The Knight Revenant
DETAILS: Series: Chronicles of Gam Gam Publisher: Bounty Ink Press Publication Date: May 30, 2023 Format: eBook Length: 29 pg. Read Date: June 10, 2023
What’s The Knight Revenant About?
Gam Gam had been at this (this being necromancy in an official capacity) for twenty-two days, four hours, and thirty-four minutes, after having graduated top of her class from the mage’s academy in Capital City
…and has taken it upon herself to take care of a revenant that had been disrupting travel between two cities.
The revenant tries to unleash its aggression on her, and she simply slaps it down like it’s nothing but a petulant child, scolding it a bit, and then trying to reason with it patiently like only a grandmother can. The revenant plays its part in this pantomime and throws a tantrum. This continues for a few days until a new target presents itself for the spirit.
And then Gam Gam has to show it who’s boss.
What did I think about The Knight Revenant?
This short story is a great point of entry for the series/world of Gam Gam. Is it necessary to read this before the novella? Nope. I actually think it works better as a follow-up to the novella (even though it takes place first), so you get some backstory for characters you already like. But that’s probably because I read them that way.
Gam gam gets some fantastic lines here. Had I been on the fence about her before, she’d have earned a fan from the way she dealt with the revenant—both as a foe and then later on. We get to see her heart, her spunk (although it feels cliché and possibly condescending to talk about an older woman having spunk…but it’s a great word to describe her attitude), and her humor.
And we get to see her power…Gam Gam is not to be taken lightly. What she did in the novella was probably a greater display of raw power. But something about the way she counters the relevant struck me as more impressive. Maybe it’s the banter + the magic rather than just the magic. Holcombe is quick to show the reader that magic can only do so much and that the frailties of age can get the best of even a professional necromancer.
The last scene? (Spoiler ahead in the next 2 sentences) I got a big “Vincent and The Doctor” vibe from it. And now I’ll forever see Tony Curran as this character when I think of him in the future.
This was a quick, fun companion piece for the novella (in whatever order you want to read them). It solidified my commitment to jump on the next adventure of Gam Gam with all possible haste, too.
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