Book Review
Title: They Met in a Tavern by Elijah Menchaca
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Rating: 3.75 Stars
I have to mention a few things before I get into my review of They Met in a Tavern. The first, is that this book was devoured in a single sitting and for a book of over 400 pages is a real compliment. The second is that I wasn’t expecting this to be as humorous as it was and it really reminded me of Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames which I adored. Honestly, TMIAT comes across as a more light-hearted version of Abercrombie who I also adore.
There were many things to love about TMIAT and I had relative few issues with it. That being said I am not a person who likes novels with an PRG or DnD vibe to them and the ones I do like are done exceptionally well and I felt that overall TMIAT didn’t met that and I feel it was because it is a standalone fantasy novel and I would have loved lots more expansion on the world and characters, especially the female characters who I had some issues with which I will get to shortly.
I want to talk about the thing I enjoyed about TMIAT first, the major things that I LOVED about this book was it doesn’t take place during the “key” event that fantasy novels are often set around. For Kings of the Wyld this is a rescue and for Abercrombie it is a war. TMIAT takes place after that key event so you are seeing the repercussion, consequences and the aftermath that the characters have to deal with which was a unique perspective for Menchaca to take. We get to see how the different characters dealt with this event differently for drug use to regret and much more through the cast of characters. Out of the range of characters we are presented with I have to say that Brass would have to be favourite as he is humorous and just full of witty remarks and the opening scene from Brass’ perspective made me laugh out loud which isn’t something books do very often.
I have to say that Menchaca does have a real way with words and I can’t wait to see if the author comes out with more work in either a fantasy setting or within this universe and expands on it. I also really liked the representation in this novel, as an autistic person myself seeing Phoenix being autistic-coded and yet not being set back or challenged by this was nice to see. Phoenix at his core is an intelligent inventor who can make decision really quickly and his neurodivergence is clearly seen without it being a bad thing and I definitely want to see more of in fantasy books.
The one major complaint that I had with TMIAT and one that I have with several other fantasy books is the portrayal of female characters as they seem very flat and lifeless in comparison to their male counterparts. In TMIAT there are only 4 main female characters: Elizabeth, Snow, Ruby and Angel. All these women can be summed up in a few words which was devastating for me, especially Elizabeth who I felt had the potential to play a bigger role being reduced to simply a wife and mother. It really felt like the author kept forgetting about the female characters and only brought them into play when it was dire which meant that we the readers kept forgetting about them and were surprised when they turned up. Also in comparison to their male counterparts they get almost no backstory or real development like we get with Church and Brass which was disappointing.
Overall, I felt that TMIAT had a lot potential that was overlooked by condensing this down into a standalone novel and it would have benefitted from a series expansion where the characters could be given more depth and be fleshed out more especially the female characters. That being said, this was a great addition to the genre and surprised me in a lot of way and I will definitely be keeping an eye on Menchaca as an author and I can’t wait to see how they grow and develop as their writing continues. If you are looking for a witty yet insightful fantasy novel with unique perspectives on the genre then I definitely recommend picking up TMIAT.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Comments