Ahoy mateys! Here be me updated review. This is the first book in the Blacktongue series.  I read this in e-book form but this time around I listened to the audiobook version.  I wanted a refresher before I read the prequel that is due out on June 25th of this year.  I loved this!  The author narrates and is excellent.  Songs in novels don't usually do it for me but I loved hearing them in this (though I think the author was not the singer).  I actually think this is one of those audiobooks that makes the book even better.  I had a problem with the pacing and the history lessons when I first read it. Not this time.  I love Kinch Na Shannack and cannot wait to get more of his story.  Arrrr!

**********

Ahoy there me mateys!  I received this fantasy eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  So here be me honest musings . . .

With a title like that and a cat on the cover, I knew this book had to be on me list.  Plus it be getting five star reviews all over the place.  The ending of this book paid off for me but I have to admit that the ride there was rough.

First off all, I did absolutely adore the set-up for this book.  The main character, Kinch Na Shannack, is a member of the Thieves Guild (i.e. Takers Guild) who happens to owe them a large debt.  He tries to rob his mark and it goes poorly, much to me delight.  It was an excellent introduction to two characters who be forced to work together.  Include the cat, at least one assassin, and other dubious folk and there are a lot of unsavory people to cheer for.  Like Kinch himself.  He is a jerk but grew on me.

I did also very much enjoy the world building.  I love that humans are failing in the goblin wars, giants are becoming a problem, tattoos can come alive, and witches are rather creepy.  The magic system and politics of the guilds were lovely and had some unexpected consequences.  The world felt well developed.  But this was also the problem; the development made the pace so uneven for me. 

The story format is a travelogue, but basically the beginning of every chapter had a history lesson in some form.  I normally love such things but they interrupted the flow of both the characters' journey and the action sequences themselves.  It was frustrating and the unevenness made me keep setting the book down. Thus it took me a lot longer than normal to read then a book this size normally would.

It may not have been a five star read like it was for the rest of the crew but I am curious to see what will happen next.  Arrr!

So lastly . . .

Thank you Macmillian/Tor-Forge!