As the old song goes, “It’s a pirate’s life for me.”  If you can imagine Popeye the Sailor Man and Yosemite Sam as a pirate and a dwarf of the classic fantasy variety, then you’ll have a hint at what’s coming in Grimbeard: Tales of the Last Dwarf, a new fantasy-comedy novel written and illustrated by Samwise Didier.  Didier is senior art director for Blizzard Entertainment, where he became known to fantasy gamers for his work on Warcraft, StarCraft, and Heroes of the Storm.

Captain Grimbeard is a salty old pirate who leads up a crew of two (a foodie TV-watching cook and the severed head of a formerly massive fellow) on his sea vessel, the Ol’ Girl, a ship that incorporates the aura of both a dragon and a dog.  He is also the last dwarf, resulting from a genocide caused by the worst of the fantasy races, the detestable, betraying, “traitor-ious” elven race.  Thrust a thousand years into the future he balances life as a cantankerous drinker of ales, a tough and hardy carrier of the great dwarf legacy, and a bawdy rogue finding his way among the worst part of today’s world… social media.  What is a dwarf to do?

Grimbeard shares in first person his exploits: how he missed out on the destruction of his race because he was breaking up a frost giant wedding, how he assembled his noble crew, how he started (and abandoned) his own Friday night boxing event, how he landed a (pretty-ish?) troll by consuming too much Taroellpiz, and how he ended up the centerpiece of his own surreal reality show.

Adventure Time fans, and fans of bawdy comedy shows like Ted, Family Guy, and South Park, will appreciate the humor here.  Grimbeard will also appeal to fans of the lighter, comedic side of fantasy roleplay.

Grimbeard might appeal to kids from 12 years and up but for some sparse pirate realm profanity (damn, shit, piss) and some sexual innuendo.  But the artwork is exactly what you’d normally find in a classic children’s book.  And the art is similar to that in any number of card games that feature fantasy cartoon characters (Munchkin, as an example).

Here are some preview pages:

Grimbeard: Tales of the Last Dwarf is a quick read filled with good humor (crude to some, silly to others), especially for fans of Gimli, Thorin, Dwalin, Balin, Gloin, Kili, Fili, Dori, Nori, Ori, Óin, Bifur, Bombur, and Bofur, and their kind, plus top-notch fantasy artwork.

Grimbeard: Tales of the Last Dwarf is available here at Amazon.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com