Review: The knight and the puppet
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 6, 2013
If there's one thing you can expect from Garth Nix, it's fantasy that doesn't follow the usual cliches. After all, who else writes about a god-slaying mercenary and his sorcerous puppet sidekick?That is the basic description of "Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz: Three Adventures," short stories set in a high fantasy world of guns, godlets and magic. This is darker material than most of Nix's other works, but it still has that wicked sense of humor and innovative style -- and it leaves you craving more stories of the godlet-killing duo.Sir Hereward is a wandering mercenary, accompanied by a sorcerous puppet that helps him in his work. But he's no ordinary man, and Mr. Fitz is no ordinary puppet -- the two of them are always in search of small-scale godlets that are "proscribed" as being harmful to the world.First the two arrive in the city of Shme, presenting themselves to the local military as basic mercenaries. Hereward quickly offends a female soldier and ends up dragged into a duel, but it won't stop them from fulfilling their mission.Then they join a pirate crew with the promise of a hidden treasure past the Sea Gate of the Scholar-Pirates of Sarsköe -- which is complicated by a beautiful, cursed pirate queen, who plans to kill Hereward if he is lying to her. Finally, a visit to a benevolent godlet's hospice goes horribly wrong when Hereward is approached by a malevolent being in disguise.Most of Garth Nix's fiction is aimed at teenagers and kids, but "Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz" is aimed at a more adult crowd -- lots of bloody violence, implied sex and a character who also happens to be a cannibal. But as usual, this high fantasy world is definitely not the typical ripped-directly-off-of-Tolkien world, and the heroes don't fit a mold.In fact, these three brief stories just make you want to read more. The vaguely Lovecraftian godlets, the late 19th-century-ish setting, and the hints at stranger things (like Amazonian witches and sealed-away monsters) all lure you in. And Nix's writing, despite some slight awkwardness in the dialogue, really brings the action and horror to life.And both the anti-heroic leads are fascinating characters who deserve some more attention. Hereward is a capable, intelligent guy who has been a lot of places and done a lot of things, but he is always aware that the bizarre may be waiting to kill him. And Mr. Fitz is a good foil: a cool intellectual person who happens to be a living, intelligent puppet."Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz" leaves you wishing that Nix would further explore their adventures -- preferably in a book, or even a new series. At the very least, more tales of the godslayers!