Book Review – Kill All Wizards by Jedediah Berry

Do you hate Wizards? Do you love Barbarians with giant swords? How about tea and cakes? If you answered yes to any of those questions, Kill All Wizards by Jedediah Berry is well worth your time. This novella embeds a barbarian hero into wizard dominated high-society, bringing an old school sword and sorcery feel to a more modern dungeonpunk setting.

The story stars Gotchimus, a barbarian drawn to the Imperial City in order to demand the sorcerous Fifth Committee do something about the Hex Heaps which spread arcane pollution into the wilderness. He is aided in this effort by gentleman thief Hecksley, and the mysterious and alluring Dora, who has her own reasons for opposing the Committee. Gothicmus’ quest puts him ever more at odds with the city’s authorities and draws them all deeper into the machinations of the Committee, leading to an explosive clash between Gotch and his allies and the wizard elites.

As solidly executed as the plot is, it’s the characterization and writing style that really elevate things for me. Gotch is a well drawn and entertaining protagonist, with a quiet thoughtfulness that you might not expect from a barbarian hero. While he’s no stranger to violence and skilled with a blade, he’s also reasonable and (with one major exception) only resorts to violence when it’s clear nothing else will work.  Hecksley and Dora are equally well fleshed out, and I was especially fond of Hecksley, but that might just be that I’m a sucker for “gentleman thief” as a character archetype. This is all elevated further by delightfully purple prose which in combination with the narration style evokes old adventure novels and newspaper updates about particularly outrageous society characters, which pairs well with the almost Victorian setting. 

Kill All Wizards manages to be greater than the sum of its already impressive parts, and I’m excited to see what comes next.

Thanks to the folks at the Macmillan both at PLA for the advanced copy.