Friday Fiction Fix: "The Misadventures of Strylun and Xerk"

The Short:

The Misadventures of Strylun and Xerk

By: Wayne Thomas Batson

4.5/5 Stars

What: Two bounty hunters fatefully meet in a tavern. The only catch is, they each have the warrant for the other.

Recommended to those who like: Fun, Novella, Clean, Fantasy

The Long:

This was a bit of an impulse buy for me a while back. I love Batson’s writing and I thought I would pick up this novella for kicks and giggles.

While I wasn’t so sure of my choice at first, I quickly fell in love with this humorous and fast-paced story. Strylun and Xerk each arrive at a remote tavern with a warrant for a fugitive. The only catch? Strylun has a warrant for Xerk’s arrest, while Xerk has a warrant for his—and that just won’t cut it. After all, there’s gold on the line. But if they can somehow work past their differences, they may eventually find a way to earn enough gold to keep them both out of prison.

The resulting story is a humorous, fast-paced read that manages to balance good character development, a few deeper thoughts, and wit.

While Mr. Batson is a Christian author, this story would fall simply under the “clean” category. I hope he revisits the characters in the future; they’re quite entertaining and he hints at some interesting larger plots afoot in the story world.

The Bottom Line: This humorous novella would be well-suited for fantasy fans out for a (mostly) light-hearted read.