Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die

Fantasy has a rich history of heroes who fight against the odds to ensure that good triumphs over evil, but what about the cowards? What about the people who would rather live in peace and quiet faraway from the front and have no truck with prophecies, even if they are the centre of them? In Greer Stothers’ Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die, this Knight has no interest in honour or death.

A Dragon’s Heart has been burned and the results are in. For the Mad Sorcerer to be defeated the prophecy needs to be met. All the events running up to the final act have been completed and all that is left to do is brutally kill Sir Cameron. Sir Cameron is into a lot of things, and people, but dying is not one of them. If his fellow Knights and Elfish friends are not going to help, there is only one man you can, and that man is mad, bad and a sorcerer.

I do not think I have read any book quite like Sir Cameron, I have read Romantasy, and I have read comedic Fantasy, but not something that is as darkly comedic as this, with added science fiction and some sauce as well. It reads like a wonderful soup of all of Stother’s ideas poured in at once. This makes it a fun read, but also a madcap one.

The romance element is enjoyable. It takes a twist because the lovers are quirky (if we are being polite). One is a coward who uses seduction and manipulation to get their way, the other is a man determined to kill God. The two do not seem to like each other, but that just makes Cameron more excited. There is a real odd couple feel between Cameron and the Sorcerer, leaning into the odd.

The comedy is also entertaining. This is mainly based on the fact that Cameron is a vain idiot who does not know it. He blunders through this adventure saving his skin but also manging to make friends somehow. At points he is a man, woman, and even a vulture. As the adventure continues, we do see some growth to the character as he starts to realise that maybe it is him and not the world that is wrong.

The world building is one of the most intriguing elements. The book starts as a pastiche of classic High Fantasy, how would the world of a David Edding’s work if the hero were a sex mad coward? However, even early on you start to notice this world is deeper. It is a variation of our own future in which magic has replaced technology.

As the book progresses, this alternative reality is built upon. It is frankly bizarre, but great fun. I love to be surprised in fiction, and Sir Cameron certainly does that in the directions it takes. Does it make much sense if you think deeply about it? Not really, but some of the best funny genre fiction feels like a fever dream journey. I enjoyed this novel immensely because of its eclectic style, not despite it. It has the feel that some debut novels have in that Stothers had so many ideas they wanted to get on the page, but there is joy in that.