Laughter is like free health insurance: you can't get too much of it. This book will give you enough laughs to boost your health.
It's filled with delightful entertainment. Without commercial interruption!
Gundarland is populated by humans, dwarfs, elves and other races; it's the backdrop for unique adventures, brilliant heroes and cunning villains.
There are six short stories and two novellas in here. All are new. You'll meet some of Shakespeare's most famous characters, a warrior-cook, vigilantes, a trio of beautiful, lusty princesses to mention just a few of the memorable characters in the stories.
I developed Gundarland, a fantasy land, for my characters to romp around in. The country is populated aby dwarfs, humans, elves, trolls and several other races. They get along with no more than the usual inter-racial hostilities. I've had a lot of fun in Gundarland and I plan to have more fun in the future.
Gunderland itself is populated by such diverse races as “dwarfs, humans, elves, half-pints, yuks and a few lesser races…[that]…live cheek-by-jowl in many cases and get along with no more than the usual interracial hostility”. A few of the tales are under ten pages, while the others vary substantially in length. All of them, however, are side-splittingly funny, and, if you enjoy the writings of Terry Pratchett, you should enjoy these too. Quense’s irreverent take on the world of fantasy is most amusing, I find, when he describes the relationships between fellow characters and between man and beast. Mind you, the characterization of the yuks is also a key source of humor, and reminded me somewhat of the trolls in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Their poor grasp on the English language is most evident in the verbal spats between the yuk brothers, Rolf and Ralf. Quense promises to return to these two characters in other stories, as he likes them too much to ignore them.
Tales from The Gunderland is one of those books that could easily become a cult phenomenon. I really enjoyed the humor, which was sort of a cross between Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Monty Python. Each story was unique and self-contained, but still contributed to the “Gunderland Universe” as a whole. My favorite is still Quense’s retake on Romeo and Juliet. But seriously, who wouldn’t love a book with dwarfs, pirates, and aliens?
"Tales From Gundarland is a fantasy satire. It could be called “Fractured Legends.” I wasn’t sure what to expect when I began reading this book. What I discovered was a lot of humor. I was caught up in the numerous short stories. The connecting thread is the planet Gundarland. The stories each reminded me of a traditional story. Quense has managed to re-tell them with more than a bit of satire. Often we take ourselves too seriously; Quense’ sense of humor forces us to laugh.
Five out of five stars: Readers Favorite
The Queen’s Hero turned out to be my favorite in the book. The full story got told in an interesting way. The plotting is intricate enough to catch and hold the reader’s attention, and with enough scope and detail to generate new interest at most every turn. The battle scenes in Part 4 are some of the best I’ve read since “Agincourt” no small feat. This story alone is worth the price of admission. Doc Finch
Hank Quense is at it again. He’s sharpened up his satirical pen to let the hot air out of the greedy, the power-hungry, and maybe the rest of us. And therein lies a tale…or several. These action-packed, exciting adventures are laced with humor that will have you snickering, if not falling off your chair laughing.
Drawing on traditional fairy-tale themes and a plethora of sources from Shakespeare to modern media, Quense adds his own twist to the familiar stories.
What delicious fun. Jan Clark