Look its a goblin riding a demon goat while Juggling bombs! I made it just for you.      Merry  Christmas.

I know what you are thinking….. Well I have no clue what you are thinking but I am sure that while you are thinking it you look like this.

The Malice

• Hardback
• English

By (author)  Peter Newman

 

 

• Format Hardback | 464 pages
• Dimensions 159 x 227 x 43mm | 698g
• Publication date 19 May 2016
• Publisher HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint HarperVoyager

 

 

 

 

First off this book was a pain to get. I guess it is not available in the USA yet. I would have liked to get the Audiobook as I listened to the first book but again not available in USA.  Amazon has the HB for sale by a 3rd party for $75.00 and no thanks I wanted it but not that bad.  So I went to the source Peter Newman himself and asked what was up. He pointed me to the book depository where I found a HB copy for $15.00 with free shipping. I love that site now by the way.  The cover is great, the art really captures the story without actually giving anything away.

 

The story starts some years after the first book, and like in The Vagrant there is a baby at the start of the book. but this time we see it born into the cruel world. It is spurned by its mother and taken in by someone who will care for the poor Kid. I meant to use a capital K in kid. Because that’s the name of the son of a Goat. I meant to use a capital G in goat because that’s the name of ….well you know about Goat.

It was no surprise that Goat was a bad mother. It was kind of a surprise she ever found herself in a motherly way in the first place though. But the now young woman Vesper stepped up to be a mom to Kid.  Vesper is just as precocious as ever and is chosen by the sword Gamma to go on an adventure because it was being ignored by the Vagrant.

My daughter has actually called me Smelly goat for the last 10 years since onetime at the zoo a goat ate part of my shorts. And I insisted on leaving the zoo. Totally not related I call her Smelly Cow she wouldn’t want me to tell you why…..

OK where was I? …oh yeah

Vesper and Kid go on an adventure. You all should know by now I don’t like to just tell the plot I tell how i felt while reading the book.

So how did I feel?  Book one had some pretty big shoes to fill but The Malice did a good job filling them. I don’t know how the author made me like a mute character like the Vagrant without ever actually being in his head., but he did. And at the start of the book I felt that would be missing and make the book much the worse for it. But the sword Gamma eventually filled that role quite nicely. The kid was not the Goat but did a good job of comic relief. I actually liked the cast more this time around, even though it took me most of the book to come to that conclusion.

Final thoughts

It was hard to get so I am taking some points off for that. but that is the only reason it is not getting 5 stars. It is a much different book than the Vagrant But again I found myself really loving these characters for their flaws as much as for their strengths. A fun read with tension and loss but also humor and self sacrifice. Also I loved how the kid was Narcoleptic! As someone who suffers from Narcolepsy myself I thought it was hilarious. I give The Malice 4.5 out of 5 stars.