The Part About the Dragon Was (Mostly) True

Flipping loved this fun and sarcastically witty story!Hear, hear, the tale of unfathomable bravery!First off, Sean Gibson wrote an immensely funny story for us and I think he did a grandiose job with it, and secondly, from my perspective as a reader, I just ate it up laughing and loving it to bits! It is my semi sound notion to tell you that this book is flipping hilarious and amazing!The Part about the Dragon Was Mostly True tells the story of a town or village (it is a debatable term hashed out numerable times in this book) that is pestered by a dragon destroying fields and the likelihood of Skendrick. What the townsfolk or villagers need is a solution and there are two choices for debate:Option 1:Assemble a band of hearty villagers to confront the dragon, orOption2:Hire brave adventurers to seek the dragon’s lair and defeat him cold-heartedly.Without giving away too much of this fantastic tale, this is how it went down.↓↓↓↓↓↓↓There are two versions of this funny nonsensical adventure. One is told by the renowned storyteller and brave Heloise the Bard in italic format, in which the heroes and actions are depicted as such:“The noble and humble bard recognized that the group before her was formidable indeed, and so she raised them up their prostrate positions, comforted the suffering Nadinta with a gentle touch on her shoulder, and told them that she would lead them to Skendrick, and that she felt deep in her bones that worthy adventurers would prove mighty enough to slay the dragon.”And then there is the side of the parts of the reality of it all, as the town has chosen option 2 and sent Goodman Drunkman and Goodman Youngman to sell the deal to Heloise in search of the brave!“The two men looked at each other. The younger one, clearly deferential, nodded to his older companion. “Well, said the older man, draining the rest of his ale, “I’m Goodman Drunkamn, and this is Goodman Youngman. We’re from Skendrick.”“Seriously?”“Skendrick is a fine town, a fine town!” bristled the younger man.“Skendrick is mildly less boring than Borden, which is one of the five most boring places I’ve ever been to and I’ve been to a lot of places,” I replied. “Though it’s a perfectly valid place to be from. I wasn’t seriously-ing your place of origin; I was seriously-ing your ridiculous names.”“Well, now, Ms. Heloise,” replied Goodman Drunkman, “it may not be so in other areas you frequent, but ‘Goodman’ is a pretty common form of address in many towns around .““Oh, come on! You can’t possibly be this thick.”The two men looked at each other. Youngman’s eyes were wide, and Drunkman just shrugged.“Or maybe you are.” I sighed, but Drunkman’s attention was on the barmaid, attempting to get her to bring more ale, and Youngman was looking down as he fiddled with a button on his tunic.”Oh, the reality of it all!A song is to tell the story of the aid needed in Skendrick and convince adventurers of the greatest opportunity the lands have ever heard of. And so, Heloise the Bard took it upon her to write a jaunty and catchy melody to convince!(on my blog there is the song listed here.)And so, a rag-tag team of wanna-be heroes with brave hearts who run into Heloise at an Inn is hired for the heroic deed.(on my blog there are character cards listed for the heroes here.)As all wanna-be heroes are in need of coin and fame and possess a natural thirst for adventure, Heloise entertains the notion of taking on this gullible team of misfits and joins them on the way to slaughter the dragon.Their adventure takes them through swamps and poses mindblowing riddles to get to the dragon, on to encounters with orcs, minataurs, chitinoids, and apelike gormalons (cave dwellers) among the long and treacherous path. And all the while Heloise is beginning to chime in less and less. With every new segment in the adventure, the novel takes on a sense of real fantasy. Left aside most of the initial and hilarious silliness, the characters are beginning to actually work together! They may not be the wiser and keep their silly personalities, but the actions they perform start to resemble that of teamwork. The question is, is that all it takes to save the citizens of Skendrick?***I really don’t want to give away much more. This story simply was fantastic. From the cover to the content, I loved everything about it. The premise of Heloise telling the story in italic with chapters that follow about the real deal and the crazy catastrophes was such a neat concept and it perfectly came together. I loved reading about the story once so heroic as in classic tales told, and then wind my way through parables of Monty Python style moments. Simply hilarious.There are so many funny characters to love and read about. I had such a laugh at the Drunkman’s and enjoyed Gibson’s overall witty and sarcastic humor he brought to this novel. Farmer Benton and Widow Gershon of the town of Skendrick were the first to set the tone of what was to come in this novel during the first town’s meeting and from there it just continued.From the first moment I feasted my eyes on that awesome cover of that book on Instagram to now, it has become one of my favorite reads this year. If I can tell everyone how funny this book is and make them read it, I will be a happy person. Who doesn’t need a bit of silliness and humor in their life?So, highly recommended reading by me. 😊ENJOYAll opinions are my own. Thank you!

Despite the author's social media claims, this book is brilliant. It follows Heloise, a gorgeous (by her claims) and witty bard with a penchant for dwarfs, coin, and ale as she accompanies a band of adventurers on a quest to slay a dragon. The Part About the Dragon Was (Mostly) True toys with fantasy tropes, setting up each leg of the adventure with rich prose and descriptions typical of high fantasy before plunging the reader into the the gritty, grimy, and odiferous reality of said adventure. I'm a sucker for an unreliable narrator, so Heloise, with her golden tongue, barbed quips, and rampant ADHD is absolute perfection. There are legit laugh-out-loud moments (just ask the lady stuck in the radiologist waiting room with me) originating from all styles of humor. It's rare to find a book that makes fun of itself so thoroughly and effectively. From word-play to absurdity, this book has the laughs covered. But my favorite thing about it is the way Gibson sets up stark contrasts at every turn with the alternating tones and dire situations cut with absurd tangents. Fart jokes aside, it's clear that Gibson is skilled in both storytelling and in comedy. This was exactly the ridiculous escape I needed.

Really enjoyed this humorous fantasy novel. Many laugh out loud moments as well as a plot that never got dull. The book has a format that worked great - chapters of the beautiful bard version of the story and then longer chapters which told what really happened.The characters are distinct and well-developed. The humor struck the right balance of not trying to hard. And I always appreciate Gibson's strong prose and college word usage. I have read a couple books by this author and this might be my favorite. The book before this I really enjoyed, but it took me a bit to warm up to. This one hooked me from the beginning.Looking forward to more adventures and hoping to see some of the supporting characters again - especially Wiska and Borg.

What's not to love about this book? It has high fantasy, low humor, and groan-worthy puns galore. It's like playing a D&D campaign (no, not DnD you internet-age whippersnappers!) where the DM is John Cleese. Or like a special comical version of The Hobbit that Tolkien might have told to his closest buddies when he was really hammered at The Bird and Baby, assuming he had a sense of humor. Did Tolkien have a sense of humor? I don't know. But Sean Gibson sure as hell does, and the world is a better place for it! His fantasy world, I mean. Our world is still hot garbage. Which is why you should read this! Seriously, give it a go. You'll be glad you did.

I'm a lifelong Terry Pratchett fan and Dungeons and Dragons player whose campaigns often go off into farcical directions, so let's just say that Sean Gibson's The Part About the Dragon Was (Mostly) True was pretty much written for me. It felt like a campaign at my table and had me laughing along for most of the story.Heloise is the very definition of an unreliable narrator and she lays out her tale with heavy doses of pithy humor and quips.

Nadinta Ghettinwood. Took me longer to get that than it should’ve. If you’re into puns, read this book now. If you’re not, there’s all kinds of humour in it, don’t worry. If you’re not into humour, well, I have absolutely no idea what you’re doing here.Spoiler alert – I miss a couple of characters from the previous book. Heloise the Bard is still here, not to worry, regaling us (is that like galing, but a second time?) with the exploits of a new cast. The crew consists of the aforementioned Nadinta, Rummy (who performs street magic), Whiska, a pissed off Ratarian wizard, and Borg, a rock giant. A strong Guardians of the Galaxy vibe, but with a very different set of individuals. Borg, in particular, I thought was extremely well written. It is not easy to write strong, silent, yet violent types, and make them interesting, but author Sean Gibson did a brilliant job here. How? Read and find out.

This book is five star fun! When an irreverent bard decides to set the record straight on an overhyped adventure, you know good times are about to roll, and they really do. I snickered and I belly-laughed, but I enjoyed the clever bits the most; especially the sneaky puns and sarcastic jabs. Heloise The Bard is a delight! I would buy her a tankard of the good stuff any day.Sean Gibson tells one hell of a tale!