The Blacktongue Thief

Buehlman's writing style impressed me from the first pages, unfortunately however that was the last enjoyable part of The Blacktongue Thief for me. I do understand the appeal of the book, flipping the usual fantasy tropes of the chosen one farmboy turned world saviour for a more raw telling of a story of 'just a guy' who happens to find himself stuck in the middle of something.

The Blacktongue Thief is a character focussed book that's more about the journey than the destination. The main questline of the story is never really the focus, and that's intended, I get that. Unfortunately in this character focussed story I just didn't care for the characters, and the journey was one of tedium. I could see the influence from Pratchett, Abercrombie, and Rothfuss on every page, but this served only as a recurring reminder to me that honestly I'd rather have been reading one of their books.

Buehlman's style has piqued my interest enough that I'm still keen to read Between Two Fires, and would still recommend The Blacktongue Thief to the right person. For me however, it was a miss.