Book Review of The Disposable

For every book we release, we'll be sure to post a review of it during the week before the book comes out. If you would like to be able to provide book reviews for Thinklings, please send an email to contact@thinklingsbooks.com. Today is our third book, The Disposable's, publication day (no joke)! Our review comes from Kerry C. Nicholls.

Take it away, Kerry. . . .

Ever dreamed that you were a character in a fantasy novel? A hero with smouldering eyes expertly wielding the sword of destiny? Perhaps an elf-queen, all ice and fire and inexplicable kickboxing? Or how about a chap in a tavern? That chap. Right there. The one with the . . . um . . . look, that one. Eating a peanut. The ordinary one. No? Thought not.

“Well, isn’t that just the story of my life?” - Fodder

The Disposable is the opening book of Katherine Vick’s riotously funny trilogy, The Plot Bandits. Challenging the stereotypes of traditional heroic fantasy through a fantastical mix of wickedly observant writing and instantly relatable yet deliciously ordinary characters, this quirky tale with a hell of a lot of heart really chimed with me. 

Told from the perspective of Fodder, an everyday bloke who gets out of bed, goes to work, gets stabbed / his guts torn out / crushed by a horse, and has a quick pint with his mates, this truly inventive story casts fantasy fiction in a whole new light. As Fodder begins to ask the sort of questions that I’ve always wanted to know the answers to--why princesses always fall for the hero, exactly who makes all these magical objects anyway, and why dark lords can’t ever have a point of view--I was swept up in the story, standing right there alongside Fodder and his band of raggle-taggle misfits as they fought against the oppression of the all-powerful Narrative and plunged headlong towards an epic finale where maybe, just maybe, a new ending awaits.

The Disposable is weird (in a good way), maniacally funny, and so, so clever. I honestly didn’t want it to end and can’t wait for Book 2. The Disposable? It’s in-Disposable!

​Our thanks to Kerry! You can read the first chapter* of The Disposable free here.

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​*This book isn't actually divided into chapters! Because the almighty Taskmaster has ordained that it be so. Therefore, humble servant Katherine Vick has posted the first approx. 20 pages.