Kill the Farm Boy - (Tales of Pell) by Kevin Hearne & Delilah S Dawson (Paperback)

About the Book

Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, a hero, the Chosen One, was born . . . and so begins every fairy tale ever told. This is not that fairy tale. There is a Chosen One, but he is unlike any One who has ever been Chosened. And there is a faraway kingdom, but you have never been to a magical world quite like the land of Pell. There, a plucky farm boy will find more than he's bargained for on his quest to awaken the sleeping princess in her cursed tower. First there's the Dark Lord, who wishes for the boy's untimely death . . . and also very fine cheese. Then there's a bard without a song in her heart but with a very adorable and fuzzy tail, an assassin who fears not the night but is terrified of chickens, and a mighty fighter more frightened of her sword than of her chain-mail bikini. This journey will lead to sinister umlauts, a trash-talking goat, the Dread Necromancer Steve, and a strange and wondrous journey to the most peculiar "happily ever after" that ever once-upon-a-timed.

Book Synopsis

In an irreverent series in the tradition of Monty Python, the bestselling authors of the Iron Druid Chronicles and Star Wars: Phasma reinvent fantasy, fairy tales, and floridly written feast scenes.

"Ranks among the best of Christopher Moore and Terry Pratchett."--Chuck Wendig

"When you put two authors of this high caliber together, expect fireworks. Or at least laughs. What a hoot!"--Terry Brooks

Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, a hero, the Chosen One, was born . . . and so begins every fairy tale ever told.

This is not that fairy tale.

There is a Chosen One, but he is unlike any One who has ever been Chosened.

And there is a faraway kingdom, but you have never been to a magical world quite like the land of Pell.

There, a plucky farm boy will find more than he's bargained for on his quest to awaken the sleeping princess in her cursed tower. First there's the Dark Lord, who wishes for the boy's untimely death . . . and also very fine cheese. Then there's a bard without a song in her heart but with a very adorable and fuzzy tail, an assassin who fears not the night but is terrified of chickens, and a mighty fighter more frightened of her sword than of her chain-mail bikini. This journey will lead to sinister umlauts, a trash-talking goat, the Dread Necromancer Steve, and a strange and wondrous journey to the most peculiar "happily ever after" that ever once-upon-a-timed.

Praise for Kill the Farm Boy

"A rollicking fantasy adventure that upends numerous genre tropes in audacious style . . . a laugh-out-loud-funny fusion of Monty Python-esque humor and whimsy à la Terry Pratchett's Discworld."--Kirkus Reviews

"Dawson and Hearne's reimagining of a traditional fairy tale is reminiscent of William Goldman's The Princess Bride and William Steig's Shrek! Irreverent, funny, and full of entertaining wordplay, this will keep readers guessing until the end."--Library Journal

"Will have you laughing out loud until strangers begin to look at you oddly."--SyFy

"A smart comedy . . . nuanced, complicated, and human."--Tordotcom

"[Delilah Dawson and Kevin Hearne] make fun of the typical 'white male power fantasies, ' and in that, they succeed, with their heroes all characters of color and/or falling somewhere under the LGBTQ umbrella."--Publishers Weekly

Review Quotes

"When you put two authors of this high caliber together, expect fireworks. Or at least laughs. What a hoot!"--Terry Brooks

"Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne have rigged up an absurdly funny fantasy riff on the Chosen One story, and it had me laughing from literally the name of the first chapter. Kill the Farm Boy ranks among the best of Christopher Moore and Terry Pratchett and is not to be missed."--Chuck Wendig

"A rollicking fantasy adventure that upends numerous genre tropes in audacious style, the first installment of Dawson and Hearne's Tales of Pell series is a laugh-out-loud-funny fusion of Monty Python-esque humor and whimsy à la Terry Pratchett's Discworld."--Kirkus Reviews

"Dawson and Hearne's reimagining of a traditional fairy tale is reminiscent of William Goldman's The Princess Bride and William Steig's Shrek! Irreverent, funny, and full of entertaining wordplay, this will keep readers guessing until the end."--Library Journal

"The hilarious parody novel by New York Times best-selling authors Delilah Dawson and Kevin Hearne is one of the brightest reading selections of the summer, and its deliriously fun tone and satirical embrace will have you laughing out loud until strangers begin to look at you oddly."--SyFy

"Kill the Farm Boy is a smart comedy, not only because it skewers modern tropes with a deft but direct hand, provides twists and turns to what should be a classic quest, or has representation in sorely needed ways, but because Dawson and Hearne know exactly when to dole out the humor amidst all this deconstruction of narrative. . . . Under Dawson and Hearne's meticulous care and curating, [the characters] become nuanced, complicated, and human."--Tordotcom

"[Delilah Dawson and Kevin Hearne] wanted to make fun of the typical 'white male power fantasies, ' and in that, they succeed, with their heroes all characters of color and/or falling somewhere under the LGBTQ umbrella."--Publishers Weekly

"Silly fun."--Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star

"A fantasy saga with a sense of humor . . . The book is fun to read and clearly was fun to write."--Asheville Citizen Times

"Dawson and Hearne do a fantastic job of giving each character their own voice. . . . These characters are imbued with respect and humanity. . . . Modern sensibilities, engaging humor, fantastic characters, and a ripping yarn."--SFFWorld

"Take every fantasy trope, every dungeon crawl, every fairytale stereotype and put them in a bag, smash the bag with a hammer, then dump out the pieces and you get Kill the Farm Boy. It's a romp of a book, with clever turns of phrase, goofy characters, a quest they don't realize they're on, all while poking fun at every fantasy book you've ever read. Terry Pratchett would be proud. . . . Simply fun to read."--Elitist Book Reviews

"A laugh-out-loud-funny fusion of Monty Python-esque humor and whimsy à la Terry Pratchett's Discworld."
--Kirkus Reviews

"Reminiscent of William Goldman's The Princess Bride and William Steig's Shrek! Irreverent, funny, and full of entertaining wordplay, this will keep readers guessing until the end."
--Library Journal

"[Dawson and Hearne] make fun of the typical 'white male power fantasies, ' and in that, they succeed, with their heroes all characters of color and/or falling somewhere under the LGBTQ umbrella."
--Publishers Weekly

"Will have you laughing out loud until strangers begin to look at you oddly."
--SyFy

"A smart comedy . . . nuanced, complicated, and human."
--Tor.com

About the Author

Kevin Hearne hugs trees, pets doggies, and rocks out to heavy metal. He also thinks tacos are a pretty nifty idea. He is the New York Times bestselling author of The Iron Druid Chronicles, the Ink & Sigil series, and the Seven Kennings series, and is co-author of The Tales of Pell with Delilah S. Dawson.

Delilah S. Dawson is the author of the New York Times bestseller Star Wars: Phasma, Hit, Servants of the Storm, the Blud series, the creator-owned comics Ladycastle and Sparrowhawk, and the Shadow series (written as Lila Bowen). She lives in Florida with her family and a fat mutt named Merle.