Loved it!  I have to think that Eames' Band books aren't for everyone.  All the winks and jokes both subtle and broad might tend to grate on some people I'd think.  But not me.  I loved it all.  I laughed out loud and marvelled at how he got away with things. 

This book felt a wee bit darker than the first book, Kings of the Wyld, especially the ending, but I didn't mind at all.  It felt complete.

We have the story of Tam Hashford, daughter of a one time band member and she wants nothing more than to be a band member herself.  When one of the biggest and best mercenary bands rolls into town and she gets invited to be its next bard, well, the adventure begins.  She's seventeen, I think, and we get to see how she grows and matures over the next little while.  It's a short span of time, but she does some HUGE growing. 

And Rose... Bloody Rose, daughter of Golden Gabe of Saga fame... she is an enigma.  I thought we were going to get the story from her POV, but I was mistaken.  We see her story through Tam's eyes, and it works really well.

Anyway, I loved it.  It was a terrific sequel and I sure hope Nicholas does some more writing in this world because I'm fascinated by it!

Oh... one last thing.  The covers of these books are GORGEOUS!!!  I'd hang this one especially on my wall.  Kudos to Richard Anderson for a thing of beauty!

This book was highly recommended throughout the fantasy book blogosphere over the winter - it was published in February - and I think it's the author's first book.  Anyway, I quite enjoyed it!

Kings of the Wyld is one one of the new flavours of fantasy, mixing grimdark with humour with epic and of course, magic.  It's the tale of a group, a band if you will, of aging warriors/adventurers/mercenaries teaming up together for one last mission.  I saw the book described as Lord of the Rings meets Guardians of the Galaxy and you know, that description works!

I actually loved all the characters.  The main character is Clay Cooper and I think he really was my favourite.  Or maybe it was Ganelon... hell, I really loved them all.  Cranky old men whose bones creak and crack, who reminisce about the old days but can still get the job done.  The banter and the quips that fly back and forth between them worked very well and brought me to laughter on more than one occasion.  The narrative also, at times, would take on a humourous aside that I also appreciated. 

Rollicking is a word that's been used to describe Kings of the Wyld and it's a perfect word for it.  The tale is a complete one even if it seems to be the first in the series.  The story of the band, Saga, has come to an end even though we're going to see familiar characters in other books it seems.  And that's okay.  It's perfect, as a matter of fact!

A good, fun read!