Humor and fantasy come together again in No Country for Old Gnomes, the second installment of Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne’s epic Tales of Pell.
Go big or go gnome.
War is coming, and it’s gonna be Pell.
On one side stand the gnomes: smol, cheerful, possessing tidy cardigans and no taste for cruelty.
On the other side sit the halflings, proudly astride their war alpacas, carrying bags of grenades and hungry for a fight. And pretty much anything else.
It only takes one halfling bomb, and Offi Numminen’s world is turned upside down—or downside up, really, since he lives in a hole in the ground. His goth cardigans and aggressive melancholy set him apart from the other gnomes, as does his decision to fight back against their halfling oppressors. Suddenly Offi is the leader of a band of lovable misfits and outcasts—from a gryphon who would literally kill for omelettes to a young dwarf herbalist who is better with bees than his cudgel to an assertive and cheerful teen witch with a beard as long as her book of curses—all on a journey to the Toot Towers to confront the dastardly villain intent on tearing Pell asunder. These adventurers never fit in anywhere else, but as they become friends, fight mermaids, and get really angry at this one raccoon, they learn that there’s nothing more heroic than being yourself.
Dawson and Hearne decide to begin their tale with a completely different cast of characters in this novel, focusing on gnomes as the title would imply. In Pell, gnomes and halflings are just about mortal enemies. Gnomes are polite, sociable, and try to keep the peace. Halflings are a rough people. At least the halflings who try to make blow up the subterranean home of twins Offi and Onni and the Numminen family are rough. One of the twins sets out to find the halflings responsible. At nearly the same time, a family of ovitaurs (like a centaur, but swap the horse parts for sheep parts) is beset by thieves looking to take the ancient automaton the family has been protecting. Their daughter, Agape Fallopia, is suddenly thrust into the role of being responsible for the automaton. Agape and Onni path’s converge the town of Bruning along with a motley crew of characters; a dwarven magician, a gryphon who loves to eat cooked eggs (or egges), a reformed Halfling, and a dwarven warrior named Bäggi Biins on Meadspringer. Meadspringer is what the dwarves go through to purge themselves of their violent tendencies, a humorous parallel to Amish Rumschpringe. Or, more in line with the genre, the Vulcan “pon farr.”
Once these characters find themselves together and equally outcast, they realize have common enemies/nuiscance in the halflings who seem to be the root of many problems. Our cast of characters band together and head for the Great Library where they hope to find some answers. For the automaton Agape is charged with protecting is a great and powerful treasure indeed.
There are clever puns, plays on words, and general poking fun at characters and tropes of the fantasy genre throughout. This includes a couple of blatant stabs at Tolkien characters. Hearne and Dawson also lay down some parallels to real world political and global concerns, like the best fantasy. They are having fun with this series and it shows, they love their characters and it shows, too. They love these characters to a point that makes them believable in their flaws and strengths.
King Gustave, the star of Kill the Farm Boy is most definitely present, as is his sand witch advisor Grinda. They are more supporting characters, but important nonetheless. The world expands, too. Granted, much of what we see are familiar fantasy character types, but the authors are playing smartly with those tropes.
I love a good pun and ample word play, and obviously so do Hearne and Dawson because there is a great deal of punning throughout the novel. I even love the awful puns that make you cringe as you read them or say them. This book has a lot of those, so if puns aren’t your thing, this might be a tough read for you.
No Country for Old Gnomes is a worthy sequel to Kill the Farm Boy. I found myself invested in the characters, but I will admit to being a bit worn out on the clever puns and word play. If your patience for such humor is somewhat thin, I’d suggest not reading the first two books immediately back to back. All that said, it is hard not to be wrapped in a story as well told as this installment of The Tales of Pell was. Or to smile along and enjoy the story when the writers behind the words are having as much fun as they seem to be having. This is fun and well worth the time and investment.
Recommended
© 2019 Rob H. Bedford
Hardcover | 392 Pages
Del Rey Books, April 2019
Tales of Pell (https://www.talesofpell.com), Book 2
Delilah S. Dawson (https://www.whimsydark.com/) | Kevin Hearne (https://kevinhearne.com/)
Review copy courtesy of the publisher
