Caitlin Rozakis
Published: 28th May 2024
Genre: fantasy
Spoilers?: minor
A sharp-witted, high fantasy farce featuring killer moat squid, toxic masculinity, evil wizards and a garlic festival – all at once. Perfect for fans of T. Kingfisher, K. J. Parker and Travis Baldree.
It’s bad enough waking up in a half-destroyed evil wizard’s workshop with no eyebrows, no memories, and no idea how long you have before the Dread Lord Whomever shows up to murder you horribly and then turn your skull into a goblet or something.
It’s a lot worse when you realize that Dread Lord Whomever is… you.
Gav isn’t really sure how he ended up with a castle full of goblins, or why he has a princess locked in a cell. All he can do is play along with his own evil plan in hopes of getting his memories back before he gets himself killed.
But as he realizes that nothing – from the incredibly tasteless cloak adorned with flames to the aforementioned princess – is quite what it seems, Gav must face up to all the things the Dread Lord Gavrax has done. And he’ll have to answer the hardest question of all – who does he want to be?
A high fantasy farce featuring killer moat squid, toxic masculinity, an evil wizard convocation, and a garlic festival. All at once. Dread Lord Gavrax has had better weeks.
Galley received from publisher
Dreadful is yet another case of “stellar concept, so-so execution.” I mean, look at that cover, right? Gorgeous. Unfortunately, that’s about as high as my praise will get with this one. While there’s definitely a lot to enjoy, in the end, some of the choices made left me unsatisfied.
I don’t think it’s entirely fair to compare this to Terry Pratchett. I mean, sure, on a surface level, whimsical fantasy with a twist is very Pratchett, but Dreadful seems to be missing that Pratchett oomph. What do I mean by this? Well, Pratchett’s work is definitely funny and witty, but the writing grounds itself in questions of morality, ethics, philosophy, and the like. There’s no such thing as whimsy for whimsy’s sake; every character, plot, and arc has a purpose in the larger philosophical exploration of Discworld.
That can’t be said of Dreadful. Oh, there’s an Attempt, sure, but any discussions of misogyny feel confused and tacked-on to the plot. (Nothing is fully explored in a way that feels earned, is my point.)
We follow Gav, the Dark Lord Gavrax, a dark wizard whose amnesia prevents him from remembering the choices he made that set him off on his dark path. It’s heavily implied that his past experiences set him down a path of misogyny and resentment, but, because he’s lost his memories, he never has to grapple with his choices. What’s stopping him from doing everything again? You could make an argument that his new friendships and alliances are what’s preventing him from making the same mistakes, but, without understanding his past choices, I just don’t buy that he won’t make them again. How can you learn from your mistakes if you don’t even know what those mistakes are, etc.? Ultimately, this character development just felt unsatisfying and, frankly, I didn’t really buy it.
The author has better luck with the supporting characters, like the goblins, who feel more believable because their status as supporting characters means they don’t need to be fleshed out as much. They’re easier to like because you don’t watch the author struggling to give them unearned depth.
On the whole, the plot and pacing are fine, and the ending feels earned, but my frustrations with our protagonist make this a hard book to unilaterally recommend. It might’ve been the mood I was in while I was reading. As always, feel free to draw your own conclusions. If you’re interested in a cozy fantasy, the fact that this doesn’t work for me shouldn’t be the reason you feel dissuaded from checking it out.
SENTENCE: BED. Dreadful isn’t a dreadful book, but it’s nothing special, either.
six of queens reads 