Heist stories are very popular and immensely popular stories in fantasy when the character at the center of the story is of the roguish variety. Ardor Benn is just that character, a conman, thief, or as he calls himself a ruse artist. When he’s approached by a priest of all people to run the biggest heist of his life (and maybe in the world’s history) his ego is hard to keep at bay and he accepts. Welcome to The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn.
“Mission Impossible, but with magic, dragons, and a series of heists that go from stealing a crown to saving the world” (David Dalglish).
Master con artist Ardor Benn and his crew of intrepid thieves are hired to pull off a series of wildly complex heists, from stealing a crown to saving the world, in this daring fantasy adventure.
Liar. Thief. Legend.
Ardor Benn is no ordinary thief. Rakish, ambitious, and master of wildly complex heists, he styles himself a Ruse Artist Extraordinaire.
When a priest hires him for the most daring ruse yet, Ardor knows he’ll need more than quick wit and sleight of hand. Assembling a dream team of forgers, disguisers, schemers, and thieves, he sets out to steal from the most powerful king the realm has ever known.
But it soon becomes clear there’s more at stake than fame and glory — Ard and his team might just be the last hope for human civilization.
Discover the start of an epic fantasy trilogy that begins with a heist and quickly explodes into a full-tilt, last ditch plan to save humanity.
The novel begins in media res with Ard (as his best friend and co-conspirator Raek calls him) finishing up a ruse. Whiteside does a fantastic job drawing the reader in immediately and efficiently: the characters come across very lively, the tone of sarcasm balanced with seriousness is felt, and the magic of the world – Grit (which gives its name to the series, Kingdom of Grit), is glimpsed in an intriguing way, but I’ll get to that later. As Ard is concluding his ruse, a holy man named Havelind approaches the ruse artist asking him to steal the king’s regalia. In order to accomplish this, Ard must gather more people into the fold, which brings Quarrah Khai, a proficient female thief into the story. She rounds out the three points of view in this heist story: Ard, Havelind, and Quarrah.
Let’s get back to that magic, because the Grit itself is just one portion of it. There’s a thing called Moonsickness plaguing the island of Pekal where the story takes place that seems to be getting worse. Havelind discovers, along with the assistance of his blue-skinned non-human ally Lyndel, the root of the plague may not be what the populace believes, which is why the priest enlists Ardor Benn to help him. The only way to save the world is to get a special kind of Grit. What is Grit? It is dragonshit burned hard by the flames of a dragon then ground into powder, or grit. But the different kinds of Grit are made when dragons consume different elements, foods, or objects and if a dragon eats it will produce Grit with various magical properties. Another kind of Grit allowed Havelind to share the most intimate secrets about the true nature of the world’s problems without letting that secret spread as the Grit would lead people influenced to immediately forget the last few minutes of their life. Ard and the reader go through much of the novel without knowing exactly what the ultimate plan is, which helps add to the narrative tension.
As I said in the beginning of the novel, heist stories especially in a fantasy setting are quite popular. Scott Lynch’s Locke Lamora books come to mind, naturally, as do the first three Mistborn novels from Brandon Sanderson, but where I felt the most resonance was Rachel Aaron’s Eli Monpress novels. Whiteside brings enough of his own voice and is far from a recasting of any of these novels. The Grit magic I found to be something like a combination of the metal burning from Mistborn along with the Spice or Melange from the Dune universe, since spice is at least in part excrement from sandworms.
I wouldn’t say Whiteside is breaking new ground in the genre with The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn but he is telling a gripping story, with some flashes of ingenuity. Those three writers/series I mentioned in the previous paragraph rank quite highly for me, so I was very happy to think of this novel from Whiteside as ‘up there’. If I could level any criticism at the book it would be that at just over 700 pages, the book could be trimmed in some spots. Despite that mild excess in spots, Whiteside has a powerful narrative, engaging characters, and a fun fantasy world that seems to have unrevealed layers and depth that really kept the pages turning quickly. I’ve got the second and third books of The Kingdom of Grit waiting on the slopes of Mount Toberead and I’m looking forward to pulling them off and diving into their pages.
The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn is an enormously fun novel I can do nothing except whole-heartedly recommend it.
© 2020 Rob H. Bedford
Orbit Books | Trade Paperback | 729 Pages
Reissue Edition October 2020 (originally published 2018)
Excerpt: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/tyler-whitesides/the-thousand-deaths-of-ardor-benn/9780316463232/#module-whats-inside
Review copy courtesy of the publisher
