Kings of the Wyld is a stock fantasy quest story of a mercenary band on a mission to rescue one of the members’ daughters, but what makes it unique is a below-the-surface premise that the mercenaries are a washed up 80s hair band going on one last tour.
Take as the premise, a washed up 80s hair band is trying to “get the band back together” for one last tour, but then transport that premise to the most bog-standard Dungeons and Dragons fantasy setting you can possibly conceive of and what you get is Kings of the Wyld.
The crew is not literally a band of musicians, but a band of mercenaries, but the inspiration is all musical.
And Kings of the Wyld rises above its humdrum fantasy setting and even rises above its fairly interesting premise with fun action scenes, humor that mostly lands, and, so very importantly, heartfelt character interaction.
I really only have two criticisms of this novel. One is that, in an attempt to both be serious and silly, one sometimes undercuts the other.
My second criticism goes out to this author and really to any author: search your manuscript for words such as “incongruous”, “absurd”, “ironic”, and all derivations thereof, and delete them from your vocabulary.
If a scene in your novel is absurd, then SHOW that it is absurd. Don’t TELL that it is absurd.
But overall, Kings of the Wyld is fun, it’s funny, it’s got fast action, it’s surprisingly touching, and poignant, and sad in parts, but it all works because it is sincere.
Also, I was a little too hard on the setting earlier, calling it humdrum fantasy. The author adds just enough of his own personal flair to make it HIS fantasy setting.
I feel like the movie Willow hits the exact same vibes. It is a safe bet that if you love the movie Willow, you will love this book.
And while we’re making such comparisons, fans of Gideon the Ninth should also check out Kings of the Wyld and vice versa.
Kings of the Wyld is definitely geared more toward gen-X dads, whereas Gideon the Ninth is geared toward sarcastic millennial lesbians, but if you’re here for violent fantasy action, punchy one-liners, and sarcastic humor, you will enjoy both books.
As for what authors can learn from Kings, what strikes me is the author’s clear passion for this project, as well as a dedication to the fundamentals of storytelling.
For authors seeking some measure of commercial success, there has got to be a mixture of love and grit, of excitement and, dare I say, standardization.
Plot beats are used because they work. They provide a framework within which the passion can be channeled. Kings is hitting these extremely basic fantasy quest story beats, but just when you think you’ve got it figured out, there’re some pleasant surprises thrown in and always there is flair and fun on a scene-to-scene basis.
Another source of novelty comes from the behind-the-scenes premise, this idea that they’re a washed band going on one last tour. That’s a nifty framework that, in combination with the more basic fantasy quest framework, adds its own twists to what could have been a generic and boring story. There was no guarantee that this book was going to be a success.
But I think it is. I enjoyed Kings of the Wyld and it’s definitely got me thinking about how to cultivate writing passion and fit it into effective story structure.
Haste Writing 