Alyssia Cooke's Reviews > The Antiheroes
The Antiheroes (The Antiheroes, #1)
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An entertaining and witty tale about a bunch of misfits on a mission to save the world... except that random things keep coming between them and their goal at every twist and turn. You can't think of a bunch of individuals less likely to save the world than a swordsman who refuses to wield a sword, a mage who thinks magic is for sissies, an assassin who can't stand the sight of blood and a madman who talks to his pet Goddess squirrel... but that's what the world is left with.
This book kept me smiling from beginning to end and whilst it took me a long time to read it, that was down to personal circumstances rather than any fault of the novel itself. I thought the characterisations and relationship building on display here was particularly brilliant; for all (or perhaps because of) the characters flaws and faults (and believe me, they have a few!), they absolutely leap off the page at you. But it doesn't fall into the trap of being funny at the expense of feeling real; whilst there are many, many moments to make you giggle here, the characters also felt completely real. Each of these characters has a tale to tell and a unique history that really adds to the character building.
Having picked this up as a comedy fantasy read, I was at least half expecting that the world building wouldn't really be up to scratch, taking second fiddle to the humour element of the novel. I was impressed to discover that this wasn't the case at all. There's a fascinating world to discover here, full of both the typical fantasy fare and some more unique elements that I haven't seen before. I really enjoyed the glances at different areas politics and issues that came with the novel... and how our gang of misfits find themselves dealing with said complications.
My only complaint of the novel is that it felt a little bit like a series of side quests in a video game. The group of supposed heroes find themselves dealing with one complication after another and didn't really get very far on their actual quest. It's like me playing a large RPG game when I get distracted by the shiny side quests and interesting back stories and find myself at level 40 before I've actually started on the main narrative. The novel is entertaining as hell though, so this wasn't a huge complaint rather than a minor niggle.
This book kept me smiling from beginning to end and whilst it took me a long time to read it, that was down to personal circumstances rather than any fault of the novel itself. I thought the characterisations and relationship building on display here was particularly brilliant; for all (or perhaps because of) the characters flaws and faults (and believe me, they have a few!), they absolutely leap off the page at you. But it doesn't fall into the trap of being funny at the expense of feeling real; whilst there are many, many moments to make you giggle here, the characters also felt completely real. Each of these characters has a tale to tell and a unique history that really adds to the character building.
Having picked this up as a comedy fantasy read, I was at least half expecting that the world building wouldn't really be up to scratch, taking second fiddle to the humour element of the novel. I was impressed to discover that this wasn't the case at all. There's a fascinating world to discover here, full of both the typical fantasy fare and some more unique elements that I haven't seen before. I really enjoyed the glances at different areas politics and issues that came with the novel... and how our gang of misfits find themselves dealing with said complications.
My only complaint of the novel is that it felt a little bit like a series of side quests in a video game. The group of supposed heroes find themselves dealing with one complication after another and didn't really get very far on their actual quest. It's like me playing a large RPG game when I get distracted by the shiny side quests and interesting back stories and find myself at level 40 before I've actually started on the main narrative. The novel is entertaining as hell though, so this wasn't a huge complaint rather than a minor niggle.
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