Collecting And Reading

The Blacktongue Thief
Author: Christopher Buehlman

A DnD session in a book.

If you play Dungeons And Dragons, or love the stylistic world of TTRPGs and fantasy worlds in all their glory, The Blacktongue Thief will be a story you can jump into and thoroughly enjoy.

Stylistically, this is really similar to Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Spiderlight, if a little more adult (i.e. sexual themes, swearing, etc.).

There’s a lot of assumed knowledge here, of how magic works (cantrips and what they are), how many races and guilds typically work against and together with each other, and if you aren’t really familiar with those concepts, this might be a little bit lost on you and asking too much of a more casual reader.

The opening third of Blacktongue Thief is fantastic, it does a great job of setting the scene and portraying how much of a bastard almost everyone is in this world. It also very clearly sets you up for what is to come, this isn’t a wholesome adventure story, it’s quite dark at times and if you like a fun-loving adventure again, this might not be your lane.

But what it does very well, is take us on a journey with the character, fleshing out a strong personality and what drives them in quite a quick, and clear way. This is a mission, there is a quest, and side missions are thrown in along the way as we meet a host of new characters, Thieves, Pirates, Blind Magical Cats, Assassins, Wizards and Witches.

My one major issue with this was the pacing. Around 60-70% of the way through the book, it felt like Buehlman got a little bit lost, things became harder to track, and the blurring of characters and all the aforementioned quests, side quests, and tertiary quests kind of coalesce in a way that wasn’t very seamless.

We definitely got back on track towards the end of the book, but I found myself losing interest a little bit – like slowly zoning out in a session of DnD funnily enough, while the rest of your party are trying to do something you’re less interested in.

All in all, definitely a GOOD and fun experience. I would read further adventures in this world, but I completely understand why those who aren’t DnD fans may find this a bit of a difficult entry-point.

4.0/5.0