This was an engaging fantasy adventure featuring middle-aged men, which is a nice change of pace, although it does make the story a bit “bro-y” at times (e.g., comments about “whoring” around). Eames uses the conceit of a band of mercenaries being comparable to a rock band/boy band. They have fans who know of them and are eager to meet them, and they even have people who book mercenary gigs for them. It’s a fun gimmick.
The story is told from Clay Cooper’s perspective. He and 4 other men were once the members of a band called Saga. They were well-known but that was 20 years ago. They’ve drifted apart, aged, settled down. They “get the band back together” to help rescue their former leader’s daughter, who is trapped in a city under siege by monsters. Going to rescue her requires crossing the Heartwyld, an extensive, monster-infested forest.
It took the novel a little longer to get going than I expected. The first half of the book is about reuniting the bandmates and dealing with obstacles that crop of during that process. This slow development builds in time to get to know the characters, their relationships with each other, and the world, including how things have changed since Saga last “toured.” It also introduces some secondary characters, including Jain and Larkspur, two of the few female characters who get much screen time and have some degree of nuance. The pace picks up quite a bit once they enter the Heartwyld.
There’s a lot of humor in this book, and some of it reminded me at times of Terry Pratchett, such as a talking door-knocker named Steve, who has a lisp because of the doorknocker in his mouth. There’s a running gag where someone asks a question, Clay says it’s a long story, and then another character summarizes the long story in a single sentence. There’s also some great description: “The air itself was a wild brawl of smells and sounds: the punch of unwashed flesh, the scream of a scratching mandolin, the jab of tobacco smoke, the glee of a whistling pipe, the occasional head butt of sour urine, the aching sorrow of a moaning lute.”
Overall, I enjoyed the book. The characters were interesting, the world-building was well-developed (though not necessarily unique), I appreciated the humor, and the battle scene at the end was well-written and cinematic. It lost me a little bit with the slower start and the overly miraculous survival of some of the characters. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.