Blacktongue Thief

I really enjoyed this book. It was a dark fantasy but not at the expense of a magical escape. It will leave you wondering what decade it came out because it very much fits right in with the old "Apoendix-N" fantasy, but you will notice distinctly modern bents where you might expect to find well tread ideas.

There are some laughs, and some gross bits (sometimes at the same time), and even a little romance. The pseudo-Irish is just my interpretation of the conquered ethnic minority more clever than and talented than their conquerors.

Dark humor from below, a grimly magical adventure in a familiar but inventive world.

I liked this book. It's not as serious and realist as Abercrobie's writing, not as convoluted as G.R.R. Martin's stories, it's 'adult' without falling into voyeuristic and misogynist drivel or manly-man power fantasies… A good summer reading, with a beautiful map before the story (and even a calendar with special months and weeks)

The worldbuilding is well done, especially when it comes to the use of magic. I was less concerned by the languages invented for the book, but it's of little importance in the logic of the book. Some prominent characters are not as engaging and well rounded as the main, but I guess that's what you get when your narrator is self-absorbed, kinda dishonest (he's a thief, after all) and more interested in this blind cat he found by chance.