Lord Fish By Ted Cross

Hey guys!

Joe here with another review for you all!
Today I’m going to be reviewing Ted Cross’s book ‘Lord Fish’.

I won’t give a blurb as I’m going to describe the entirety of the book to you in my review! :D
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So, to begin with, the author sent me this book after I had read/reviewed ‘The Shard’ (One of my top Fantasy books now!)
‘Lord Fish’ is a book which includes three short stories and one novelette, so I figured I’d do a small review of each one individually and then do an over-all conclusion!

The short stories are actually interconnected within the universe that the The Shard is set in; which I thought was an awesome feature as it fills little points in ‘The Shard’ that made you wonder and think about things, where-as the Novelette is a alternate version of some of the authors favourite scenes from The Shard.

The first short story we have is titled ‘Lord Fish’

‘Lord Fish’ is set many years before the events in The Shard, as we follow a younger and newly appointed Lord Midas on his way to his first jousting tournament. Having just been given his lordship Midas is called to attend a tournament in Pangalia; during the events of this tournament we meet a few unforgettable faces, such as Sir Brindor! And get a nice look into Lord Midas’s past and how affiliations came to be between certain people!

To me ‘Lord Fish’ was a nice short story as it was able to hold it’s own and keep you entertained while making sure that it was paced fast enough to not bore you.

The descriptions of the places weren’t as powerful as they were in The Shard, but they were still rather prominent and still imaginative!
I felt the characters were the shining parts of this story; you could really see how certain ones became their future selves in ‘The Shard’.

The second short story in the book was titled: ‘The Stolen Castle’

‘Stolen Castle’ is the story of Midas’s troubles entering and achieving his Castle.
After the events of ‘Lord Fish’ Midas heads off with his squire Fridrik to a keep which Lord Tathis (his Father-in-law) has given to him to accompany his Lord-status.

As Midas and Fridrik arrive they see someone guarding the gate to what seems to be an empty castle, As they approach and question the man, he tells them that the castle is not as peaceful or as abandoned as it seems…

Again, this short story was able to hold it’s own and keep itself afloat.
The way the author describes each action that Midas, Fridrik or Steward Larkin partake in is really nice as it actually draws you in with a sense of knowing.
The initial story is a little slow and dragged out, but it covers little complexities o how Midas became so careful but yet so adventurous and boisterous.

It also builds a really nice friendship development between Midas and Fridrik. As Fridrik is his squire Midas treats much more fairly than needed, treating him as more of a friend rather than a servant.
The characters in this didn’t show any other kind of development though (excluding the points I’ve put in) It just kind of showed them slowly growing up and showing how their mind-sets will be from then onwards.

The Novelette featured in this book is called ‘Dragon Play’

Dragon Play is an alternate version of a few scenes taken from The Shard. It is set in an alternate place, with a group of young Viking children sneaking into a dragons lair, to discover a treasure lost for many years; what do they find is much worse.

I really didn’t have much of an opinion on this story, honestly, as it is a scene that has been taken from The Shard, though it was altered to fit the authors pure imagination.
I enjoyed the fact of newly created characters and the ending was different and very well written; the overall story was exactly the same as the one in The Shard.
I honestly couldn’t really tear the two apart.

If I hadn’t of read The Shard first, then I would’ve rather enjoyed this little novelette and I would’ve probably seen it as a speckle of creative imagery for the finished product which would’ve been the scene in The Shard.

The last short story is titled ‘Arrival’

Arrival is a short story interconnected with both The Shard and The Immortality Game, another of the author’s books.

The story features scientists from Earth, who travel across the Galaxy to the world titled ‘New Eden’ or as we know it the world which holds the story of ‘The Shard’. Once they reach the planet however, they realise they were not as prepared as they once thought.

I generally really liked this story as it filled in a few little questions that are queried in The Shard!
The characters were all each very unique, each with their own little flare; which made it 100% more enjoyable to read and become more immersed into it.

The world development and the creativeness used in this story tops all the stories in this book; it is so beautifully imagined and crafted so finely.

The action that happens in this book really flows well with the suspense created.

Overall, my favourite story within this book would have to be ‘Arrival’; just because of how fresh and new it was to me, seeing the world of science invade the world of fantasy really made me smile.

If you haven’t read The Shard or Lord Fish, I definatly advice you to check them out! The Shard has become one of my favourite Fantasy books to date.

I still need to check out The Immortality Game, but it is at the top of my list for new books I am going to buy!

A huge-huge thank you to the author for sending me an advanced copy of this book!

And a massive thank you to you for sticking through this and showing us so much support! J High-five to you!

Thanks guys, see ya on the flip side!
Joe J