on the bones in these flashbacks and we learn nothing of real interest about the team. It just slows down the flow of the main story. The main plot isn't really that interesting and I wasn't a great fan of the ending. I was also getting annoyed with the foul mouthed characters just bickering all the time. I really didn't like this and I've now decided based on this, not to continue with the series.
January 29, 2016
Sin du Jour is quickly becoming one of my favorite urban fantasy series. I especially admire the opportunity to become better acquainted with Sin du Jour's procurement team. Ritter and the gang make for a fine group of characters with good chemistry and I can't help but chuckle at every interaction they share. Cindy is a fucking boss and I see Moon in a completely different light after this story! If this is any indication of what's to come in the next book, I cannot wait for Lustlocked!
June 25, 2025
A great little story to introduce readers to what appears to be an interesting urban fantasy.
2025 Update: I have now completed the first three novellas in the Sin Du Jour series. I can't say I understand everything going on in this series, but this little snippet makes much more sense now.
2025 Update: I have now completed the first three novellas in the Sin Du Jour series. I can't say I understand everything going on in this series, but this little snippet makes much more sense now.
December 31, 2016
I began this short story not knowing that it was connected to other tales in this modern urban fantasy setting and while it didn’t really impact my enjoyment of the story not having read them, I think it might have helped. Certainly, I could see the author writing more stories with this setting and group.
The story is easy to nutshell, centering around the procurement team for Sin du Jour, a restaurant that caters to the highly specific tastes of its supernatural clientele. In this case, the team is in Wales looking for Welsh gold, a traditional food apparently in goblin weddings.
The team has a mixture of mundane skills (non-supernatural, such as explosives) and decidedly supernatural abilities (which I won’t reveal here), abilities put to the test when not one but two different types of creatures come to oppose the procurement team in Wales (which I will spoil, as I saw some reviews did; leprechauns and gnomes).
The short story had a bit of an odd format, with stories within the short story showing how some team members were recruited with glimpses into their past lives. One worked pretty well, that of Cindy, former soldier, while another didn’t work quite as well for me, though I believe from what I have read since then this character is better fleshed out in other tales of the Sin du Jour series.
I liked the idea of the story, the team was small and interesting enough to keep track of and care about, the pacing was very fast and easy to read, and there was some innovative and well described fantasy combat. I thought the ending might have been tweaked some. I may track some more down of this series.
The story is easy to nutshell, centering around the procurement team for Sin du Jour, a restaurant that caters to the highly specific tastes of its supernatural clientele. In this case, the team is in Wales looking for Welsh gold, a traditional food apparently in goblin weddings.
The team has a mixture of mundane skills (non-supernatural, such as explosives) and decidedly supernatural abilities (which I won’t reveal here), abilities put to the test when not one but two different types of creatures come to oppose the procurement team in Wales (which I will spoil, as I saw some reviews did; leprechauns and gnomes).
The short story had a bit of an odd format, with stories within the short story showing how some team members were recruited with glimpses into their past lives. One worked pretty well, that of Cindy, former soldier, while another didn’t work quite as well for me, though I believe from what I have read since then this character is better fleshed out in other tales of the Sin du Jour series.
I liked the idea of the story, the team was small and interesting enough to keep track of and care about, the pacing was very fast and easy to read, and there was some innovative and well described fantasy combat. I thought the ending might have been tweaked some. I may track some more down of this series.
January 19, 2016
Ritter & The Gang!
I loved Envy Of Angels which I just finished a few weeks ago. To my surprise another story in the series was just around the corner!
This story doesn't actually take place at Sin Du Jour, it follows Ritter, Head Of Stocking & Receiving at Sin Du Jour and his team on one of their missions.
The best part of this was that we got to learn more about everyone which is scattered throughout a unique story with humor sprinkled within.
Small Wars is a fun, fast, story that will hold us until the sequel to Sin Du Jour which is much anticipated. Matt Wallace really has some special with the world he has created.
I loved Envy Of Angels which I just finished a few weeks ago. To my surprise another story in the series was just around the corner!
This story doesn't actually take place at Sin Du Jour, it follows Ritter, Head Of Stocking & Receiving at Sin Du Jour and his team on one of their missions.
The best part of this was that we got to learn more about everyone which is scattered throughout a unique story with humor sprinkled within.
Small Wars is a fun, fast, story that will hold us until the sequel to Sin Du Jour which is much anticipated. Matt Wallace really has some special with the world he has created.
January 26, 2016
A nice little backstory to Lustlocked.
In just 37 pages, we learn more about each of the team and how they came to work under Ritter.
Definitely read this if you enjoyed Envy of Angels and Lustlocked.
Note: Goodreads has this listed as Sin Du Jour #1.5. It actually falls parallel to Lustlocked and contains a tiny/mild spoiler for Lustlocked, For best enjoyment, I think you should read this AFTER Lustlocked.
In just 37 pages, we learn more about each of the team and how they came to work under Ritter.
Definitely read this if you enjoyed Envy of Angels and Lustlocked.
Note: Goodreads has this listed as Sin Du Jour #1.5. It actually falls parallel to Lustlocked and contains a tiny/mild spoiler for Lustlocked, For best enjoyment, I think you should read this AFTER Lustlocked.
November 10, 2017
This is meant to be read either simultaneously with Lustlocked or right after. It explains how Ritter's crew obtains the welsh gold for the wedding. There is more fleshing out of Ritters crew, but it is still too vague. The ending was also much too rushed. This would have benefited from a longer story.
Read
February 4, 2016The restaurant industry will chew you up and spit you out. Yes, including the magical restaurant industry. Especially the magical restaurant agency.
July 13, 2016
Call it a 2.5. A quick little short story I found on Tor, interesting enough that I'll look into the main series.
December 13, 2023
This short story set in Matt Wallace's Sin du Jour Series takes place after Envy of Angels. When the procurement team tries to acquire a cache of rare Welsh gold for the important catering event that takes place in Lustlocked, they encounter rivals factions of the smallest warriors at war with each other. It's almost like the plot of the movie Small Soldiers trailer here, where 2 factions of tiny toys are just MADE to fight with each other.
The procurement team does their best to survive, but it's tough as the tiny terrors have been at war for aeons! Since neither faction can't win, each has decided to escalate by kidnapping a Big Member of the Sin Do Jour team, and force them to fight on their behalf.
This was particularly sad to read. The reasons for them fighting is partly human's fault, and the rest has been lost to time so much that the only thing that is passed down is hatred. The team is just had bad luck.
I liked all the character development they gave to Lena and Ritter, but damn, by the end of this I was kind of bummed and was wondering how much money a therapist could make from all the messed up procurement team members.
The procurement team does their best to survive, but it's tough as the tiny terrors have been at war for aeons! Since neither faction can't win, each has decided to escalate by kidnapping a Big Member of the Sin Do Jour team, and force them to fight on their behalf.
This was particularly sad to read. The reasons for them fighting is partly human's fault, and the rest has been lost to time so much that the only thing that is passed down is hatred. The team is just had bad luck.
I liked all the character development they gave to Lena and Ritter, but damn, by the end of this I was kind of bummed and was wondering how much money a therapist could make from all the messed up procurement team members.
June 19, 2024
I’m so glad this was included as bonus content at the end of Lustlocked because otherwise I probably wouldn’t have bothered to pick up this little side quest short story. That being said, it was pretty good, if not essential to understanding the Sin du Jourverse. It was interesting to get the backstory of how the acquisitions team came together, especially Moon’s backstory and the little bit of insight we get into his character. The conflict between the gnomes and the leprechauns was just so sad though and really made the story end on a low note.
April 28, 2019
Whoa. I was not expecting this short story to be so sombre and introspective.
I enjoyed the first Sin du Jour novella when I read it; it was weird and fun and did paranormal things that I just haven't seen before in fiction and was interesting for it. This short story shows us a small (zing!) escape in the procurement team's life, as well as flashes back to show us how Ritter recruited his friends. I liked it a bunch, the end got disturbing in a squirmy way that was still good.
I enjoyed the first Sin du Jour novella when I read it; it was weird and fun and did paranormal things that I just haven't seen before in fiction and was interesting for it. This short story shows us a small (zing!) escape in the procurement team's life, as well as flashes back to show us how Ritter recruited his friends. I liked it a bunch, the end got disturbing in a squirmy way that was still good.
June 28, 2018
My Review: This is a short novella about how the team obtained the special ingredient needed for the event in book 2. I found this totally entertaining. I love reading about Ritter's team and the crazy hoops they have to jump through to get these ingredients and this one was so creative and entertaining.
October 21, 2020
Interesting little short that is part of a larger series of urban fantasy. Felt a bit like something you only could really appreciate if you've read the other books in this particular universe, but it was pretty charming.
November 6, 2017
An interesting short story that stars the Acquisition Team on the search for Welsh Gold that runs into gnomes and leprechauns.
April 7, 2018
Included as bonus content in the paperback edition of Lustlocked.
October 23, 2018
Character intros and background story to the procurement team before and during the events of the second novel.
April 17, 2019
It was meh. Short and Sweet, but didn't really serve any purpose...
August 11, 2020
You can never have too much back story. Give me moar!
March 4, 2017
Oh my g0odness, what a solid short. Seriously heart breaking, and I like that we finally get the background for all the stocking and requisition team. Tears. And of all people, Moon is the one I'm most sympathetic with, which I did NOT see coming.
May 15, 2019
Small Wars is a short story from Sin du Jour series written by Matt Wallace and takes place after Envy of Angels and is best read after it. The short story centers on Ritter, Head of Stocking and Receiving at Sin du Jour. As the head of the procurement team responsible for tracking down the rarer ingredients necessary to feed their demonic hordes, they go on many strange adventures.
Small Wars gives more insight to the procurement team, headed up by Ritter, as his band of recipe-minded mercenaries, who take a hop across the pond, and venture into the abandoned mines of Scotland in search for gold. However, when they run afoul of some tiny adversaries, things go south quick.
Small Wars is written rather well. At less than 40 pages, this story is a rapid-fire read, and it continues on in the lighthearted, good-natured tone of Wallace's prior Sin du Jour novel. It's comical and action-packed, never taking itself too seriously while still maintaining a peculiar and respectful sensibility.
All in all, Small Wars is written rather well and a wonderful addition to the Sin du Jour series.
Small Wars gives more insight to the procurement team, headed up by Ritter, as his band of recipe-minded mercenaries, who take a hop across the pond, and venture into the abandoned mines of Scotland in search for gold. However, when they run afoul of some tiny adversaries, things go south quick.
Small Wars is written rather well. At less than 40 pages, this story is a rapid-fire read, and it continues on in the lighthearted, good-natured tone of Wallace's prior Sin du Jour novel. It's comical and action-packed, never taking itself too seriously while still maintaining a peculiar and respectful sensibility.
All in all, Small Wars is written rather well and a wonderful addition to the Sin du Jour series.
April 25, 2016
Beware, this is a short story set in the world of Matt Wallace's Sin Du Jour series. While I enjoyed reading it as a stand-alone, I have the distinct feeling that I would have loved it more if I had read Envy of Angels first. I liked the writing style, and the humor, and I am likely to read the rest of the series soon.
In this installment of the series, the Sin du Jour procurement team has been tasked with acquiring a substantial cache of rare Welsh gold for a rather important event, but when they stumble upon rivals factions of the smallest warriors they have ever encountered, they will need to bring out the big guns if they are to survive.
In this installment of the series, the Sin du Jour procurement team has been tasked with acquiring a substantial cache of rare Welsh gold for a rather important event, but when they stumble upon rivals factions of the smallest warriors they have ever encountered, they will need to bring out the big guns if they are to survive.
March 9, 2020
This is a short story in the Sin du Jour series that takes place between the first and second books. Note for anyone interested in buying this - this story is sold as both a standalone ebook as well as being included in the second book (Lustlocked), so, if you buy the latter, you don't need to buy the former as well.
As for the story, it's fun if not a little darker than the novels in the series. It serves more as a way to quickly show how the four members of the procurement team came together than to tell a foodie-meets-noir-fantasy story, but it's still an interesting addition to the SdJ series and adds a bit of world-building to the structure.
As for the story, it's fun if not a little darker than the novels in the series. It serves more as a way to quickly show how the four members of the procurement team came together than to tell a foodie-meets-noir-fantasy story, but it's still an interesting addition to the SdJ series and adds a bit of world-building to the structure.
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