Kali is a merchant who yearns to leave the harsh deserts of Herrilock and travel across the sea, trading goods and soaking in the sights and cultures. With a new potion on the market undercutting her profits, though, her seabound dreams are put on hold indefinitely.

Failed musician Puk hits rock bottom after yet another catastrophic performance. Wandering the city streets in search of any sip of booze or whiff of fire-spit he can get his hands on, he resigns to the fact that he’s stuck in the desert with no way back home to Atlua. 

Until one day, their paths cross with an illicit job opportunity. With its hefty payday, Kali and Puk could afford to finally escape the desert heat and set sail across the gulf.

The black market job would see them travel endless dunes on a road made from a massive dead beast’s ribs and out to a mythical city in the sea, scuffling with monsters and thugs in search of a long-lost book that might be the most dangerous object in the world.

How hard could it really be?

Today is my stop for the Storytellers on Tour Book Tour for Spit and Song by Travis M. Riddle!! Thanks so much to the SoT folks for having me along for this one, and to Travis for sending me a copy of the book!! Also check out the rest of the bloggers & Bookstagrammers taking part in the tour here!

Are you in the mood for a gritty, dark, blood-drenched fantasy epic about two master thieves executing one brilliant scheme after another?

Then…this is not the book you are looking for. Spit and Song is something altogether different, and I completely adored it. This is a really thoughtful, funny, character-driven story, with two unexpected & charming POV characters.

Instead of those master thieves you might expect, in this book, you get Kali and Puk. Kali is a faif, with swirly purple-pink-blue skin. Her species doesn’t eat much, and needs bright sun to survive. Kali is a traveling merchant, making an ok living, but really looking for…more. Puk is a qarm…he’s short, blue, has eyestalks, and is also something of an addict. He’s a traveling entertainer, spending all his earnings on booze and fire-spit, a drug that’s not technically addictive, but that he nonetheless can’t seem to get enough of.

Kali & Puk’s paths fortuitously cross, and they hit it off as friends. Although Puk is a little directionless and Kali is more goal-oriented, neither of them are what you’d call adventurers. Nevertheless, they catch wind of a (dangerous) opportunity to make enough money to kickstart their respective lives, and they set off on a sort of mission…quest…thing. Hijinx ensue.

This book is very deliberately paced, which is something Riddle pulls off really well here, due to the quality of his writing & the instant likability of the characters. So while there are good chunks of the book where not a whole lot is happening, it was still incredibly engaging to me because this is such a vivid, weird, and wholly unique world.

And on the subject of this world, Spit and Song is actually considered Ustlian Tales #2, with Balam, Spring being the first book set in this world. Normally, I’m a bit of a purist about this kind of thing & would prefer to read the books in order, but I actually messaged Travis to ask about this, and he assured me both books function completely as standalones, with just some Easter eggs thrown in the mix. So I was happy to hear that, and have added Balam, Spring to my wishlist (the synopsis sounds AMAZING!)

I really enjoyed this book so goddamn much. It is for sure Not Your Typical Fantasy Novel, and that’s what makes it stand out. It almost felt a teensy bit like China Miéville’s Bas-Lag world, as populated by creatures from Jabba’s Palace…but also not really like that, either.

All told, Spit and Song is a total quirky gem of a fantasy novel, and I loved it.