Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz is a collection of 9 short fiction stories by Garth Nix featuring Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz. Released 22nd Aug 2023 by HarperCollins on their Harper Voyager imprint, it's 304 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Paperback format due out in July 2024 from the same publisher. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.
The titular main characters are a mercenary and his rather-worse-for-wear animated puppet (and sorcerer/lorekeeper). There are flashes of Fafhrd and Mouser, and even a tiny wink to Poirot and Hastings... but the breath of life in the stories comes straight from the delightfully odd mind of Garth Nix.
There are 9 stories; 8 previously published but collected here for the first time in one volume, and a new never previously published story for this collection: The Field of the Fallen Foe. They range in length, but all are well written and engaging.
Short fiction is a challenge and it's interesting to see how the author handles the more restictive length and word count for developing the characters and plot arc. Even the first story historically (and the lead story in this collection) Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz Go to War Again, sees the protagonists springing fully armored and animated from the first paragraph.
Really high quality stories, engaging and imperfect protagonists, interesting stories. This would be an excellent choice for public library acquisition (and given the author, is virtually guaranteed to be in local collections, he's *really* popular), home use, and possibly for book club discussion.
Four and a half stars. The addition of new material makes this one a must read. (And the new story is really good).
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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