A Discourse in Steel

A Tale of Egil and Nix, Book 2

By: Paul S. Kemp

Narrated by: Nick Podehl

Egil and Nix have retired, as they always said they would. No, really - they have! No more sword - and hammer - play for them! But when two recent acquaintances come calling for help, our hapless heroes find themselves up against the might of the entire Thieves Guild. And when kidnapping the leader of the most powerful guild in the land seems like the best course of action, you know you’re in over your head....

A wonderfully fast-paced fantasy adventure in classic swords and sorcery style, from New York Times best-selling author, Paul S. Kemp.

©2013 Paul S. Kemp (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Amazing

Simply amazing from start to finish. Paul S. Kemp will go down in history as one of the best writers that ever lived.

A great sword and sorcery story

Another great pair of heroes in sword and sorcery. Lots of fun with humor and action. The story slowly builds and then accelerates into the climax. The voice acting is great as well and really makes the story come to life.

Very thought provoking

straight into the pits of darkness with our hardened duo. Its not easy trying to be a good (well better at least) man, but they make a go at it. The first book introduced the pair of reluctant heroes, this one built upon that and dug deeper into their foundation.

The adventure, or rather race as it were, reminds me of many a late night D&D campaign. Especially the 'screw it and screw them, we'll kill those bungholes!' parts. The characters are made for the purpose of their conflict resolution(class and fighting style) but have such a great depth of role-play in their voices.

It won't end as you expect or leave you disappointed either. I personally walked away yet again with a the thoughts and ideals of how one becomes a better man, or even if you can tell once you are.

Great book.

love it

every minute of this adventure left me more invested in what would happen next. the characters were real, the locations were felt, dynamic and tension was completely on point and we explore artifacts of ancient warring civilizations.

Another Great Story of Nix and Egil

What made the experience of listening to A Discourse in Steel the most enjoyable?

The characters are not run of the mill archetypes and have much more depth than most in the genre, while the setting is common enough to be familiar so that time is not wasted on long-winded descriptions, but rather colorful even poetic descriptors. The narrator did a good job with accents and inflections, (especially the 6th blade).

What other book might you compare A Discourse in Steel to and why?

The protagonists are reminiscent, but not clones, of the classic fantasy heroes Fafhrd and Mouser. Two very different people held together through their common experience, their relationship is obviously close and growing. The dialog between them is very engaging.

What does Nick Podehl bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Good job providing the different characters with accents and speech impediments.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The continuous growth of the protagonists' brotherly bond.

Fantastic story

A great fantasy story! I really enjoyed the non epic feel of it. Such a refreshing change of pace.

Headfirst without a plan

Nix: “You get the big one, Egil.”
A decent story when listening just for the fun of Egil and Nix taking on an entire guild of cut throat zealots. I’m not sure about calling it a thieves guild, since there wasn’t any thieving; it was more like a Darwinian assassin’s guild devoted to a god that promotes whomever kills his boss without getting caught.

Egil: “I smash things and make pithy and profound observations. You make plans and things go wrong.”
Nix: “Did you say pithy?”
When friends become targets, Egil and Nix come to their aid by charging head first into the guild’s lair. Things get stabby stabby and the guild declares all out war. Then the story plays out much like book 1: with a half-baked plan, Egil and Nix journey into a magically forbidding land to invoke powerful magics and tangle with a being of great power.

Nix: “Recompense? You’ve been reading, haven’t you?”
I liked the treatment of the duo’s tough history, but at this point am growing tired of being told rather than shown the crucible that made them the men they now are; Egil lost his wife and daughter, and Nix killed a man for insufficient reason, but two books in and we still don’t know what exactly went down in either of their pivotal moments. Given how much their memories factor into the magical menace, it would have been more impactful to know the deets.

Minor nitpicks: Two books in and women exist only to be damsels and love interests. The author has a thing for overusing certain words, including the use of “frenetically” continuing from the last book and “bunghole” serving as a running gag that wore out its welcome.