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Game of Gnomes: A Gnome Hope
Intrigue. Explosions. Illicit magic abuse.
These morally questionable ingredients make up another outrageous adventure from Gassy, Borty, and Turdlet. With the Crimicon long in the past, the gnomes find themselves bouncing from one criminal caper to another until an encounter with a familiar face reveals a nobler path.
Will they answer the righteous call and save the day? Or will emotionally scarring misadventures lead them astray?
The stakes are higher, the story’s bigger, but our heroes are just as small.
These morally questionable ingredients make up another outrageous adventure from Gassy, Borty, and Turdlet. With the Crimicon long in the past, the gnomes find themselves bouncing from one criminal caper to another until an encounter with a familiar face reveals a nobler path.
Will they answer the righteous call and save the day? Or will emotionally scarring misadventures lead them astray?
The stakes are higher, the story’s bigger, but our heroes are just as small.
228 pages, ebook
First published August 6, 2021
About the author
M.J. Northwood
3 books7 followersA Co-Founder of Critical Tales, M. J. Northwood has taken his years of storytelling experience and gathered it into his latest books.
Regardless of the media format, M. J. Northwood adores telling fresh and exciting stories that plays with the reader's imagination while tickling that rather childish funny-bone many of us adults still have.
After winning a competition at a younger age, M. J. worked towards creating his first full-length novel under commission. After spending a few years travelling and living in Japan, he delivered his first book.
Soon after, M. J. independently developed Game of Gnomes: The Necrognomicon. He worked tirelessly with a few friends to found Critical Tales and give Game of Gnomes the launch it deserved.
The cat in the picture with M. J. is called Shaggy and he's turning 19 this year.
Regardless of the media format, M. J. Northwood adores telling fresh and exciting stories that plays with the reader's imagination while tickling that rather childish funny-bone many of us adults still have.
After winning a competition at a younger age, M. J. worked towards creating his first full-length novel under commission. After spending a few years travelling and living in Japan, he delivered his first book.
Soon after, M. J. independently developed Game of Gnomes: The Necrognomicon. He worked tirelessly with a few friends to found Critical Tales and give Game of Gnomes the launch it deserved.
The cat in the picture with M. J. is called Shaggy and he's turning 19 this year.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 22, 2021
I’d first like to thank @criticaltalesofficial for an advance reading copy for an honest review.
So I’ve followed the trio of gnomes yet again on another adventure. It’s safe to say that shenanigans ensue, things get funny, things get weird, but overall, things get bigger (even when the heroes are small). Overall, I definitely enjoyed this instalment a lot more, and I definitely didn’t expect it to end the way it did. I’d definitely suggest to who likes their fantasy comedy.
So I’ve followed the trio of gnomes yet again on another adventure. It’s safe to say that shenanigans ensue, things get funny, things get weird, but overall, things get bigger (even when the heroes are small). Overall, I definitely enjoyed this instalment a lot more, and I definitely didn’t expect it to end the way it did. I’d definitely suggest to who likes their fantasy comedy.
September 20, 2023
I received a digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review
M. J. Northwood is back with his high fantasy, darkly comedic series Game of Gnomes and its second instalment: A Gnome Hope. (Seriously I can’t be the only one who hopes Northwood continues with this series purely to see how many gnome-based title puns he can come up with.)
I liked that A Gnome Hope featured more female characters, like Josi, who interacted with the three gnomes throughout the story rather than just appearing for a just single scene then disappearing. The Game of Gnomes series is very much Gassy, Borty and Turdlet’s story but I believe this inclusion and wider range of supporting characters will help this second instalment appeal to more readers.
I was delighted to see Northwood’s distinctive narrative style continue into the second novel. The story is told by an informal 3rd person narrator who often gets distracted from the main plot and instead tells the reader the history of a creature or an event that the characters briefly come into contact with. This fun, playful style is very entertaining and it makes the story feel as though the narrator is conversing with the reader. Included in the novel were a couple of fourth wall breaks where the gnomes seemed to be aware that they were in a story. Is this just Northwood having fun or a clue that the Game of Gnomes series is being recounted by one or more of the gnomes at some point in the future?
In my previous review I was critical of The Necrognomicon’s over use of ‘dirty/crass’ humour. This still appears in A Gnome Hope but the frequency has been dialled back compared to the first novel. The Game of Gnomes series does rely heavily on humour and I was pleased to see that this time there was more of a balance between the different humour types which included: ‘dirty’, dark, absurd and light-hearted. While the novel’s humour may not appeal to every reader, I do believe that there is enough variety for all readers to find something they will enjoy.
As a sequel, A Gnome Hope manages to continue everything that made the first novel unique but is still able to tell its own individual story. The novel focuses on humour and entertaining its reader. With so many wild details included within the story, I suspect it may take a couple of read-throughs to catch all of them. Nevertheless the book is sure to thrill returning readers and capture the imaginations of new readers to the series.
For the full version of my review visit Lair of Reviews
M. J. Northwood is back with his high fantasy, darkly comedic series Game of Gnomes and its second instalment: A Gnome Hope. (Seriously I can’t be the only one who hopes Northwood continues with this series purely to see how many gnome-based title puns he can come up with.)
I liked that A Gnome Hope featured more female characters, like Josi, who interacted with the three gnomes throughout the story rather than just appearing for a just single scene then disappearing. The Game of Gnomes series is very much Gassy, Borty and Turdlet’s story but I believe this inclusion and wider range of supporting characters will help this second instalment appeal to more readers.
I was delighted to see Northwood’s distinctive narrative style continue into the second novel. The story is told by an informal 3rd person narrator who often gets distracted from the main plot and instead tells the reader the history of a creature or an event that the characters briefly come into contact with. This fun, playful style is very entertaining and it makes the story feel as though the narrator is conversing with the reader. Included in the novel were a couple of fourth wall breaks where the gnomes seemed to be aware that they were in a story. Is this just Northwood having fun or a clue that the Game of Gnomes series is being recounted by one or more of the gnomes at some point in the future?
In my previous review I was critical of The Necrognomicon’s over use of ‘dirty/crass’ humour. This still appears in A Gnome Hope but the frequency has been dialled back compared to the first novel. The Game of Gnomes series does rely heavily on humour and I was pleased to see that this time there was more of a balance between the different humour types which included: ‘dirty’, dark, absurd and light-hearted. While the novel’s humour may not appeal to every reader, I do believe that there is enough variety for all readers to find something they will enjoy.
As a sequel, A Gnome Hope manages to continue everything that made the first novel unique but is still able to tell its own individual story. The novel focuses on humour and entertaining its reader. With so many wild details included within the story, I suspect it may take a couple of read-throughs to catch all of them. Nevertheless the book is sure to thrill returning readers and capture the imaginations of new readers to the series.
For the full version of my review visit Lair of Reviews
December 13, 2021
This book was a lot of fun. Three gnomes become integral parts of a rebellion to overthrow a corrupt government, but can heroes named Borty, Gassy, and Turdlet really save the day? Humor and fantasy are hard to mix well, but this book does it perfectly. The humor ranges from clever wordplay and puns to outright slapstick, always something different, and yet never loses sight of the larger plot. It even gets surprisingly emotional at times. It's the second in a series, but it's not critical to read the first one to enjoy this one.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews