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The Whirled Series #1
Svelt: Humorous Fantasy Troll Romantasy
Landos. A chaotic multi-species, semi-evolved mire inhabited by a kaleidoscope of humorous and devious characters.A wizard is murdered in a desperate attempt at stalling the progress of invention, randomly throwing an innocent into the middle of an age-old conflict after he 'inherits' the wizard's puzzling map.With the drawing as his only guide, Svelt reluctantly begins searching for the unnamed artefact.But he is not aloneNever too far away are a determined, ruthless 'messenger' and an ancient, mischievous, time-travelling soul, resurrected by a powerful sorceress.Unwanted attention in Landos is not conducive to life expectancy much beyond lunchtime... particularly for a dwarf-troll.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "From the same author as Flame Tide, Svelt is a very different novel.From the mash-up of mundane and magical to the consistently humorous tone of the tale. However, Chris Whyatt has created original characters with which to populate his fictional city of troll bars, curry houses and sardonic, world-weary police officers.The main plot of the story is Svelt (half-dwarf, half-troll) discovering a secret map and trying to solve its mysteries before other nefarious figures manage to get their hands on it, or him. This is actually secondary though, as the real heart of the story is Svelt’s fish-out-of-water tour of the city, and his relationships with the other characters he meets along the way.The climax of the story was a bit of a shock, but left enough of the threads trailing to lead on to a sequel, or even a longer-running series. I would love to see more of this world and the story – and humour – potentials within it are pretty endless." - Bookshine Blog (Goodreads May 25th 2021)
256 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 3, 2020
About the author
Chris Whyatt
13 books2 followersDuring swinging sixties London, Chris Whyatt was born into abject gravity... completely against his will.
During his teens, he was visited by Lucy Fyre, a much-maligned lady with a reputation that was mostly undeserved.
With the help of his translator, Trisa Whytch, she instilled in him a devilish sense of humour, which, like most things, people either hated, loved, ridiculed, or just plain misunderstood.
In later life, he apologised to those he'd upset.
Unfortunately, his Dad didn't hear the apology, as he was resting in peace.
Now... here's the boring bit.
He mainly writes humorous fantasy.
This is by no means a promise, though, and the right is reserved to pen whatever comes into his strange little mind with no prior warning.
You have been not warned.
During his teens, he was visited by Lucy Fyre, a much-maligned lady with a reputation that was mostly undeserved.
With the help of his translator, Trisa Whytch, she instilled in him a devilish sense of humour, which, like most things, people either hated, loved, ridiculed, or just plain misunderstood.
In later life, he apologised to those he'd upset.
Unfortunately, his Dad didn't hear the apology, as he was resting in peace.
Now... here's the boring bit.
He mainly writes humorous fantasy.
This is by no means a promise, though, and the right is reserved to pen whatever comes into his strange little mind with no prior warning.
You have been not warned.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 23, 2021
*I received a free copy of this book, with thanks to the author. The decision to review and my opinions are my own.*
Svelt is a very different novella, by the same author as Flame Tide, focusing on the comic fantasy genre popularised by Sir Terry Pratchett.
Indeed, the Pratchettian influence is easily identifiable here, in everything from the mash-up of mundane and magical, to the consistently humorous tone of the tale. However, Chris Whyatt has created his own original characters with which to populate his fictional city of troll bars, curry houses and sardonic, world-weary police officers.
Whyatt also adds a different layer of his own humour, twisting the Roundworld words slightly to give us a Pry-Minister; vine bars (which also means swapping the roles of grapes and olives in other ways); the bun setting to make room for the loonlight, and so on.
The main plot of the story is Svelt (half-dwarf, half-troll) discovering a secret map and trying to solve its mysteries before other nefarious figures manage to get their hands on it, or him. This is actually secondary though, as the real heart of the story is Svelt’s fish-out-of-water tour of the city, and his relationships with the other characters he meets along the way.
The climax of the story was a bit of a shock, but left enough of the threads trailing to lead on to a sequel, or even a longer-running series. I would love to see more of this world and the story – and humour – potentials within it are pretty endless. Also, I’d really like to see Svelt return, Gord willing!
'As a general rule, most species fail quite spectacularly to get along with each other. This is particularly evident in the case of trolls and dwarfs. Nobody really knew how it happened—troll spoke to dwarf, which was severely frowned upon; dwarf and troll then dated, which was absolutely unthinkable. The next piece of the puzzle almost caused a major war! The miracle outcome of their subterranean love, being … Svelt. It is quite difficult to imagine what the result of a union between the two aforementioned species would actually look like … picture a flexible wall, about dwarf height and you’ve pretty much got it.'
– Chris Whyatt, Svelt
Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog
https://bookshineandreadbows.wordpres...
Svelt is a very different novella, by the same author as Flame Tide, focusing on the comic fantasy genre popularised by Sir Terry Pratchett.
Indeed, the Pratchettian influence is easily identifiable here, in everything from the mash-up of mundane and magical, to the consistently humorous tone of the tale. However, Chris Whyatt has created his own original characters with which to populate his fictional city of troll bars, curry houses and sardonic, world-weary police officers.
Whyatt also adds a different layer of his own humour, twisting the Roundworld words slightly to give us a Pry-Minister; vine bars (which also means swapping the roles of grapes and olives in other ways); the bun setting to make room for the loonlight, and so on.
The main plot of the story is Svelt (half-dwarf, half-troll) discovering a secret map and trying to solve its mysteries before other nefarious figures manage to get their hands on it, or him. This is actually secondary though, as the real heart of the story is Svelt’s fish-out-of-water tour of the city, and his relationships with the other characters he meets along the way.
The climax of the story was a bit of a shock, but left enough of the threads trailing to lead on to a sequel, or even a longer-running series. I would love to see more of this world and the story – and humour – potentials within it are pretty endless. Also, I’d really like to see Svelt return, Gord willing!
'As a general rule, most species fail quite spectacularly to get along with each other. This is particularly evident in the case of trolls and dwarfs. Nobody really knew how it happened—troll spoke to dwarf, which was severely frowned upon; dwarf and troll then dated, which was absolutely unthinkable. The next piece of the puzzle almost caused a major war! The miracle outcome of their subterranean love, being … Svelt. It is quite difficult to imagine what the result of a union between the two aforementioned species would actually look like … picture a flexible wall, about dwarf height and you’ve pretty much got it.'
– Chris Whyatt, Svelt
Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog
https://bookshineandreadbows.wordpres...
April 12, 2021
I last read this book after forcing myself to reach the end of an audiobook of Cormac McCarthy's The Road; it was the perfect antidote. I don't want to give you the impression that the two books have nothing whatsoever in common; that would be wrong as they both feature characters walking on roads; there, thankfully, the similarity ends. Leaving aside the superficial advantages of Whyatt's book over McCarthy's- not least being the use of conventional punctuation to aid the reader- the two novels are poles apart, and probably polls apart too. Whereas The Road is endlessly dreary, repetitive and depressing, Svelt is upbeat, bright and whimsical. It is a humorous fantasy, set in a world that seemed, to me at least, part Middle-Earth and part seventies England. Svelt is the main character, an optimistic but not too bright cross between a dwarf and a troll (a drole, perhaps), who sets off on his own mainly pedestrian road trip, encountering a colourful assortment of inventively named characters and places. There is much punning and wordplay. The characters are believable, in spite of their outlandish descriptions, and have distinctive voices. There are later moments of pathos that contrast with the earlier light-heartedness. The writing has a lovely appealing tone. Sometimes my recollections of books suggest colours- Svelt would be bright and rainbow-like.
May 9, 2023
Like nothing I’ve read in a long while
From the opening pages Svelt gripped me with its witty hooks and wouldn’t release me until I’d finished the book.
An extremely well written story that takes you through a Terry Pratchett’s Diskworld like realm, clutching around a satirical mockery of London - albeit a fantasy version.
The tongue in cheek style of writing was perfect and there are plenty of comedy gold moments - not to mention the names of some of the characters. It had me laughing out loud on more than a few occasions.
Absolutely loved this book and eagerly await the next story by Chris Whyatt.
From the opening pages Svelt gripped me with its witty hooks and wouldn’t release me until I’d finished the book.
An extremely well written story that takes you through a Terry Pratchett’s Diskworld like realm, clutching around a satirical mockery of London - albeit a fantasy version.
The tongue in cheek style of writing was perfect and there are plenty of comedy gold moments - not to mention the names of some of the characters. It had me laughing out loud on more than a few occasions.
Absolutely loved this book and eagerly await the next story by Chris Whyatt.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews