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Kyth the Taker
Kyth the Taker features the stories: The Beautiful Corridor, The Shuttered Temple, and The Silent Castle.
112 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2017
40 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan L. Howard
65 books2,095 followersJonathan L Howard is a game designer, scriptwriter, and a veteran of the computer games industry since the early 1990s, with titles such as the 'Broken Sword' series to his credit.
After publishing two short stories featuring Johannes Cabal (Johannes Cabal and the Blustery Day and Exeunt Demon King) in H. P. Lovecraft's Magazine of Horror, Johannes Cabal the Necromancer was published in 2009 as his first novel.
Since then there have been three sequels, with a fourth due in 2016. He has also written two novels in the YA SF "Russalka Chronicles" series, and the ongoing "Goon Squad" serial of superhero stories. October 2015 will see the publication of "Carter & Lovecraft," the first in a new series of novels.
He lives with his wife and daughter near Bristol.
http://www.jonathanlhoward.com/
https://twitter.com/#!/JonathanLHoward
http://jonathanlhoward.livejournal.com/
After publishing two short stories featuring Johannes Cabal (Johannes Cabal and the Blustery Day and Exeunt Demon King) in H. P. Lovecraft's Magazine of Horror, Johannes Cabal the Necromancer was published in 2009 as his first novel.
Since then there have been three sequels, with a fourth due in 2016. He has also written two novels in the YA SF "Russalka Chronicles" series, and the ongoing "Goon Squad" serial of superhero stories. October 2015 will see the publication of "Carter & Lovecraft," the first in a new series of novels.
He lives with his wife and daughter near Bristol.
http://www.jonathanlhoward.com/
https://twitter.com/#!/JonathanLHoward
http://jonathanlhoward.livejournal.com/
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 5, 2021
This is a small collection of three novellas about a Fantasy protagonist, female, who tests defenses for those with impressive defenses. As far as I know these are the only Kyth stories in print, but I would be happy to read more. These were enjoyable little journeys, and introduced me to an author I'm not familiar with.
I do have quibbles, but they are largely outweighed by the strengths. These tales are tongue-in-cheek, at a certain level, and High Fantasy has a long history of such tales; and especially in the form of series. I'm not well read in that tradition, but have spent my life surrounded by those who were.
The language is rich without bogging things down, the description is very visual, without stopping to paint pictures. The stories move along nicely. The plots of the stories -- they are a form of mystery -- are pleasingly clever and unexpected. And, it should be said, because this is an Air & Nothingness publication, the book itself is lovely. I can happily recommend it.
My quibbles are partly due to one of my day jobs, which is critiquing Fantasy manuscripts. And every few pages, dammit, there's something I would mark up in a manuscript: little thoughtless anachronisms, sloppy POV work (the narrative voice is inconsistently intrusive, and the headhopping is often done mid-paragraph), phony writer words (it's a 3-grimace volume, and only 111 pages), and clunky phrases in which a person's attention is trained toward a new target like a battleship turret or a Rodman Columbiad. These little bits kept knocking me out of the story -- my hand twitching toward a red pen -- but then I slipped right back in.
One detail that annoys, though, is the rescue scene toward the end of the second story. As described, it makes no sense. We are told they are in a place that can't be escaped because it can't be climbed fast enough ... and then they manage anyway. We're given specific dimensions that then somehow don't matter. This was preceded by a slight imprecision when they first arrived at this location: there's a gap cut 'through the ridge,' and the term 'ridge' is used for the high point of the gap, or maybe she climbs beside the gap, but we don't know for sure. I was expecting this gap to be mentioned at the end of the story, but it didn't seem to come up. Technically, it should have. I'm leaving a few details out to avoid spoilers, but let's just say it doesn't seem to make sense.
I do have quibbles, but they are largely outweighed by the strengths. These tales are tongue-in-cheek, at a certain level, and High Fantasy has a long history of such tales; and especially in the form of series. I'm not well read in that tradition, but have spent my life surrounded by those who were.
The language is rich without bogging things down, the description is very visual, without stopping to paint pictures. The stories move along nicely. The plots of the stories -- they are a form of mystery -- are pleasingly clever and unexpected. And, it should be said, because this is an Air & Nothingness publication, the book itself is lovely. I can happily recommend it.
My quibbles are partly due to one of my day jobs, which is critiquing Fantasy manuscripts. And every few pages, dammit, there's something I would mark up in a manuscript: little thoughtless anachronisms, sloppy POV work (the narrative voice is inconsistently intrusive, and the headhopping is often done mid-paragraph), phony writer words (it's a 3-grimace volume, and only 111 pages), and clunky phrases in which a person's attention is trained toward a new target like a battleship turret or a Rodman Columbiad. These little bits kept knocking me out of the story -- my hand twitching toward a red pen -- but then I slipped right back in.
One detail that annoys, though, is the rescue scene toward the end of the second story. As described, it makes no sense. We are told they are in a place that can't be escaped because it can't be climbed fast enough ... and then they manage anyway. We're given specific dimensions that then somehow don't matter. This was preceded by a slight imprecision when they first arrived at this location: there's a gap cut 'through the ridge,' and the term 'ridge' is used for the high point of the gap, or maybe she climbs beside the gap, but we don't know for sure. I was expecting this gap to be mentioned at the end of the story, but it didn't seem to come up. Technically, it should have. I'm leaving a few details out to avoid spoilers, but let's just say it doesn't seem to make sense.
December 17, 2017
Independent Reviewer for Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
I enjoyed Kyth the Taker. She was a gutsy, smart character who seemed to be more than able to handle just about anything. She prayed to a little known god whom just about everyone else had forgotten, and had been given lesser status as time went by. Kyth is losing faith in him on the surface, but whenever she needs help she prays fervently. Love this comparison to how humans act.
Kyth has a mission and it seems to be more complicated by the minute. She winds up meeting a hermit who shows her that things are not always what they seem. I loved the hermit. He is quiet, mysterious and he could say so much and chooses not to. He is a character worthy of his own story I feel.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *
I enjoyed Kyth the Taker. She was a gutsy, smart character who seemed to be more than able to handle just about anything. She prayed to a little known god whom just about everyone else had forgotten, and had been given lesser status as time went by. Kyth is losing faith in him on the surface, but whenever she needs help she prays fervently. Love this comparison to how humans act.
Kyth has a mission and it seems to be more complicated by the minute. She winds up meeting a hermit who shows her that things are not always what they seem. I loved the hermit. He is quiet, mysterious and he could say so much and chooses not to. He is a character worthy of his own story I feel.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *
April 5, 2018
Kyth the Taker contains three short stories, and each one is adventure fantasy at its finest. Kyth works as a security expert, looking for ways to shore up security for temples and palaces, and also returning lost or stolen items to their rightful home. She solves problems by being clever and careful, which is always neat to see.
The last story, "The Silent Castle," is my favorite of the three, but they are all fun, engaging reads. I'd recommend this collection to any fan of sword and sorcery.
The last story, "The Silent Castle," is my favorite of the three, but they are all fun, engaging reads. I'd recommend this collection to any fan of sword and sorcery.
June 16, 2019
Jonathan Howard writes beautiful prose with stunning imagery, and the publisher set this short anthology in a beautiful binding to match. Kyth is an intriguing character: not a thief but someone who retrieves objects that were stolen. She has the air of a stoic Indiana Jones or an architectural hacker in a setting rife with mythology and magic. The narrative distance, however, didn't work for me. This was a nice read but not my favorite jam.
May 26, 2022
Kyth the Taker! I did not want her adventures to end. So I stretched out the reading of this small gem as long as I could. Kyth is a mercenary contending with a brutal way of life in which there is little joy and much dark magic afoot. She is nimble, efficient, crafty, and resilient.
Jonathan L. Howard built a lived-in world where nothing is promised, but impossibility is certain. And Kyth is a dynamo.
I loved this book.
Jonathan L. Howard built a lived-in world where nothing is promised, but impossibility is certain. And Kyth is a dynamo.
I loved this book.
December 4, 2019
Thoroughly enjoyable collection of well written short stories. Would happily buy a full sized novel of Kyth's adventures in lost artifact retrieval and security testing, even if it makes me cry beautiful tears like this one did!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews