I Would Rather Be Reading

Nina Kimberly the Merciless, both the character and the book, are summed up perfectly in the first paragraph of the book:

Nina blushed, then cut the man’s head off . . . . Or at least, mostly off. In her haste, she slopped the follow-through and failed to completely sever the neck, a lapse that did nothing to improve her mood. The end result, however, was much the same, and the remains of her would-be suitor slumped to the floor.

In a recent interview, Ellis talked about how the first line of the book stalked her until she started writing the book.

The book is about Nina, the teenage daughter of Marcus the Merciless, is a heroine like I have never seen before. She sets off on a heroic quest, with a dimwitted king who thinks he is in love with her. Along the way, she encounters (of course) a dragon and a handsome rouge. Their adventures take a humerous trip through many fantasy tropes, giving them the humorous treatment that tropes deserve.

For example, Nina is on a quest to find a wizard give her magical aid. She eventually finds the wizard, who, of course, helps her understand several problems she has been encountering. When she leaves the wizard, she tries to offer him some compensation. In response, he says:

“No please.” He waved his hands and walked forward to take her hand. “I need nothing in return. It has done my heart good to play a small and primarily expository but nonethless critical role in your larger story.”

Another humorous aspect that I love about the book is the number of people who refer to Nina as “Miss the Merciless.” For some reason, I found this really amusing.

In addition to the novel succeeding on a humorous level, it also works well as a story. Sure the book is not War and Peace. Then again, I have never had anyone put a copy of War and Peace in my hand tell me that I had to read it because it was such a fun book. Here, I will tell you that with this book. In a nutshell, Nina Kimberly the Merciless by Christiana Ellis a fun and clever read. I am putting it in your virtual hand and telling you to read it.