I apologize in advance for the insufficiently punny review that is about to follow. Nothing I could write could ever compare to the hilarity contained within these pages.

If you’ve been reading fantasy or been on the literary parts of the internet basically ever, you should be familiar with the concepts of tropes. They’re a little like cliches, but usually a bit more extended. “The chosen one saves the princess” or “Elves are beautiful and wise” and so forth. Kill The Farm Boy is constructed almost entirely of tropes.

HOWEVER….they’re almost entirely upside down and the result is hilarious.

On occasion, the banter, the puns and the trope flipping feels a little forced and contrived, which is why I knocked a star off. The “trying too hard” was distracting. But overall, the effect was, well, magical. Dawson and Hearne have given us a gift that not only skewers common tropes in fantasy, but also draws in elements of current internet culture and absolutely eviscerates them. For an example of this, please see the chapter with a troll. (OH EM GEE I LOL’d SO HARD I COULDN’T BREATHE.)

But, just as Kill The Farm Boy is making fun of the Fantasy genre, it’s still absolutely a fantasy story, full of action, adventure, romance and clever escapades. Dawson and Hearne DO know how to write a story.

Kill The Farm Boy will appeal to fans of Douglas Adams, Monty Python, and Hearne’s Oberon character from his Iron Druid series.

To say that Kill the Farm Boy is Punful may be the best way to describe the book, in a way that Argabella, my personal favorite character, would appreciate.

There are many wonderful characters, but Argabella, the rabbit girl who wanted to be an accountant but her father made her study to be a bard, is the most adorable heroine. Her barding may need some practice, but she does have a way of cutting to truth seeking in a direct though slightly timid way. And despite the fact that she was not first in her bard school class, her ability to sing magical poems will come in handy during the quest. It was an enchantment that made her a rabbit girl. Throughout the story she wishes she was not a rabbit girl, but, it is in this furry form that the best and scariest things happen to her. Like meeting the Chosen One, the Dark Lord, a rogue assassin and her love, the mighty fighter.

The rogue is clumsy, the mighty fighter doesn’t like to fight, the Dark Lord’s finest ensorcellments come in the form of bread and the Chosen One is, well, not exactly what any fairy tale would pick as a Chosen One.

Despite the fact that these fine fairy tale characters are definitely thinking out of the fairy tale box makes Kill the Farm Boy all that much more interesting and totally unpredictable. The one archetypical fairy tale element that cannot be denied or messed with, though, is the quest. Indeed there will be a quest. A quest that will save king and country, the Chosen One and all his lively band of heroic fellow-questers. That may have been a lie. About everybody being saved. Sorry if you think this is a spoiler, but get real. There are swords and assassins in this tale.

In fact, there are so many more fairy-talisms that get turned on their ears, you will come to realize that this is story is not going to have a fairy tale ending. Any chance at a Happily Ever After is sure to take a wrong turn. The questers are going to make sure that what you think will happen, never will.

When I first saw the title, Kill the Farm Boy, I immediately thought of The Princess Bride. In fact there are quite a few things that make you think of the classic movie and one or more other movies. If you have a well-loved fantasy movie expect to see it crop in a mutated manner.

Would it be terrible thing to say that this book is too hilarious? There are multiple puns and jokes and guffaws on every single page. I am not exaggerating. That fact is, I think there was also an adventure in there somewhere, but I’m not sure for all the terrible puns. For multiple laughs on every page, Kill the Farm Boy is the perfect read.

Through NetGalley, the publisher provided a copy of this book so that I could bring you my honest review.

If Robert Asprin’s Myth-Adventures series had a love child with Piers Anthony’s Xanth series, and then if that love child had a child with Monty Python – or possibly a love child with each individual member of Monty Python, all midwifed by The Princess Bride, you might get something like Kill the Farm Boy.

Or you’d get a cheese sandwich. Or possibly both.

On the one hand, the description of this book can easily be read as a fairly typical epic fantasy. A group of adventurers, including a ”chosen one” set out from obscurity to undertake a quest.

But this particular fantasy is fractured from beginning to end. Like so many fantasies, the adventuring party consists of a wizard or two, a rogue, a warrior, a bard and a trusty steed. The opening salvo in the quest is to rescue a fairy tale princess from a sleeping castle. In a twisted cross between Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast.

That beast is a rabbit. Or at least sort of a rabbit. And sort of a girl. The rogue is a klutz, and a not very bright klutz at that. Of the two wizards, neither is exactly the leader of the Light. One fancies himself a budding Dark Lord, and the other is as grey as grey can get – except for her hair, because the natural color of that has been hiding behind magic for decades at the very least.

The dangers they face are life threatening and never ending. But there’s no farm boy in sight. Oh, there was a farm boy all right, but he gets chosen for death relatively early in the story. The real “Chosen One” is the trusty steed, but he’s neither trusty nor exactly a steed. And he likes to eat boots.

If the tongue was any further in the cheek, it would poke out the other side.

Escape Rating C+:Some of the reviewers make the comparison between Kill the Farm Boy and the Discworld. If that comparison holds at all, it’s only between Kill the Farm Boy and the first two Discworld titles, The Color of Magic and The Light Fantastic, where Sir Terry was merely skewering the genre and not exactly plotting a story. And where he clearly had no clue yet that he was at the beginning of something that needed a real plot, sympathetic characters and at least a bit of internal consistency to wrap around that skewer.

While I love the work of both of this book’s authors, Delilah Dawson for the Blud series and Kevin Hearne for the Iron Druid Chronicles, this collaboration does not live up to either of their previous work, nor to any of the many antecedents I mentioned at the beginning of this review.

And that’s a real pity, because Kill the Farm Boy had so much promise. And it does have its funny moments. But in the end it doesn’t deliver – even though it’s obvious that the co-authors had tons of fun in the process of writing this.

The snark is too thick and the plot is too thin. It reminds me of the lesson that Mike the computer learns in Robert A. Heinlein’s marvelous The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Mike is trying to teach himself humor, and his human friend introduces him to the difference between “funny once” and “funny always”. Kill the Farm Boy attempts to be “funny always” by keeping up a nonstop torrent of snark and in-jokes.

And those are almost always “funny once”.

But we’ll be back in Pell for No Country for Old Gnomes. It took Sir Terry until at least Mort (Discworld #4) for that series to really get its legs under it. Maybe The Tales of Pell will manage to get there a little sooner. We’ll see.

Loved this book. Extremely funny in a very witty way. Will recommend to my customers who enjoy off beat fantasy.

<a href="https://booksofmyheart.net/2018/07/26/kill-the-farm-boy-by-kevin-hearne-delilah-s-dawson/" target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart</a>

Review copy was received from NetGalley, Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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3.5 hearts

<strong>Anne:</strong> I saw blurbs which sounded cool, so I requested <strong>Kill the Farm Boy</strong>. I have read some of Kevin Hearne and wanted to try Delilah Dawson, so it was an opportunity.  Melanie told me she was getting the audio, so we are doing a joint review. More accurately, Melanie has made several points and I'm agreeing with her.

<span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Melanie:</strong>  I'm a huge Kevin Hearne fan, so I had no problems grabbing up this first book in his new, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/208827-the-tales-of-pell" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em><strong>Tales of Pell series</strong> </em> </a> I haven't read Delilah S. Dawson before, but she has been on my radar to try for some time (I really need more time to read all the books on my radar, said every booklover in the world). I was even more excited when it was announced Luke Daniels was going to do the narration. </span>

<strong>Anne:</strong>  I had a tough time getting going, until I became more interested in the characters.  The vocabulary is ingenious and with many witty puns; it is a wordsmith delight.

<span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Melanie:</strong> So <strong>Kill the Farm Boy</strong> hits pretty much every fantasy trope and a ton of fairytale mentions, too. If you're a fan of dad jokes, this is a book you will love. There are so many dad jokes. And puns. More puns that you can imagine. Some are pretty groan worthy, if you like that sorta thing, then look no further.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Basically, here's our ragtag group:</span>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Poltro, the rogue. She has a huge fear of chickens, but isn't scared of anything else. She's also a bit of clutz.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Argabella, is a bard. When we come across her, she's living in a castle where everyone else is asleep. She's a bard because that is what her father wanted. She wants to be an accountant. Oh, and she's half bunny.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fia is a warrior. She's huge, like seven foot tall. She's also a vegetarian, but has a sword that craves blood. She just wants to raise roses. Oh, and she wears a chainmail bikini.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Toby is a really bad wizard. He calls himself a "Dark Lord", but the title doesn't really fit him (that's the point). Most of his powers come from shooting bread from his fingers. He has quite the obsession with cheeses.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Gustave is a goat, who is given the ability to talk early in the story. He has quite an obsession with his poo (there is much talk of spreading pellets) and old boots for him to eat.</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Other characters:</span>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Grinda, the sand witch (yes, you read that right).</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Staph, the pixie with one blue sock.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Worstley, the farm boy, also known as"Pooboy" and his brother, Bestly.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The dreaded necromancer, Steve.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Also, trolls, elves, giants, talking animals (in addition to Gustave) and more.</span></li>
</ul>
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<strong>Anne:</strong> There were so many different characters and odd bits from various fairy tales. As per usual, the men were all about power and ego.  The woman were more about protecting those they loved.  So while I didn't ever really connect to any of them, I liked the women more.  They were all a bit ridiculous.

<span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Melanie:</strong>  The marketing says it is similar to Terry Prachett (which I've never read) and The Princess Bride (which I haven't read, but LOVED the movie) story. I will say because I wasn't very familiar with either of these books, I didn't know what I was getting into. This book is full of satire, which is something I'm just not a huge fan of. It is a little over the top. I think Monty Python or Mel Brooks comparisons could've been used in the marketing.</span>

<strong>Anne:</strong>  I'm also not familiar with Terry Pratchett, and have seen The Princess Bride once. My initial reaction was it seems like Monty Python. And I don't like Monty Python.  I did enjoy the clever wording and actually found some funny parts, as I assimilated the characters. Humor makes everything better.
<blockquote>" Assassins Anonymous. They teach you how to follow the One Step for Not Murdering Someone."

"What's the one step?" Gustave asked.

"You don't murder them."

"Huh. Sounds like a solid program with a refreshing lack of nuance."</blockquote>
<blockquote>"Is Poltro okay?" she asked.

"If you mean, is Poltro asleep and probably as stupid as ever, then I would say definitely yes."</blockquote>
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<span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Melanie:</strong>  I liked this book, but didn't love it. I think some of the jokes and puns were just a little too much for me. I think some jokes ran on a little too long (I have this same issue with Family Guy. I hate that stupid rooster). I think I also hyped myself to love it so much, that I might have been a bit disappointed (something I'm familiar with here too). I start reading, expecting it to blow my mind and when it doesn't, I feel a little let down. I shouldn't. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">This is a fun book. I enjoyed it. I came to love the characters fairly quickly (some faster than others, but I did enjoy the entire team by the end). I really want to see where they go from here. I will probably read the next book, more for the characters than some of the silly puns and stuff. I know there are a lot of people who really love that stuff. For me, this story was more over the top than I would like, but like I said, the characters are worth it. I know I'm being a bit wishy washy here, but that's kinda how I feel.</span>

<strong>Anne:</strong>  I believe the narration would have helped me. I probably won't go on to read <strong>No Country for Gnomes</strong>, unless it is on audio. I'm likely to leave it to Melanie. I did like it, even with the style, so I'm glad to have read it.

<h4><strong>Narration:</strong></h4>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">To anyone who has listened to Luke Daniels narrate any book, you know he is a rock star. He really nails the narration. There are a ton of talking animals, there is part-bunny woman who sings, there are trolls and pixies and more. So many different characters and he nailed them all. He really brought out all the emotions of each character. You could really feel Gustave's love of boots and Toby's love for cheeses. Luke Daniels really brings this story to life.</span>

<strong>Listen to a clip:</strong>
https://soundcloud.com/penguin-audio/kill-the-farm-boy-by-kevin
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Kill the Farm Boy had a slow start, but it was quite funny once I got into it. I definitely see the comparison to Terry Pratchett and to Monty Python, and those fans will enjoy this, but Kill the Farm Boy is definitely its own kind of book.

This made me think of Patricia Wrede's Enchanted Forest series (which I've been meaning to reread this summer), but a little bit sillier. A little to silly for me to super-love it, but a fun read.

Kill the Farm Boy is a fantastical adventure filled with sarcasm, satire, and silliness. The story follows a band of misfits on their adventures to end the machinations of a not-so-nice chamberlain and his pixie accomplice. Bringing together a farm boy, female warrior, hexed peasant girl, talking goat, (mostly) Dark Lord, bumbling rogue, and a witch, the book takes the most round-about way to get to its conclusion. The odd band of adventurers have their good fortune (thanks to the Chosen One), and pitfalls (mostly due to bad timing or silly circumstances), and find themselves sidetracked more than once. I had a bit of trouble following their line of logic at times, because frankly, there isn’t a whole lot of logic involved in this tale.

The story is filled with humor, using satire, allusion, and word play to bring lightness to what, on paper, looks like a serious mission. I enjoyed it immensely, but it may not be for everyone. The world building and storytelling is very much in the vein of Terry Pratchett, where anything goes. However, just because it’s crazy, doesn’t mean it’s arbitrary. The story has some takeaways, and even a talking goat can make a good point.

While the adventure within Kill the Farm Boy is self-contained, there are several open-ended threads left hanging. It feels like the authors could take the story in one of a hundred directions, and I look forward to finding out what is in store for the heroes. Overall the book is enjoyable and funny, even silly at times. If you like Pratchett, you should definitely pick up Kill the Farm Boy.

My Rating: B, Liked It

Don't go into this with the expectation that it will be The Princess Bride. Think more along the lines of Monty Python. That being said, this book will not appeal to everyone. It's zany, full of puns and double entendres, aggressively quirky characters and the hero isn't who you think it's going to be. Honestly, the whole hero gig gets upended here. I'm all for a silly read that may or may not (it does) have some underlying social commentary, but it got a little old after a while.

The authors threw everything they possibly could into the stew here, nothing is sacred, no joke left unsaid. I enjoyed the characters, the world building was fun, but the shtick got stale after a while. I wanted to know how it all ends, I wanted to know what type of happily ever after everyone finally got, but I stalled out. I honestly would recommend this book to my reader friends, but with a warning that there actually may be such a thing as too much silliness...

3.5 stars. A spoof of fairytale tropes full of snark, magic, innuendo and odd characters. I enjoyed the crew of adventurers in this - they saved the story for me. The rest got tired after awhile - the double entendres, the bodily function humor, the gore (not all the time but plentiful), and the fussy vocabulary that kept pulling me out of the story. It made the book feel long and like the authors were trying too hard. It was more “wink wink” than subtle and clever at times. Sometimes it worked for me and I got a kick out of it. And sometimes it was just too much.

The characters were distinct and quirky and kept me engaged through the story. I haven’t decided if I will hang with the series from here.

Nice amount of snark! Great way to upend the boring old tropes. And I NEED to find the name of that BBQ place in the DFW airport!

The first third of this was hysterical. I had to stop reading it around others because it was too hard to refrain from laughing out loud. After that the humor fizzled out. It was still funny but only every once and a while. The journey they were on took way too long. A lot of it was just nonsense, so it would have been better if the book were a little shorter. None of the characters were particularly interesting. For the ones I did like my interest waned as the book went on. The end wasn't bad but it wasn't good either. It was a long journey toward nothing.

So funny! If you are into audio, I suggest that highly. Luke Daniels brings already great characters to life. Buy this book in either form, you won’t be disappointed!

A fanfiction like read for that special reader who find whimsy in day to day situations. Written in a easy to follow manner, and full of Monty Python-esque witticisms, this one was a little too crass for me, but if the above describes you, then you may find a jovial hour lost in its pages.

You know that feeling when you finish a book and you know that if you had read it while in a different mood that you would have liked it more than you did? That was me with Kill the Farm Boy. I think if I had waited a read this when I was in the mood for Monty Python-esque humor I would have liked it a whole lot more. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it but I found it only okay in my current mood. Although, I really love the cover! The art department seriously deserves a round of applause for how stunning it is.

Let's talk about what I liked. It's fun. It takes a lot of the fantasy tropes and stereotypes for certain characters and turns them on their head. I loved that part of the book! It starts off with a drunken pixie anointing a Chosen One, Worstley, and making his goat talk (Gustave reads very much as a goat version of Donkey from Shrek). The characters were great! I especially loved the Dark Lord Toby, who is really fond of cheese, and Poltro, the assassin who is afraid of chickens. There's a lot to like about a book full of murder, love, and unexpected transformations.

On the flip side, I didn't find it as funny as it was marketed to be. I want to say that the authors were trying too hard to be funny but since humor is subjective we'll just say that this book just wasn't my kind of humor. It was overly filled with puns and tended to rely on crude humor and lots of poop jokes which have only ever been funny to me in considerably smaller amounts. That being said, I can see that lots of people will love it for the very reasons I didn't. It's very much like how I don't find the Deadpool movies funny but loads of people do.

I had a lot of high expectations going in because I love Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid Chronicles and Delilah S. Dawson's Blud series. And I found traces of what I loved about both of those series in this book. In my opinion, if you're thinking of picking this one up, you should flip through the first few pages to see if this will be your kind of thing or not.

I might pick up the next book just to see what happens but as of right now I'm not too excited about it.

The description of this book sounded so much fun but after reading it, I was kind of bummed. I normally love middle grade fiction but this book fell short for me. The childish humor was too much. Maybe it was just me....give it a try!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book, that I voluntarily chose to review.

DNF at 27%

I was super excited for this spoof on high fantasy stories, particularly riffs on the tropiest of tropes of the 70s, 80s and 90s, but like some other reviewers have commented, fantasy parodies are good as shorts but not so good as long novels. While I disagree with the overall sentiment since I've read some very good parody fantasy novels, this particular one fell flat.

It is witty, and rife with sexual humor (the Elves of Morningwood, anyone?) and situational comedy, diverse characters and feminism (there was a lot of fun poked at mansplainers and the stereotypical male heroes), but again, I just wasn't feeling it.

Maybe I would have enjoyed it more in high school.

Okay, I admit it.  Reference The Princess Bride and you have my attention.  Tell me that it's going to give a new spin on fairytales, fantasy, and be reminiscent of quite a few other authors, films and books and I am totally in. Except, maybe not for a full length novel.  Maybe a novella, or better yet a short story.  Lesson learned (one hopes) - sample chapters exist for a reason.

While Kill the Farm Boy takes many beloved things and skewers them along with their tropes, some of which they called into being, and it starts off with a drunken pixie anointing a Chosen One, Worstley, and making his goat talk (Gustave reads very much as a take on Donkey from Shrek), it does seem to go on a bit and to descend a little too far into tastelessness.

Now, there were some things I enjoyed.  While aiming to turn tropes on their heads, the authors embraced the motley band trope - and I do enjoy a motley crew on an adventure.  I snickered at Gustave's name for Worstley (Poo boy) and love that when he is crushed Worstley is only "mostly dead."  The cursed bard and half-bunny Arabella's tendency to capitalize adjectives like Tuneful somehow appealed to me and the Dark Lord Toby (Labyrinth?!) and his penchant for cheese was quite fun at first, too.  But all too soon it was apparent the humor was relying pretty heavily on grossness and sexual innuendo, and that just isn't my cup of tea.  But if it is yours, this might be quite the fun, Snickerful read.

This review refers to an e-galley read courtesy of the publisher, through NetGalley.  All opinions expressed are my own.

I enjoyed the book a lot. It is really funny, but note that many of the jokes are the potty jokes kind. The book is a good parody on many fantasy books, good and bad. It has a logical ending, but it is quite clear that there is going to be more to the story. I am pretty sure I will want to read more.

I received a free copy of the book

If Spaceballs and Shrek had a kid, and it was raised by the cast of the Princess Bride and best friends with Airplane, then it would be this book. The book played on just about every fairy tale out there. It did not pass on an opportunity to make every fifth grade boy chuckle with it’s potty humor, but was adult enough to have several words that the dictionary had to look up. In just the first couple chapters, we had already had elements of Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty and the Wizard of Oz. And don’t forget the talking donkey, Gustave. If you love tongue-in-cheek humor and dad jokes with just enough adult in them, then this is the book for you. Thank you,Net Galley, for the opportunity to review this book.