‘Kings of the Wyld’ and ‘Bloody Rose’ Are Narratively and Emotionally Satisfying
Author Nicholas Eames excels at creating big, memorable moments fueled by interesting characters
In early January, the r/Fantasy subreddit posted a list of the top books finished by members in 2018. At the top of the list, beating out everyone else, stood Nicholas Eames’ The Band series — the two books Kings of the Wyld and Bloody Rose. Eames himself noted his surprise and gratitude in the comments, thanking the community for elevating his novels to this high honor. I’ve read both stories since, and my opinion mirrors that of the community — they’re both excellent.
While Eames is a strong writer, and creates interesting, complex characters, my favorite part of these two books is the climactic battle scenes. These sequences carry emotional weight because of how everyone in the stories react to them, elevating both books to something special. Making readers care about what happens to fictional characters is always a difficult task, but Eames succeeds in ways that I’ve seen few authors match.
The setting and characters
Before getting to the big scenes that are so compelling, it’s worth spending a few sentences on the world that both books operate in. In Eames’ creation, adventurers form “Bands” (with obvious parallels to musicians) to slay monsters, save people, or perform any other heroic deeds. Just like in the real world, some bands are more popular than others, and those who have retired often want to relive their glory days.
While the concepts of adventuring bands is interesting enough on its own, Eames populates the pages of his books with well-written, complex characters. Clay Cooper, the protagonist of Kings of the Wyld, is big-hearted, a little sarcastic, and genuinely wants to do the right thing whenever he can. He’s just one example. Not everyone is as nice of a person as Cooper (who appears in both books), but every character readers meet feels fully realized and realistic.
I’d argue that Kings of the Wyld and Bloody Rose succeed based on these characters more than the big plot points. The central narratives of these books are interesting, but I don’t think I would have cared if the people inside weren’t so compelling. I was emotionally invested in the fate of these characters.
The big scenes
What each book does incredibly well, and what sets these stories in my mind apart from the myriad of other fantasy novels, is the big, climactic fight scenes. I don’t want to spoil too much of the plot of either story, so I’ll stick to general observations, but I found that there were multiple times that involve all (or most) of the characters all battling some big threat at the same time. The results of these conflicts are always interesting and always carry emotional weight.
It’s difficult to articulate why I enjoyed these scenes so much, but I think it comes down to the fact that everything that happens feels earned, and Eames smartly imbues the action with heavy emotional stakes every time. I often get bored by action scenes when they drag on too long or feel forced, but that was never the case with these two books. They’re smartly-paced and never left me wanting more out of the conclusion.
Invariably, when these big scenes happen, the stakes are high. Sometimes, that means the fate of a lot of people depends on the outcome, or maybe just what will happen to a few key characters. However, in each example, there are real reasons for readers to care what happens to everybody involved. It’s impressively executed. There’s tension, grief, victory, pain, and it all feels real.
Some fantasy or sci-fi stories depend on a shocking conclusion, or unbelievable plot points (Cixin Liu’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy comes to mind). The two novels that make up The Band aren’t that kind of book. They succeed based on the characters and how well Eames uses them when the emotional stakes are highest.
I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.
The views expressed are mine alone and do not represent the views of my employer or any other person or organization.
