Greed by Tim Beedon

 Hello, everyone!

Today's book to talk about is one that I read at the latter end of last year. It's Greed by Tim Beedon. This is a comedy fantasy about two brothers who both have different ideas.

BOOK DESCRIPTION 

Greed: A Seven Deadly & four novel

Part of the Seven Deadly and Four Novels

(Book 1of 2)

An invaluable red stone. Two unsuspecting brothers.

Throw in a nefarious supporting cast of mercenaries, spies, a crime lord, an over-zealous hay salesman and even the King's own advisor.

It seems everyone in the Kingdom wants Greg & Ralph's stone and they'll stop at nothing to get it.

A hilarious fantasy story about working out what's important in life...and then trying to take it from someone else.

Greed is the first of the Seven Deadly and Four series of fantasy books ideal for fans of Terry Pratchett & Douglas Adams.

REVIEW

Humour in fiction is a difficult thing to pull off, and Tim Beedon successfully joins the ranks in his first Book, Greed.

The story is a tour de farce centring around the rural (not so) dynamic duo Greg and his hapless sidekick brother Ralph.

Whilst ploughing his field in preparation for the next years crop, unassuming farmer Greg bumbles upon a mysterious red stone. After several incidents which involve him experiencing traumatic head injury, they realise that the red stone is valuable and Greg plans to spend big time – on a new plough, to replace the one that was broken by his discovery of the red stone. 

However, his idiot brother, Ralph has other plans! And so, stealing away in the middle of the night, Ralph heads to nearest town of Lower Calver, because ‘he knows a bloke!’ Not only that, Ralph knows better! And he thinks bigger, not just a replacement plough for him, oh no!

What ensues is a romp through Lower and Middle Calver that includes spies, kings, dastardly plots, crime bosses, mercenaries, and Ralph getting kicked in the nuggets, as everyone and his mother wants to get their hands on Greg’s Stone.

The book moves along at a fast pace as we move from one bungling situation to the next. The plot itself revolves around the red stone, the fact that everyone wants it and Greg just wants a plough. 

The story is populated by some likeable characters, in particular Greg and Ralph themselves, and the Mercenaries Eve, and the legendary Wolf who wants to get out of the fighting business and open a tea shop. 

The plot itself, whilst not overly complicated, is enjoyable and it reminded me of a Seventies sitcom or maybe a Carry on Film and is an enjoyable repose from overly complicated fantasy plots.

In Greed, Tim Beedon manages to incorporate slapstick humour with some chucklesome one liners and a plot that romps along like an out-of-control war machine. 

*I listened to this on audio, which was narrated by Benjamin Mahns – Mardy, who does a fantastic job of bringing the book to life. The production was good, and the narrator gave the characters believable accents and vocals, making it easy to tell who the characters were. All in all, a pretty solid audio!