Sir Apropos of Nothing

It reminded me a little of Patrick Rothfuss’s The Wise Man’s Fear, but only in terms of story structure. It is essentially a bildungsroman from rags to riches back to rags again. Or you could interpret it as a knight’s adventure that breaks some tropes along the way (i.e., the story starts with the protagonist fending off the knight whose wife he just slept with). Then it goes back to before the main character was even born and goes from there. Like the editor said the beginning of the book isn’t exciting enough, so there’s just a flash-forward teaser. But it feels more like a bait-and-switch.

Other than that, it is a very good book, in the Peter David style. But it’s a lot more satirical and cynical and snarky than you’d show more get from something licensed like Star Trek or Marvel. And it’s very long. This is a deconstruction of chivalric knight tropes with themes around the destiny of a hero. This is not a good guy. I don’t mean like a thief, like Kaz Brekker in Six of Crows, but kinda selfish, self-serving. Like a heel wrestler. So if you’re into that, this is the book for you. But you may want to avoid this if you’re having a day where you need to see the good guys win.

But be careful–it has some problematic stuff. For example, our main character is born of rape. This is played for backstory and drama. His mother is a slut, then a whore, then an even worse whore. She prostitutes while pregnant with the main character and afterwards, while raising him. This was written in 2001–I’m surprised the publisher wasn’t more sensitive about topics like this. I didn’t think Peter David was capable of this kind of misogyny (and I’m not saying he’s a misogynist, but this book is not kind to females). show less

"Don't judge a book by its cover." That's what they always say, but that's the only reason I picked this novel up. It had an incomprehensible name, a curly haired asshole, and a giant bird flying in the background. I bought it without even reading the synopsis. I am so glad I did. This book is an absolute hoot! Sex, murder, and sarcasm. what else could a teenage bookworm ask for? Granted, the literary quality leaves much to be desired and there's not much in the way of a "hero" to root for. However, for the 12-18 age range this book is just pure fun without a lot of mental strain.

I've read novels and comics by Peter David for years, and have enjoyed many of them. For some time, he was my favorite author. I don't like saying negative things about his work, but I really didn't like this book. Our main character is completely unlikable, which is the point, but its difficult for me to read a book about someone who is so disturbing. There's some really concerning comments and thoughts about women in the book, and the book is so long that it becomes quite a slog to get though it.

I loved Peter David's Star Trek books, and I love fantasy, so I thought I would very much enjoy Apropos. I was sad to discover I did not. There are definitely many laugh-out-loud moments, and this is a very unique take on the fantasy novel. But I found Apropos so unlikeable that I had trouble reading 647 pages of him. I've known people like him in real life and they're incredibly unpleasant to be with, so I just couldn't get those experiences out of my head. Others may definitely like this book, but I didn't.

The main Character, Apropros is the result of a rape by the King's very honorable knights on a starry eyed Tavern Maid. His life really doesn't get much better from there. Apropros grows up to be selfish and cold-hearted. The death of his Mother brings him to the capital, where he finds himself appointed a squire. From there, he begins his adventure of trying to stay out of trouble, but when he gets appointed to escort the princess home from school, things go from bad to worst, where Apropros goes between doing whats right and trying to save his own skin.

The book was hard to read. At times, the story was slow. The characters are hard to like. Apropros spends a lot of time whining about how sad his life is or Entripy, the Princess, who show more is cold and high maintenance and seems to have no redeeming factors, even after spending the winter as a tavern maid and learning honest work. There are parts of this book that made me cringe but is necessary to the story and is in character with the nature of the book.

What makes this book different from all the other fantasy books out there is that instead of a cute fantasy book where the pigman's son marries the princess after defeating the dragon by a sword, you get characters that seem to follow the traditional fantasy roles but the characters are much more deeper and their motives are more true to life. This book is like the real story behind the much edited and changed cute story that is told hundreds of years later. show less

Okay, I admit I read it because of the punning title. That and I had nothing to do one evening and there it was. Goofy fun with some seriousness thrown in. I kind of liked Apropos when the comedy moved along, but every time it got serious I remembered what a jerk he is.

I really enjoyed this book, even if it did take a while for me to get into. The side jokes and the way the author puts the world together is really worth the read.

It did bother me how Apropos got rid of his childhood friend. I understand what the author was going for, but the brutality of how it happened seemed too much and honestly made me dislike Apropos quite a lot as a character.