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Kill All Wizards
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Overview
SWORDS, SORCERY, AND A SPOT OF TEA
We could think of nothing but the barbarian. He had come here, surely, to murder or marry someone, to exact revenge, or to say or do something very scandalous. We could hardly wait to see which it was. We hoped it would be all of them.
The barbarian traveled far to consult the wizards of the empire. Instead of lending their aid, they ensorcelled him, exploited his strength, and stole his sword. They should not have done that.
Now the barbarian plans to kill every wizard who wronged him, even if that means blending in with their vile society: dressing in finery, taking tea in exclusive clubs, and reserving the best box at the theater.
Oh, he hates it all with the fiery passion of his savage heart--but not as much as he hates these wizards.
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Details
- ISBN-13: 9781250908056
- ISBN-10: 1250908051
- Publisher: Tordotcom
- Publish Date: June 2026
- Dimensions: 8.55 x 5.61 x 0.72 inches
- Shipping Weight: 0.53 pounds
- Page Count: 144
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- 1
Imagine, for a moment, a barbarian. Summon the classic image in your mind’s eye: the wide chest, the massive sword, the wild-eyed savagery. Now, drape him in a perfectly tailored oxblood-and-cream worsted wool suit. Jedediah Berry’s subversive, witty and absolutely untamed novella Kill All Wizards gleefully pits dissimilar images and ideas like these against one another. The result is a surprising fantasy world that’s deeper than the concept initially reveals.
That concept, where a barbarian named Gotchimus pursues and dispatches various wizards as vengeance for the torture and death of his brother, sounds like a classic sword-and-sorcery setup if ever there was one. However, the world that Berry has created has all of the societal expectations of a Jane Austen novel. So, to find his quarries, Gotchimus must act the gentleman, attend the theater in the best box, sip tea in discerning establishments and generally conduct himself less like a barbarian and more like a gentleman. But underneath it all is Gotchimus’ undying desire to unmake those wizards who deserve it, as visions of a brother tortured to madness live in the barbarian’s thoughts forever. My my, what fun.
Look, I know what you’re probably thinking. There is no way that this will work: The premise is too wacky and the structure will buckle. I was worried, too. But the funniest thing happened. For all of the humor in the contrasts between a fantasy world and a novel of manners, the underlying foundation of Kill All Wizards is a rip-roaring fantasy adventure that’s impossible to put down. The narrative is so tightly woven, the fight sequences with each wizard so wonderful and weird and exciting, that I found myself forgetting about the mashup altogether. In fact, reading Kill All Wizards as a tongue-in-cheek experiment does a disservice to its strength as a serious entry in the fantasy genre. Call me old-fashioned, but I let a book tell me what it is.
Those familiar with the subtleties of a novel of manners will delight in Berry’s Austen-esque voice and witticisms, and fantasy readers will find an inventive universe with whimsical magic and a protagonist of surprising complexity. Yes, this book is about a barbarian in a suit, but it’s also about a new world worthy of future adventures. A tip of the cap, indeed.
Imagine, for a moment, a barbarian. Summon the classic image in your mind’s eye: the wide chest, the massive sword, the wild-eyed savagery. Now, drape him in a perfectly tailored oxblood-and-cream worsted wool suit. Jedediah Berry’s subversive, witty and absolutely untamed novella Kill All Wizards gleefully pits dissimilar images and ideas like these against one another. The result is a surprising fantasy world that’s deeper than the concept initially reveals.
That concept, where a barbarian named Gotchimus pursues and dispatches various wizards as vengeance for the torture and death of his brother, sounds like a classic sword-and-sorcery setup if ever there was one. However, the world that Berry has created has all of the societal expectations of a Jane Austen novel. So, to find his quarries, Gotchimus must act the gentleman, attend the theater in the best box, sip tea in discerning establishments and generally conduct himself less like a barbarian and more like a gentleman. But underneath it all is Gotchimus’ undying desire to unmake those wizards who deserve it, as visions of a brother tortured to madness live in the barbarian’s thoughts forever. My my, what fun.
Look, I know what you’re probably thinking. There is no way that this will work: The premise is too wacky and the structure will buckle. I was worried, too. But the funniest thing happened. For all of the humor in the contrasts between a fantasy world and a novel of manners, the underlying foundation of Kill All Wizards is a rip-roaring fantasy adventure that’s impossible to put down. The narrative is so tightly woven, the fight sequences with each wizard so wonderful and weird and exciting, that I found myself forgetting about the mashup altogether. In fact, reading Kill All Wizards as a tongue-in-cheek experiment does a disservice to its strength as a serious entry in the fantasy genre. Call me old-fashioned, but I let a book tell me what it is.
Those familiar with the subtleties of a novel of manners will delight in Berry’s Austen-esque voice and witticisms, and fantasy readers will find an inventive universe with whimsical magic and a protagonist of surprising complexity. Yes, this book is about a barbarian in a suit, but it’s also about a new world worthy of future adventures. A tip of the cap, indeed.