Cover Image: No Country for Old Gnomes

No Country for Old Gnomes

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Member Reviews

Enjoyable overall. Definitely had a 2nd book in the series vibe to it. You can enjoy it without reading the first book (which is what I did), but I think I missed out on some of it by not having read the first one. Sets up for book 3.

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I ended up absolutely hating Kill the Farm Boy, so I never got around to No Country for Old Gnomes. I know many others like these, but they’re not for me!

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I appreciate having had an opportunity to read and review this book. The appeal of this particular book was not evident to me, and if I cannot file a generally positive review I prefer simply to advise the publisher to that effect and file no review at all.

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Highly entertaining and hilarious. Get the audiobook, seriously, Luke Daniels does an amazing job with all the characters.

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A fantastic sequel to "Kill the Farm Boy".  King Gustav must prevent a civil war in the Skyr.  The Tales of Pell series is a parody of every fantasy story ever told.  Such a fun book - I read the ebook and then dove right into the audiobook. I have to say that the audiobooks for this series are exceptionally well done.

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Overall it was a fun and funny book, but it did take a lot of work reading and remembering what all of the characters motivations and goals were. The gnomes were easy enough to follow, but it took awhile to adapt to the speech patterns of other characters.

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The nice thing about his is his you can read the second book without having read the first book and still enjoy it. The book opens with a family of gnomes on the run from the halflings that are firebombing them. As the POV keep switching introducing lots of characters that will eventually join in a quest to show the king what is happening in the kingdom between the gnomes and the halflings. There is cute wordplay and very familiar things happening during the book that don’t end the way you first expect them to. This is a fun quest story but not everything ends happily for everyone they meet on the road.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley

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How could you not love a book with the tag line of go big or go gnome?
While it took me a bit longer to finish this one, I can't resist continuing the series.
Following up Kill the Farm Boy, this book will have you in stitches. This is not high brow humor. Prepare for puns and kindergarten laughs galore! Just don't read in public unless you want to answer "what's so funny?"!

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I love this quirky series! If you're looking for a series full of hilarious, mythical creatures, detailed world-building, and witty writing, you'll enjoy these books. The kingdom of Pell offers plenty of laughs and an engaging storyline. I hope these authors continue to collaborate on future works.

I received an e-copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Thank you to NetGalley for the e-arc, what a treat. All opinions are my own.

I was surprised to find that I actually enjoyed this sequel even more than the original! I love the humor, twists, and delightful take in this fun fantasy. Puns, imaginative twists, and a setting reminiscent of Piers Anthony + Terry Pratchett, who could ask for more?

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3.5 Stars. I had a lot more difficulty getting into this sequel than I was expecting. I loved the first book and found it to be a witty satire of the fantasy genre. The jokes were similar, but didn’t feel as fresh to me this time around. I received this on NetGalley last fall, but couldn’t get past the first few chapters. I waited until the book was released to try listening to the audiobook. While I was able to finish it this time, I don’t know if I’ll want to continue with the series.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy of this ebook in exchange for an unbiased review.

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It starts off slow and kind of dense, but once the action begins, it's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. It reads as a true epic, one that makes you feel the world really has been reshaped as you read it. Would recommend.

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This series is so clever and funny! I really enjoyed seeing different characters in the same land with cameos and characters from the last book.

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The second I heard of the first book, I was immediately hooked. and then I started reading them. I loved Kill the Farm Boy with all my heart, and knowing that I will continue to get new ones in the series makes me even more excited. I loved No Country for Old Gnomes more than I loved the first one, and that is saying a lot. The characters are always so much fun, and the world of Pell is amazing. I desperately can not wait for the next book to come out.

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Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I loved the first book in this series (Kill the Farm Boy). It was quirky, honest, and so, so funny. It took almost every stereotype you can think within young adult novels, and fantasy novels in particular, and turned them on their head. That's why I wasn't sure a sequel could live up to it. I was partially right.

The plot is still great - actually, it may be an improvement from the original. The jokes don't lead the plot, the plot lends itself to the jokes. No Country for Old Gnomes follows the gnomes of Skyr as they attempt to bring peace to a fraught region.

I felt like the first book did such a good job with the cliches and the fractured fairy tale aspect that this book really didn't have anywhere else to go. The cliches are just there to be cliches, the puns fall flat, and the stereotypes are tired. If you enjoyed Kill the Farm Boy, definitely give this one a try too, but I really got my money's first out of the original.

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Okay, really, who could pass up a book with this title and jacket description? This book had me hooked before I even started reading it. The story started with a bang and kept moving to the end. The characters are hilarious, even when serious they will tickle your funny bone. As this merry band of misfits join together to save the world as they know it, we readers are taken on a hugely enjoyable trip. Love this book!!!!

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Uproariously hilarious! This fantastic duo has struck gold again! Reminiscent of Monty python and the princess bride, I couldn't put it down!

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The follow up to Kill the Farm Boy had some big shoes to fill. The puns did not disappoint. Be sure to read all names aloud to get the full comedic value. Many characters from Farm Boy make cameo appearances and it brings things together into a wonderful saga. I can't wait for book three The Princess Beard.

In this wonderful tale of great gnomeric bravery, the smol people are greatly put upon by the Halfing DRUBs who are bombing the gnome homes for fun, or so it seems. Many gnome refugees make it to the nearest city Bruding where things don't seem quite right. Offi and Kirsi, meet some new friends and set out on a quest to find the truth and ask the King (Gustav formerly a goat, see Kill the Farm Boy for his story) for help.

Along the way many battles are fought, things are discovered and life long friends are made. A tale worthy of Gnomer, I mean Homer. Happy Reading.

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What a delightful story! The story involves a group of characters on a quest. I found the book to have a lot of adventure , it was very creative and also very funny. I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys lighthearted fantasy!

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This whimsical anti-fairytale continues loosely after Kill the Farm Boy. If Kill the Farm Boy was an approximate, sort-of take-off of The Princess Bride, No Country for Old Gnomes owes much to The Lord of the Rings. At the core of the book is a quest, although not to destroy a ring. Here the halflings are the bad guys, bent on ethnic cleansing of gnomes, with whom they theoretically co-govern according to an ancient treaty. A fellowship – again, of sorts – sets out to retrieve the original documents and restore justice to the realm. They include not only a pair of gnomes (male and female, equally bearded), a dwarf on his coming-of-age Meadschpringå quest, a halfling attorney who believes in the rule of law, a saltshaker-stealing ovitaur (like a centaur, only sheep and woman) with her heirloom automaton, and a telepathic gryphon.

Besides an occasional comment like: “an ancient dwarf named Sir Gimlet, who was involved with the Fellowship of the String,”or “in a hole in the ground there lived a family of gnomes,” a brief encounter with Tommy Bombastic, and fanciful names like “a gnome whose gname tag read Hippi Pott,” there is a hilarious take on a classic passage:

Everyone looked to Faucon [the legalistic halfling] as he stepped forward and solemnly knelt before Agape [the ovitaur].
“I will protect you as we journey to the Great Library. You have my sword.”
Kirsi [one of the gnomes, a sorceress] stepped forward to kneel, plucking a hir and tying it into an intricate design. “And my cursed bows.”
Båggi [the dwarf] trotted up and knelt, offering his picnic basket. “And my snacks!”

Several characters from the previous book make guest appearances, both living and ghostly, notably King Gustave who was formerly a goat and hasn’t quite mastered the nuances of being human but makes a decent monarch anyway. As with Kill the Farm Boy, I found the book overlong and unevenly paced, but quite entertaining. No Country for Old Gnomes has more depth and occasional poignancy, which bodes well for the forthcoming The Princess Beard.

The usual disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book, but no one bribed me to say anything in particular about it. Although chocolates and fine imported tea are always welcome.

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