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kartiknarayanan's review
4.0
Read the full review at my site Digital Amrit
Rarely in the stories did mortals fare well when concerning themselves with the affairs of gods and monsters.
Introduction
The Yarnsworld series , written by Benedick Patrick, consists of three books so far. These are ‘They Mostly Come Out At Night’, ‘Where the Waters Turn Black’ and ‘Those Brave, Foolish Souls from the City of Swords’.
Yarnsworld is difficult to describe in terms of conventional genres. Some of the books are very dark while others are not. Merely putting a tag like ‘fantasy’ or ‘horror’ does not do enough justice to these stories. If I am forced to at gunpoint, I will describe these books as fairy tales for adults. In addition, the book share two common elements. The first is a shared universe with mere hints and not something that is forced down our throat. The second is an interesting structure where the main story-line mixes with smaller tales which add to the world being built.
That said, they are also wildly different in terms of outlook, themes and story-lines. ‘They Mostly Come Out at Night’ is a grim retelling of the ugly duckling with the overarching theme of self-sacrifice. ‘Where the Waters Turn Black’ explores friendship and going beyond traditional boundaries. It could easily be the next Pixar movie (if they had not done Moana). ‘Those Brave, Foolish Souls from the City of Swords’ is Seven Samurai-like, gritty and is about heroism, redemption and revenge.
Read the full review at my site Digital Amrit
Rarely in the stories did mortals fare well when concerning themselves with the affairs of gods and monsters.
Introduction
The Yarnsworld series , written by Benedick Patrick, consists of three books so far. These are ‘They Mostly Come Out At Night’, ‘Where the Waters Turn Black’ and ‘Those Brave, Foolish Souls from the City of Swords’.
Yarnsworld is difficult to describe in terms of conventional genres. Some of the books are very dark while others are not. Merely putting a tag like ‘fantasy’ or ‘horror’ does not do enough justice to these stories. If I am forced to at gunpoint, I will describe these books as fairy tales for adults. In addition, the book share two common elements. The first is a shared universe with mere hints and not something that is forced down our throat. The second is an interesting structure where the main story-line mixes with smaller tales which add to the world being built.
That said, they are also wildly different in terms of outlook, themes and story-lines. ‘They Mostly Come Out at Night’ is a grim retelling of the ugly duckling with the overarching theme of self-sacrifice. ‘Where the Waters Turn Black’ explores friendship and going beyond traditional boundaries. It could easily be the next Pixar movie (if they had not done Moana). ‘Those Brave, Foolish Souls from the City of Swords’ is Seven Samurai-like, gritty and is about heroism, redemption and revenge.
Read the full review at my site Digital Amrit
stevethomas's review
4.0
Ok, I should have written some thoughts down as I went along so they'd be fresh, but here goes. This is a boxed set of three Yarnsworld novels. Each book told a stand-alone story, but you'll notice a few cameos and references if you've read the whole thing. Nothing essential, though.
Benedict Patrick and Yarnsworld first caught my attention through his story in [b:Lost Lore: A Fantasy Anthology|37938665|Lost Lore A Fantasy Anthology|Terrible Ten|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1515997707s/37938665.jpg|58404615]. To me, Patrick's story was one of the highlights of the collection, so it was a pretty easy choice to read more by him.
Let's start with the commonalities. Yarnsworld is a setting strongly influenced by folk tales from around the world. The gods are walking around, mostly causing chaos and woe. Each person has a magical ability called a Knack. It's typically a magically enhanced job skill. A blacksmith could be magically good at smithing. A singer could be magically good at singing. A Knack is not something bestowed upon a person at random, but the result of dedication and practice. The only difference between a Knack and any other talent is that it crosses the line to the superhuman.
"They Mostly Come Out at Night" was my favorite of the three. It's a dark, relentless story in the vein of Slavic mythology or Grimm's Fairy Tales. Horrible monsters roam the forest at night and slaughter villagers, and only a superhero king who got his power from eating a magical flower can even fight them. That's right, I'm talking about Black Panth--the Magpie King. The Magpie King. Sorry, Benedict. I know you published this before the movie came out. We follow a village boy who became a pariah after a deadly monster attack was pinned on his shoulders as he tries to regain a little respect and gets caught up in the greater goings on. Again, it was a dark, gloomy story dripping with atmosphere and dread.
"Where the Waters Turn Black" is the uplifting story of a musical adventurous island girl on a quest to appease a volcano goddess and she picks up a depressed, broken god along the way. Moan--dammit, they got you again, Benedict--Kaimana befriends a playful, reclusive, giant monster friend and has to hide him from the murderous authorities who want to kill him for sport. Unfortunately, I was in exactly the wrong headspace for Pete's Drago--DISNEY BACK OFF--"Where the Waters Turn Black" because it's ultimately a story about the friendship between a human and an animal, and as it happens it was the book I was trying to read when my cat was having severe medical problems. It's not the book's fault, but it was not the kind of book I needed right then.
"Those Brave and Foolish Souls From the City of Swords" is a morally ambiguous swords and sorcery story about masked heroes called Bravadors who were once defenders against the indigenous swarms of monsters, but have fallen into gang warfare. A country bumpkin arrives in the city, unaware of how far the Bravadors have fallen, and tries to join their ranks in search of honor, glory, and service. He and a pair of disgraced Bravadors take a mission to help a remote village fend off a bandit invasion, and things spiral from there. It's a thoughtful story about honor, disillusionment, and prejudice.
No Disney reference? Really? Good.
coughZorrocough
Ok, so I've pointed out some similar stories, some that came before and after these books were published. I'm not doing that to call Benedict Patrick's books derivative. Far from it. It's rare to see a setting this versatile and a series whose tone varies so much as this. No, Yarnsworld isn't derivative. It's evocative. It rhymes with folktales from various cultures, hitting those timeless and relatable notes that folktales and myths stories are known for. I am definitely looking forward to more.
Benedict Patrick and Yarnsworld first caught my attention through his story in [b:Lost Lore: A Fantasy Anthology|37938665|Lost Lore A Fantasy Anthology|Terrible Ten|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1515997707s/37938665.jpg|58404615]. To me, Patrick's story was one of the highlights of the collection, so it was a pretty easy choice to read more by him.
Let's start with the commonalities. Yarnsworld is a setting strongly influenced by folk tales from around the world. The gods are walking around, mostly causing chaos and woe. Each person has a magical ability called a Knack. It's typically a magically enhanced job skill. A blacksmith could be magically good at smithing. A singer could be magically good at singing. A Knack is not something bestowed upon a person at random, but the result of dedication and practice. The only difference between a Knack and any other talent is that it crosses the line to the superhuman.
"They Mostly Come Out at Night" was my favorite of the three. It's a dark, relentless story in the vein of Slavic mythology or Grimm's Fairy Tales. Horrible monsters roam the forest at night and slaughter villagers, and only a superhero king who got his power from eating a magical flower can even fight them. That's right, I'm talking about Black Panth--the Magpie King. The Magpie King. Sorry, Benedict. I know you published this before the movie came out. We follow a village boy who became a pariah after a deadly monster attack was pinned on his shoulders as he tries to regain a little respect and gets caught up in the greater goings on. Again, it was a dark, gloomy story dripping with atmosphere and dread.
"Where the Waters Turn Black" is the uplifting story of a musical adventurous island girl on a quest to appease a volcano goddess and she picks up a depressed, broken god along the way. Moan--dammit, they got you again, Benedict--Kaimana befriends a playful, reclusive, giant monster friend and has to hide him from the murderous authorities who want to kill him for sport. Unfortunately, I was in exactly the wrong headspace for Pete's Drago--DISNEY BACK OFF--"Where the Waters Turn Black" because it's ultimately a story about the friendship between a human and an animal, and as it happens it was the book I was trying to read when my cat was having severe medical problems. It's not the book's fault, but it was not the kind of book I needed right then.
"Those Brave and Foolish Souls From the City of Swords" is a morally ambiguous swords and sorcery story about masked heroes called Bravadors who were once defenders against the indigenous swarms of monsters, but have fallen into gang warfare. A country bumpkin arrives in the city, unaware of how far the Bravadors have fallen, and tries to join their ranks in search of honor, glory, and service. He and a pair of disgraced Bravadors take a mission to help a remote village fend off a bandit invasion, and things spiral from there. It's a thoughtful story about honor, disillusionment, and prejudice.
No Disney reference? Really? Good.
coughZorrocough
Ok, so I've pointed out some similar stories, some that came before and after these books were published. I'm not doing that to call Benedict Patrick's books derivative. Far from it. It's rare to see a setting this versatile and a series whose tone varies so much as this. No, Yarnsworld isn't derivative. It's evocative. It rhymes with folktales from various cultures, hitting those timeless and relatable notes that folktales and myths stories are known for. I am definitely looking forward to more.
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