The Hammer and the Blade

A Tale of Egil and Nix

By: Paul S. Kemp

Narrated by: Nick Podehl

Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

So here’s the plan: Kill the demon, steal the treasure, and retire to a life of luxury!

It sounds easy when put like that. However, most unfortunately for warrior-priest Egil and sneak thief Nix, when the demon they kill turns out to have worshippers in high places, retirement is not an option.

A wonderfully fast-paced fantasy adventure redolent of the classic tales of swords and sorcery, from New York Times best-selling author Paul S. Kemp.

©2012 Paul Kemp (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"This rollicking tale hooked me from the get-go. Egil and Nix might not be the safest guys to go adventuring with, but they’re sure good company.” (Ed Greenwood, creator of Forgotten Realms)

4 stars standard sword and sorcery fantasy

Since 'The Lies of Locke Lamora', I can not seem to pass any fantasy book with thieves and promise of humor. This book however is not of a caliber of 'The Lies..'. It is pretty much a standard fantasy book about two thieves who also are little bit of magician and priest (go figure). Use of magic openly used to gain more power magical powers by the main bad guy making this book pretty much standard.

Characters are flushed out to an extent, but I am not too sure if world building is as good. There is humor in the book as well, but it will not make the reader uncontrollably laugh while driving.

There are couple of interesting points in the book. The pact with the devil is of unique kind I thought. Also, end has a bit of a surprise as well. Depending on your perspective, it could be a one of the more satisfying endings.

Another good reason to pick this book up would be the narrator. I am having 'King Killer Chronicles' withdrawals and listening to Nick Podehl helps : ) Needless to say that narration is very good and entertaining.

In conclusion, it is light standard fantasy book with good narration. I would recommend this book for times when we are waiting for high caliber books to arrive.

Old School Pulp antasy

Would you consider the audio edition of The Hammer and the Blade to be better than the print version?

Unfortunately, what with not being able to see and all, I've never read the print version.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

While I throughly enjoyed this book, I didn't have any strong emotions tied to it. Now that I think about it, that might be one of the reasons I liked it as much as I did. With some many fantasy novels these days having strong and distinctive social or political messages, it was nice to sit back and veg out to some good ole fashioned sword and sorcery, It reminded me of some of the early Conan short stories which I loved as a kid.

Paul S. Kemp Has a Winner Here!

Egil & Nix are the most fun I've had in a fantasy story in many years! Fast-paced with great action sequences, you feel like you're standing side-by-side with the lads on their journeys! keep'em coming!

Adventure

Not sure if it was my headphone or the audio file but it kept skipping in places.

Good old fashioned sword & sorcery fun

I find most contemporary fantasy to be really slow & ponderous, great writing and memorable characters maybe, but the current fashion of 9 volumes of 600+ pages each in a series is just too much for me.

This book gets right to the meat of what I enjoy the most about fantasy, cool swordfights, creepy ancient wizards and fun action.

If you're looking for something more reminiscent of classic fantasy action (Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, etc) then check this out.

Good book, lacking a hook

Enjoyed the book, but overall it lacked a hook to keep me going. Overall it took me a year of on and off listening to finish which is unusual. The characters are likeable, the action well told and the world interesting, it was just a tad to predictable with the different story beats feeling too compartmentalized. Still I would listen to another book in this world.
Read if you enjoyed Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser books.

adventuring outcast trying to be better men

A great tale of fantasy adventure.
No grand heroes on a quest for greatness to drive back the foul doers of evil.
Nope, just a couple of tomb robbers trying to retire when an unforeseen debt comes there way. Forced into serving a malevolent sorcerer to his ends.
But the story proves it's worth. The characters have great depth and personality. Good spirit of adventure overall.
The final act is a great turning point. Where our ragtag duo or put to a choice, Walk away and let bad things happen to innocent people or Be better men.
Great book.

Demmed googahs!

“I haven’t lived like a hero, so I have no intention of dying like one.”
It’s got the flavor of The Mummy + Conan with a dash of Pitch Black. Started slow, with not enough attention to painting a picture, not quite clever enough dialogue, and an overuse of “frenetically.” However, it grew on me as it went on.

There’s F bombs of the “fekken” variety, magic gone wrong, and themes of sacrificial maidens and demonic bargains (hence the Conan vibes). Ultimately, however, this was more B movie
than cableTV violent … and that suited me just fine. Egil and Nix may be tomb robbing rogues,
but they fall just on the right side of right.

Tip of the Cap to Fritz Leiber

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely, if they are a fan of classic sword and sorcery fiction. The humor, dark sorcery, and bizarre situations the two heroes, Egil and Nix (close enough to a certain well-known duo from Lankhmar but different enough to be interesting!), find themselves in is a definite salute to classic pulp sword and sorcery fiction from yesteryear. However, these two are less "roguish" and more "heroic" than most classic sword and sorcery characters and there is a bit more of a contemporary presentation of the two main female characters who a) drive the plot in a way that is not dependent upon them being romantic interests for Egil and Nix, and b) are very intelligent and strong characters in their own right.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Egil. His devotion to his dead god and his heroic disposition made him very easy to cheer for.

What does Nick Podehl bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His voices for both Egil and Nix really bring the characters to life.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Goo-gahs.

Any additional comments?

I liked the second book in the series almost as much as this one. It has more background development for both Egil and Nix and a very interesting villain as well. However, the adventure they are on in the second book I found a bit less involved.

Full of excitement and excellently read!!!

Paul kept you guessing, very well read, excellent fight scenes. Nick did very well in narrating.