NetGalley Review: Table Titans Club by Scott Kurtz
Hey all, Sam here.
It honestly feels a little weird to be posting a Tabletop related post on a day that isn’t Tuesday…but considering I have two Tabletop-centric books to talk about this week, I guess we’re having this one as a Middle Grade Monday post instead.
I have definitely been in a tabletop mood lately, which makes sense because I haven’t really been able to sit around a table with a group and roll dice in quite some time, and because I’ve been spending quite a bit of time plotting and writing a novel that is centered around playing TTRPGs. I’ll probably start talking about the book more as I get deeper into actually writing it (so stay tuned for future Weekend Writer posts), but I’m really excited about this book. I just hope I can write it until ‘THE END.’
Anyway, let’s go ahead and jump into today’s review. Thank you to Holiday House and NetGalley for granting me early access to this book. And, since I haven’t said it in a little while, receiving these early copies does not have any effect on my rating or review. My thoughts are always my honest thoughts and feelings about what I’m reading.
My Thoughts
Growing pains, game-play adventure, and 20-sided dice abound in this new graphic novel series about a middle school Dungeon & Dragons club from an Eisner and Harvey Award-winning cartoonist.
Valeria Winters has an easier time finding trouble than making friends. A fantasy-obsessed nerd with the legendary confidence—and temper—of a Valkyrie, Val promises her mom that things will be different at her new school. “No more fighting!”
As if by fate, she meets the Table Titans right away—Alan, Andrew, and Darius, who run the school’s tabletop gaming club. Finally, Val has found her own adventuring party! And even better . . . a place where she belongs.
So when the future of the club is threatened, Val makes it her personal quest to save the Table Titans. She’ll have to face the fire-breathing wrestling coach and popular girl Kate, who seems out for revenge. Revenge for what? Val has no clue.
As the quest grows more and more complicated, Val wishes she was like her peaceful druid Lulani from the Table Titans’ campaign, whose calm voice always prevails. If she loses her cool in real life, Val might lose more than the Table Titans club. She’ll have to roll a natural 20 in charisma to keep her new friends together.
Set in the same universe as the Eisner Award-winning webcomic PvP , Scott Kurtz’s artwork blends zany, fantastical visuals with slice-of-life humor. For fans of fantasy and coming of age stories alike, Table Titans finds humor, heart, and adventure in a tale of friendship and finding your people.
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Rating: 4.5 stars
If you like tabletop roleplaying games and adventure and friendship and finding a good group who “gets” you, then pick this up. And you know what, I don’t care how old you are, either. Yes, this is technically aimed at Middle Grade readers…but I am a 35 year old woman, and I LOVED this book.
Honestly, I’m hoping to read many many more installments of the Table Titans Club, because I loved watching this group come together and form a really cool party, both in game and out of game.
Okay, so I will say that I read this back in December, and I probably should have jotted down notes on the characters and other specific details I wanted to talk about in this review, especially since I knew I wasn’t going to review it until closer to release day (which is tomorrow, March 5th, by the way), but I didn’t so…this review is going to be mostly vibes.
So the original trio in the Table Titans Club are Alan, Andrew, and Darius. From what I remember, one of them befriends Val quickly and wants her to join the club because he thinks she’d be perfect for it, one of them is cautiously accepting, and then one of them is honestly kind of the stereotypical male jerk in the scenario. This third one–again, I can’t remember which is which because it has been a few months–has his own thoughts to how the game should be played, how characters and stories should be built, and who should be able to play.
Thankfully, through the course of the story, especially seeing how Val steps up to help keep the Table Titans Club from being shut down, the whole group becomes stronger because of the journey they undergo.
It was also great to see Val find a couple different ways to deal with her temper, not just by being a barbarian in the game, but also by joining the wrestling team.
This was just a cute story, and the art was cute as well. I am definitely excited to add this one to my shelves…and probably buy copies for my friends with kids.
All right, that is all from me for today. I’m heading off to work on my in-progress novel for a little while. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.
