"This irreverent fantasy is narrated superbly by author Christopher Buehlman. Along with his firsthand knowledge of the text and how he means it to be conveyed, Buehlman uses nuance, inflection, and a casual way of saying outrageous things to continually tickle the funny bone." (AudioFile Magazine)

Set in a world of goblin wars, stag-sized battle ravens, and assassins who kill with deadly tattoos, Christopher Buehlman's The Blacktongue Thief begins a "dazzling" (Robin Hobb) fantasy adventure unlike any other.

Kinch Na Shannack owes the Takers Guild a small fortune for his education as a thief, which includes (but is not limited to) lock-picking, knife-fighting, wall-scaling, fall-breaking, lie-weaving, trap-making, plus a few small magics. His debt has driven him to lie in wait by the old forest road, planning to rob the next traveler that crosses his path.

But today, Kinch Na Shannack has picked the wrong mark.

Galva is a knight, a survivor of the brutal goblin wars, and handmaiden of the goddess of death. She is searching for her queen, missing since a distant northern city fell to giants.

Unsuccessful in his robbery and lucky to escape with his life, Kinch now finds his fate entangled with Galva's. Common enemies and uncommon dangers force thief and knight on an epic journey where goblins hunger for human flesh, krakens hunt in dark waters, and honor is a luxury few can afford.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books

“The Blacktongue Thief is fast and fun and filled with crazy magic. I can't wait to see what Christopher Buehlman does next." (Brent Weeks, New York Times best-selling author of the Lightbringer series)

Listening Length

12 hours and 26 minutes
Author

Christopher Buehlman
Narrator

Christopher Buehlman
Audible release date

May 25, 2021
Language

English
Publisher

Macmillan Audio
ASIN

B08JGLBXWG
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	12 hours and 26 minutes
Author	Christopher Buehlman
Narrator	Christopher Buehlman
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	May 25, 2021
Publisher	Macmillan Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B08JGLBXWG
Best Sellers Rank	#3,433 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #20 in Humorous Fantasy (Audible Books & Originals) #139 in Action & Adventure Fantasy (Audible Books & Originals) #259 in Epic Fantasy (Audible Books & Originals)

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

3,924 global ratings

5 star		71%
4 star		23%
3 star		5%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

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D. Battista

Incredibly fun read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 23, 2023

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I thought Between Two Fires was okay. I could tell the author was talented, and I enjoyed parts of the book, but overall it didn’t grab me. A lot of people love that book, so maybe it simply wasn’t my style.

Then I read The Blacktongue Thief. This book is simply great fun, and I want more. Christopher’s 1st try at high fantasy is nothing short of amazing. The book is told from the 1st person, which gives it a different feel. The world he creates is rich, but he doesn’t needlessly dwell on world-building

There’s action, and violence, but it serves the story well without either being done for the sake of it. Simply, this book is amazingly fun.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Edward Brock

Such A Fun Ride

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 11, 2023

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Such a fun, fascinating, thrilling, and quirky ride. All the players, and adventure, in this highly entertaining fantasy tale are a joy to read. I eagerly look forward to (and demand) a return to this world. This is the story Amazon needs to pay for and adapt.

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Amazon Customer

Stunningly good

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 14, 2023

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Masterful storytelling. Takes conventional fantasy archetypes and themes- goblins, giants, witches, quests- and crafts them somewhat to be unique. And its a helluva story

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Herman Menderchucks Armada

I am in love with this world.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 21, 2022

Verified Purchase

This book is a fun ride. The world and the characters are fully fleshed out and the story is epic. I can't wait to read the sequals. I enjoy a good come-back story as well as the anti-hero protagonist.

Helpful

Bill

Excellent

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 17, 2022

Verified Purchase

One of the best fantasy novels I've read in a long time. Kind of reminds me of the Nevernight Chronicles with a thief/mage main character though not nearly as OP as in the Jay Kristoff books. Amazing world building, Dialogue, and magic system.

One person found this helpful

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Michael Delaney

A tremendous start a fantastic series

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 18, 2022

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When I first started reading this, I picked up on some similarities that I thought were from The Hobbit, but an author friend of mine gave me some much needed historical knowledge. 3rd person omniscient is not something that is used often in todays works but was used often in past generations, namely in Tolkien’s generation, this can be confused with breaking the 4th wall to speak to the audience. Buehlman draws from the past to bring back an underutilized style to the present with an incredible story.

“If you’ve never fallen hard in love and lost your heart’s sovereign, go on and laugh at me. If you have, have a drink and dab an eye.”

Buehlman does a fantastic job of creating a vast world full of complex history and gives little info dumps throughout of what happened in the past to help you understand what’s going on in his world today. We are also given some classic fantasy creatures like giants, witches and goblins, not to mention, gigantic birds… and a creature pulled straight from Nordic and Greek mythology. Buehlman gives these creatures vivid descriptions that is both unique and terrifying, that lead to some pretty epic sequences. After a quick google search, I’ve come to realize that Kinch might be based on Buehlman’s Renaissance character, Christophe the Insultor! If it’s not, it’s still cool that he gets paid to insult people at Renaissance Fairs 😂

“Only the strong, the rich, and the dying think truth is a necessity; the rest of us know it for a luxury.
“I will hear your song and speak for you in my dream,” I said, taking care she didn’t see the black, black tongue in me.”

With that said, I have to grade this with the audio in mind as well as the story itself since I did it with Kindle Whispersync. The narration which was done by the author, I wasn’t a big fan of at first, but it grew on me as the story went on. There were a few times near the beginning that the accents being used were a little difficult to decipher, but overall it was still a good job by the author. There were also some songs written in the story, very similar to The Hobbit and I do feel like they are a nod to Tolkien, and I am pleased to say that I enjoyed them all and Mr. Buehlman’s singing voice. I can’t wait to find out what happens next!

7 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Enjoyable ... mostly

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 17, 2022

Verified Purchase

Blacktongue Thief kicks off strongly with a creative fantasy world building, richly built characters and humorous narrative. Story has many surprises, tensions are compelling and the scenario could fit several books with stories. However... At about 3/4 of it I become a little bored as most of its strengths became tiresome. Every paragraph had a joke, lots of explanations about language and culture just to... make jokes, and good opportunities for great dialogues or reflections spoiled by, you guessed, jokes. Overall is a good book (3.5 would be a more precise score) and I would try to a read a follow up or something in that universe, hoping the author would shift a little more between comedy, drama and thriller

4 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

A Very Unique Tale

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 10, 2022

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This is an amazing book. The action is well done, the magic surprising and well thought out. There are some really good passages in here that stir the heart. Huge fan of Kinch and Norrigal.

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Top reviews from other countries

Lagoon

What a wonderful world.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 27, 2021

Verified Purchase

A sense of place can transform a novel. Making full use of settings can transport the reader and put them front and centre in what the characters experience. Of course, if you are making up an entire new landscape, this task becomes far more demanding. And creating new words and weapons to inhabit this world is another Herculean endeavour. For those reasons alone, I think authors of fantasy novels have to go above and beyond in delivering a novel that ticks readers’ boxes. The Blacktongue Thief does that with panache.

My favourite scenes were those set on the high seas, but with mythical beasts and sorcery, you are never far away from losing yourself in the latest trials and perils.

This is a long book and the sort of dizzy heights that some of the fight scenes attain cannot be maintained in every chapter. But, there is so much to enjoy here and it’s very much a case of enjoying the journey. I certainly did.

9 people found this helpful

Rick P

Not that good really.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 6, 2021

Verified Purchase

This book may be good, but it likens itself to The Lies of Locke Lamora. The issue that I have, is having read the latter, only in the very recent past and deciding that it is possibly the best book that I have read, it becomes a very big act to follow and for me, there is just no comparison.
If I had not read and admired Scott Lynch's incredible story telling skills so much, I would possibly have enjoyed The Blacktongue Thief more, but alas.......

9 people found this helpful

Difficult to score.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 14, 2021

Verified Purchase

Firstly, I don't read fantasy often but loved The Lies of Locke Lamora and almost anything by Jos Abercrombe. This book starts well. The set up is great and the world building excellant. Unfortunately somewhere around the sea voyage it becomes a series of events that just seemed designed to make the journey longer and the ending further away. There is also a strangeness to some of the journey which reminds me a little of China Mievilles writing. I think four is a fair score but I was thinking of three at some point in the last third of the book. Will I read more? I doubt it but the cat might drag me in.

6 people found this helpful

Manda Scott

Brilliant, intelligent, beautiful, wild

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 5, 2021

Verified Purchase

This is the author’s first fantasy novel. I haven’t read the horror (and to be honest, don’t intend to: not my genre) but this is magical: a book of cleverly crafted language, brilliant, deep, beautiful world building, characters with actual depth and the kind of plot that keeps drawing you on in, all the way to the end. I wish I’d found it when there was a whole series, but I’m happy to wait. This kind of creativity is what gives me hope that the world might not be as doomed as it seems.

4 people found this helpful

Mrs K Hamilton-Viall

My husband loved it

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 10, 2022

Verified Purchase

I’m writing a short review on behalf of my husband who isn’t very PC literate but as a fellow author myself , I know how much they appreciate reviews. My husband loved the book. He didn’t want to put it down and kept telling me how good it was. He’s already been looking for more by the same author. The star rating is what he told me.

3 people found this helpful

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