Tales From Gundarland: Eight humorous stories from the land of the incongruous

by Hank Quense

This fantasy comedy book is filled with laughter and laughter is like free health insurance. This book has eight fantasy adventures. All are new stories and are filled with memorable characters.


Among the stories in this book, you’ll find two parodies of Shakespeare’s plays: Romeo and Juliet and The Merchant of Venison. Both stories are now fantasy adventures stocked with dwarfs and elves. Both stories pay lip serivce to the Bard’s plots, but end up with quite different climaxes.
A novella, Chasing Dreams, was nominated for a Nebula awad by the Science Fiction Writers of America.
Boggerts Blue features one of my favorite characters, Burga the Warrior Chef. Burga is on a quest for more recipes and to rescue a kidnapped princess.
The Big Bang is a tale of magic, both white and black. Mixing both types is mostly fatal mistake.
The Queen’s Hero is a fantasy quest concerning a young knight, Knuben, who eager to earn a reputation and three beautiful princesses with a bet on who can bed him first.
In Inter-racial Musical Playoff’s we witness a band competion with various fantasy races vieing for the reward while nasty wizards try to influnce the outcome.
Finally, in Tactical Surprise we see a dwarf general famous for winning wars with mostly non-violent battles. This time, he’s also fighting a female dewarf who he has long and secretly admired.
Tales From Gundarland was awarded a bronze medal by Readers’ Favorite. EPIC short-listed it for best anthology of the year.

Genres: Fantasy

326 pages, Paperback

First published May 23, 2010

About the author

Hank Quense writes satirical fantasy and sci-fi.
Early in his writing career, he was strongly influenced by two authors: Douglas Adams and his Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Joseph Heller’s Catch-22. Happily, Hank has never quite recovered from those experiences.

He runs a self-publishing and book marketing service, where he coaches new and seasoned writers—whether you’re just polishing your first draft or sweating over your book’s launch. If you have questions about getting your book out into the world or making it actually sell, hank is always happy to share what he's learned.

Besides writing novels, nonfiction books and coaching, Hank lectures on fiction writing, publishing and book marketing.

.He has two daughters and five grandchildren all of whom live close by.

For vacations, Hank usually visit distant parts of the galaxy. Occasionally, he also time-travels.

Reviews

[Fran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tales From Gundarland
Author: Hank Quense
Reviewed by Fran Lewis

Welcome to Gundarland, a unique place filled with humans, dwarfs, Yuks, elves. Enter this world created by a god who sneezed. You read that right He sneezed with such force caused by snorting an overdose of His favorite recreational powder. Gundarland is the largest land mass of planet and you'll want to read this outstanding, hysterical, humorous, creative and wildly funny novel by author Hank Quense. Buy the book and you'll get your very own gold passport to visit this wonderful place.
Hank Quense is the master of humor, satire and hilarity in this great book filled with magic, wizards, humans, and many races and, of course, some zany characters that I hope he brings back in his next book.
As to the stories themselves:
When Romeo and Juliet meet in ballet class it's love at first sight. But her brothers do their best to destroy any hope of happiness for these two lovebirds. With a chaperone that is evil and brothers who think they can best Romeo, this story will delight readers, renew your faith in love and make you definitely crack up laughing.
Next we meet the newest superhero Zarro who rides his fractious mule Belinda, and hopes to make the world safe from Yuks and Elves alike. Stopping the execution of a dwarf and ridding the town of Yuks, Zarro hides his identity from friends, foes and family to make his world a safer place for the dwarves. This is the only the first part of the novella, Chasing Dreams.
In Boggerts Blue, we meet a kidnapped princess who refuses to accept her rescuer because he is not a noble and not part of the right social class to rescue her. What a rude thing to do.
The Big Bang is about loyalty, friendships, caring, protecting others from harm. It's heartwarming, and tears that will fall from your eyes and soak a tissue from laughter,
In the Queen's Hero, the longest story in the book, you'll meet a tinker-warrior, a semi-honest ship's captain, a weather witch, a yuk pirate admiral, a queen, her three daughters and a band of irritating bureaucrats. Great fun!
In the Merchant of Venison, you'll learn what happens when a man wants a pound of flesh as a loan payment rather than the money. What does the judge decide and how is the debt finally paid? What law is invoked at the end that changes everything? Read this story and learn why lending money can be hazardous to your health and more.
The Inter-Racial Musical Playoffs involves wizards trying to fix the competition so they can rake in a bundle of money on their bets. Wait until you read this ending filled with twists, turns, spells and more.
The final story in this book is Tactical Surprise and it will endear you to the main characters and renew your faith in friendship, honesty and laughter.

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[Kori · Rating 3 out of 5]

First Reads Winner.

A collection of short stories centered around comedic exploits in the land of Gundarland, conceived by a big sneeze from an omniscient god, where various creatures (dwarfs, elves, yuks)travel on their own paths, the writing in the book is filled with jokes, irony, and humorous tie ins to our own world. Despite the comedy, however, the writing style is abrupt and a bit jarred - the first story in the book is almost painful to wade through because the story is essentially "Person one did this because his brother made him, person two was angry because of previous family conflict, yuk one interfered". Thankfully the exposition became much stronger by the next story alone, but the sentences never really progress beyond telling instead of showing.

Overall, if you skip the first chapter and enjoy comedy the book is fun, but expect quick humor and not brilliant writing.

[Roberto Mattos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Quense nails it again. In this new book he comes with 8 stories, one more creative then the other. Hysterical. My favorite is the last one, Tactical Surprise. The end of the story is delicious. I loved it!
I have been following this author for a while and having read most of his books I can say that he is a master of satiric humor. You have to read his stories slowly and savor every subtle humor. It will light up your day.
His characters are taken from Shakespeare and fairy tale stories and they are placed in a new world called Gundarland. With very fruitful imagination, the author creates situations that will make us remember the real story, but with twists very particular to his style.
I recommend this book to the permanent library of any reader who is up to a good laugh. Very well written book, it will keep you entertained for hours.

[Chris Meads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hank Quense can write such humorous stories and this a great collection. One that will make you laugh.

According to Quense, the planet Gundar was named after "the omniscient god who accidentally created the universe with an explosive sneeze caused by snorting a larger-than-average dose of His favorite recreational powder."

We have stories about elves, dwarves, dwelves (a mixture of dwarf and elf), gnomes, yuks, trolls and humans. He parodies Romeo and Juliet, Zorro which is Zarro and the Lone Ranger who becomes the Long Stranger with Pinto his side kick. Each story is a good laugh and Quense is such a genius writing each one. He rivals Terry Pratchett and the Disc World series.

If you want a good laugh, this is the book to buy. May I warn you though, it's not for kids.

[Janice Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know that I "learned" anything from the book, but I certainly had fun reading it and will probably read it many more times. If you like action-packed adventures with a satirical twist that will have you snickering, chuckling, and laughing out loud, this book is a good choice. Hank Quense delights in using his well-sharpened pen to let the hot air out of everyone, and sneaks in a few serious thoughts while you're distracted by the funny stuff.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charmingly funny retelling of some classics and new fairytales from the mind of Hank Quense. I read this to a group of 7 to 10 year olds who thought these were hysterical. Great read for story times and a nice way to spend a day in the sun!!!

[Lois · Rating 5 out of 5]

This delightful collection of six short stories and two novellas is set in the mythical realm of Gundarland on a planet named Gundar, which, according to Quense, was named after “the omniscient god who accidentally created the universe with an explosive sneeze caused by snorting a larger-than-average dose of His favorite recreational powder.” As you can gather, this work is only for older kids and their insightful parents…

Gunderland itself is populated by such diverse races as “dwarfs, humans, elves, half-pints, yuks and a few lesser races … [that] … live cheek-by-jowl in many cases and get along with no more than the usual interracial hostility.” And, don’t worry, you definitely don’t have to be a geek to enjoy their adventures, despite two of the pieces in Tales from Gundarland: Eight Humorous Stories from the Land of the Incongruous being satires of two of the Great Bard’s (i.e. Shakespeare’s) most popular works: “Romeo & Juliet” and “Merchant of Venison” (a send-up of The Merchant of Venice). A few of the tales are under ten pages, while the others vary substantially in length. All of them, however, are side-splittingly funny, and, if you enjoy the writings of Terry Pratchett, you should enjoy these too. Quense’s irreverent take on the world of fantasy is most amusing, I find, when he describes the relationships between fellow characters and between man and beast. Mind you, the characterization of the yuks is also a key source of humor, and reminded me somewhat of the trolls in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Their poor grasp on the English language is most evident in the verbal spats between the yuk brothers, Rolf and Ralf. Quense promises to return to these two characters in other stories, as he likes them too much not to unearth them on other suitable occasions.

In “Chasing Dreams,” a hilarious spoof on The Mask of Zorro, and a number of other westerns, the showdown at Okidoky Corral is accompanied by cheer-leading molls, who raise some dust linking arms and performing multiple high leg kicks. In fact, one might say that the women tend to be a feisty bunch throughout the tales, including one princess who refuses to be rescued from a tower by a Warrior-Cook, for fear that she will never be able to show her face at court again if she is saved by anyone other than a nobleman (“Boggerts Blue”). The pages teem with loads of swashbuckling adventure, both on land and sea, with heroes and villains aplenty—just don’t expect them to be archetypal!

Quense acknowledges the help that he received from an international group of critics known as the Critters, who helped him to shape the stories. Another group of writers who also provided input into the stories was drawn from as far away, and from as diverse locations, as the Canary Islands, Greece, Britain and Ireland. Further details of the author are available on his website: http://hankquesne.com, and you can follow his “antics, rants and occasional snippets of wisdom” on his blog: http://hankquesne.com/blog. Tales from Gundarland: Eight Humorous Stories from the Land of the Incongruous is an enjoyable read, and thoroughly recommended as light relief from the more serious stuff.
 

[Manik and Sayee |favbookshelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tales from Gundarland by Hank Quense is a witty collection of eight fantasy adventures set in the eccentric land of Gundarland, a world born from the sneeze of a mischievous god. Populated by dwarfs, elves, yuks, and humans, this world thrives on absurdity, satire, and offbeat humor. The stories range from parodies of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and The Merchant of Venice, reimagined with elves, dwarfs, and magical chaos, to original tales featuring quirky heroes like Burga the Warrior Chef and Knuben the ambitious knight. There’s a spoof on Zorro in the Nebula-nominated novella Chasing Dreams, a magical misadventure in The Big Bang, and a comical band competition in Inter-Racial Musical Playoffs. Each story twists familiar tropes into something unexpected and absurd, balancing clever satire with slapstick moments. The title reflects the spirit of the book well; these truly are tales of Gundarland, stories that both celebrate and poke fun at the fantasy genre.

Review: Hank Quense’s Tales from Gundarland stands out for its mix of parody and original comedy, giving readers a world that feels both recognizable and wonderfully ridiculous. The setting is playful yet consistent, with Gundarland’s races, politics, and culture creating a fun backdrop for satire. The characters lean into caricature—knights chasing glory, chefs swinging ladles like weapons, princesses refusing to play along with old traditions—but they’re funny enough to keep readers hooked. What makes the book shine is how it plays with Shakespeare and pop culture, turning the familiar upside down and landing on punchlines that surprise. The pace moves fast, and the short story format keeps things from dragging, each tale carrying its own odd charm. The only stumble is the first story, where the humor comes out a bit stiff, too much telling instead of letting the action play out. Once past that, the writing loosens up and finds its rhythm. Overall, Tales from Gundarland is sharp, quirky, and packed with laughs. It earns four stars for fresh takes, big humor, and clever satire. Perfect for fans of parody, Shakespeare retellings, and offbeat fantasy that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

[Aditya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tales From Gundarland (Gundarland Chronicles Book 1) by Hank Quense is a laugh-out-loud, wildly imaginative collection that takes fantasy and adventure, turns them upside down, and sprinkles them with satire. From the very first page, where the universe is accidentally sneezed into existence by a god overdosing on his favorite powder, readers know they are in for something truly different.

Quense builds Gundarland as a place both familiar and hilariously absurd, where dwarfs, elves, humans, half-pints, and yuks stumble through political corruption, misguided heroism, and Shakespearean send-ups. Each story feels fresh and clever, whether it’s a spoof of Romeo and Juliet with ballet-loving star-crossed lovers, the parody of The Merchant of Venice reimagined as The Merchant of Venison, or the adventures of Zarro, a bumbling hero riding his stubborn mule Belinda. The humor is sharp yet good-natured, filled with witty wordplay, slapstick situations, and tongue-in-cheek nods to classic literature and pop culture.

What makes the collection shine is Quense’s ability to blend parody with originality. His characters like bureaucratic queens, egotistical wizards, and disgruntled princesses are both ridiculous and strangely relatable. At its heart, the book is also a playful commentary on society, poking fun at politics, social class, and human nature in ways that will resonate with today’s readers.

Perfect for fans of Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams, this book offers pure entertainment with substance woven into the laughter. If you love irreverent fantasy that doesn’t take itself too seriously, Tales From Gundarland is a must-read.

Thank you,
Happy Reading

[Octavia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tales From Gundarland, written by Hank Quense, was definitely something to read. Honestly, I didn't expect that I would enjoy this story as much as I did. I usually avoid any stories with satire like the plague because some writers tend to go a wee bit overboard with it. However, Hank Quense's writing didn't make me want to roll my eyes in annoyance. I liked the way that each story blended in with the next one. I also liked the fantasy aspect and how the classic stories had a new twist to them. Although I wasn't really a fan of The Queen's Hero, I did enjoy the other stories. I definitely recommend this story to anyone who loves satirical stories as well as fantasy. I rate this 4 out of 5 stars.

[Keryl Raist · Rating 3 out of 5]

Imagine for a minute an alternative universe where Terry Pratchett and Monty Python could produce a love child. Now imagine that child had inherited both parents' skill at seeing a situation and sizing it up for satiric treatment but neither parents' talent for executing that satire. If you can hold that idea in your mind, you'll have a pretty good idea of how Tales From Gundarland reads. I have a crusty, old memory of an English teacher telling me to use writing to show, not tell. You probably have a similar one. Where Monty Python and Pratchett would show, Quense would tell.

Tales From Gundarland is a selection of two novellas and six short stories, most of them satires, set in a rather generic fantasy world of elves, dwarves, humans, and something called yuks (a modified ogre). The stories range from retellings of Shakespeare's greatest hits staring dwarfs and elves, to a Zorro/Lone Ranger (or Zarro and the Lone Stranger as they are known in Gundarland) crossover.

Bits of the stories are genuinely laugh out loud funny. There are moments where you see great insight into human nature. But on the whole the stories are competent and plain rather than exceptional reading. The use of language is solid but not brilliant. The occasional clunky line is offset by the occasional very well done image. The characters are likable but generic. Several of them are rather easily confused with each other because most of the main characters are somewhat young, unsure of themselves and their place in the world, adventurers looking to find their fortune and place.

Quense did come up with some unique details for setting his elves, dwarfs, and humans apart. His guild system requires adventurers to learn useful trades as well as how to bash in heads, so we run into a Warrior/Cooks looking to advance onto the Hero/Chef level. Likewise, the leader of his anti-pirate group is a caftan wearing dwarf looking to go legit by getting into women's bespoke fashion. Things like that are really cool, but we don't get much out of it because these things are mostly just mentioned as part of the background. Green leaves on the trees, babbling brook, Warrior/Cook armed with his trusty frying pan and razor sharp spatula ready to go off and save the princess. Tell me more about the guilds, tell me more about how he trained, write a novel about it, because there's a seed of a great story there, but... But it's just background.

Quense is good with voice. His characters speak differently from each other, which is a nice touch. The yuks speak in a sort of dumbed down mafiaesque English. The other main characters use different tone and vocabulary in a way that matches with their stations well. Unfortunately, voice is often the only easy way to distinguish one main character from the next.

Though I was kicked out of the feminist club a long, long time ago, I did notice his female characters, save one, are one dimensional, shallow, and annoying. Annoying in the sense of people you don't want to spend any time with, not badly written. Basically the reason there are women in this book is to be objects of love or lust. And, while I normally couldn't care less about the gender of the various characters I'm reading about, the fact that almost every woman in the entire book was a twit was grating.

At $3.99 the Kindle version is priced just about right.

[Martha Cheves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tales From Gundarland – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat

‘The planet was named Gundar after the omniscient god who accidentally created the universe with an explosive sneeze caused by snorting a larger-than-average dose of his favorite recreational powder. The nodules of spittle flew through space and eventually solidified into suns, planets, comets and other celestial bodies. Gundarland is the largest land mass on the planet. Populated by diverse races such as dwarfs, humans, elves, half-pints, yuks and a few lesser races, these disparate races live cheek-by-jowl in many cases and get along with no more than the usual interracial hostility.

By ancient tradition, many warriors took a double major when they studied the arts of war. The double major came in handy during the occasional outbreaks of peace. Thus, in the early days, knight-accountants, warrior-chefs and soldier-lawyers roamed the countryside seeking combat and/or clients. The population of the planet has always been intrigued by magic. As a consequence, wizards were held in high regard, even the incompetent ones. Wizard schools even offered double majors as well as the combat schools.

Author Hank Quense has taken characters that we all recognize, put them into character form while having them live on the planet of Gundar. For instance we have Romeo and Juliet. Romeo Montague is a dwarf silver miner. Juliet Capulet is an elf. They met at a ballet class and fell madly in love with each other. But… Juliet’s brothers hate the Montague family and forbid their marriage. Will they end up like Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet? You will find yourself laughing out loud as you find out.

Next we have Zarro, black mask and all. Zarro is a dwarf who rides a donkey named Belinda. Belinda was won by Zarro’s father in a card game and she hated to be ridden but loved to sleep. In fact, the only way to mount Belinda was to cover her head with a blanket, which would put her into a snoring sleep immediately, mount, remove the blanket and prepare yourself for a bit of bucking.

The Long Stranger, another mask wearer, and his sidekick Pinto are out to save the country from the likes of Rolf and Ralf. Rolf and Ralf have taken on the task of relieving those traveling along the Trade Road of their rings, coins, jewelry and any other valuables they might find to pilfer.

These are just a few of the characters Author Hank Quense has brought to life in Tales From Gundarland. As I read each character’s story I couldn’t help but laugh. I also couldn’t help but picture Shrek as a character in most of the stories. This book would be perfect for a full series of new Shrek movies.

2010
121 pages


Review Stir, Laugh, Repeat at Amazon.com Stir, Laugh, Repeat

[Jennifer Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quense specializes in humor writing, and it's obvious he has a sense of humor that inspired each one of these stories. Whether it's the story of a dwarf named Romeo and his star-crossed lover, an elf named Juliet, or a musical competition where combatitiveness and cuteness are part of the scoring, or a clumsy hero who saves the day despite himself, each story has its own rich cast of characters who take the reader on a fun adventure. While some are inspired by traditional tales, others (as far as I know) are purely the author's invention.

Hank Quense's stories put a unique, fresh and fun spin on the typical fantasy tales. The format allows for the reader to read a whole story in a short period of time, but they are just enough to leave you wanting to read more about the characters. They are complex, quirky and know how to have a good time...the sort of book I love to read in the bathtub!

[Lynnderella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tales from Gundarland is a magical escape into a world of quirky and colorful characters. The author, Hank Quense, writes satirical spin-offs from traditional tales and cleverly blurs the archaic gender stereotypes. Romeo the Ballet-Dancer, Burga the Warrior-Cook,& Gerhilde the Independent Princess are just a few examples of the author's innovative and humorous characters. Tales from Gundarland is filled with lots of laughs, adventure, & wit. Don't miss out- Buy your ticket to Gundarland today!

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable - like many Goodreads books, it could use a little proofreading, but the stories are fun and go very quickly. I enjoyed the longer story with the pirate theme - I wish that had somehow been developed into a full novel incorporating some of the other tales, rather than the short story format. But perfect for passing the time during travel, waiting rooms, etc.