 Hello everybody E here welcome back to happy holidays before we jump in to today's review I want to let you guys know I have a bunch of sales going on for my own books both the Edward Lorne name and My Ward Nernlow name Maiden right now is only 299 in e-book. I think everywhere At internationally as well and the paperback is only 999 so you can get the this for 10 the paperback for $10 or the e-book for 299. I also have two short stories available Secret Santa under the Edward Lorne name and oh holy shit under the Ward Nernlow name and as before Hang on let me move this around so I don't drop my mic War on Christmas is out in both paperback and e-book the e-book is only 99 cents for three full stories It's basically a novelette about Santa Claus saving the day. It's a dark fantasy. I really really like it But anyways on to the review all those links will be down there in the doobly-doo if you guys want to go Check them out No problem if you're not interested. Let's just get back into the review So today we are talking about one of my favorite Christmas novels, which is Krampus by or Krampus the Eulord by Brom I went back and read my review. I have not reread it since but the the book If the book seems better to me now in hindsight than it was in my review I only gave it four stars and I'm unsure why I didn't give it the full five The same thing happened when I read the library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins That's an easy five-star read for me for some odd reason I knocked off a star or a half a star or something like that And I can't remember why even after reading my review But I mentioned those two together because they're kind of the same. They're very brutal Even though Krampus is a Christmas story and the library Mount Char isn't they both have the same vibe like a very brutal visceral vulgar Neil Gaiman is how I would describe these There's not a whole lot of subtext in Brom's work. So don't go in expecting high literature But you will find high art especially if you get the e-book or you get the The hardcover or paperback and you get to see the pictures that he drew along with the book I think that is the main draw of Brom's stories While Krampus is a hell of a lot of fun to read There are there are some some complaints that I have read in other reviews that I'm okay I can see where they're coming from like several women have noted that there are no strong female characters in the book One even mentioned a tone of misogyny that I didn't catch when I read it, but that doesn't mean it isn't there So if you're looking for something with a stronger female presence This probably ain't the book for you. In fact, I don't remember a single female character from the book So obviously there wasn't any good ones For me is what I'm saying now as far as the rest of the story is concerned. It's about Jesse This down on his luck dude. I believe he has baby mama drama. I'm pretty sure I put that in my review But he the book opens with well actually the book opens with a letter or not a letter a monologue to Santa Claus From Krampus, and I thought that was a very creepy effective way to open it up right off the bat You you're like this is not the Santa Claus that we know and love. He's a thief. He's a murderer He's all these, you know terrible things Krampus also is a bad guy. I I screwed up when I said I was going to review the book I screwed up and said that he was a good guy. He's not really good If anything, he's chaotic good because they they're both villains in their own right But Krampus is kind of the hero of this story if you ignore Jesse One of the big things I remember about this book is the bells nickels. Sorry my heater came on. I had to turn it off Anyways, so I remember the bells nickels I had a lot of fun with those those guys all of the Christmas lore all of the Repurposed pagan yule even Christian lore for Santa Claus that all that stuff I enjoyed immensely, but as with the library of Mount Char I think the thing that I like the most about this is how fucking brutal it is It is a very dark fantasy horror novel And as long as you go in knowing that and it's vulgar to vulgar language So this is definitely not a kid's book, but I can't imagine looking at that cover and thinking that it's a kid's book It's whatever not out not all Not all Christmas stories are for children The characters like I said the only characters I really remember are Jesse Krampus and Santa Claus I thought they were all effective everyone else just kind of slipped through the cracks for me But it has also been several years since I read this and I need to go back and reread it again But as far as the pacing is concerned, I was never bored. I remember listening to the book I got it on audible. I remember listening to it. I was never bored. I never wanted to to speed up But I have read some reviews that say that you know Well, especially one from my friend Cindy who said I don't have the pay on the DNF at 20% She liked the way the guy wrote, but she didn't have the patience for it I don't remember there being ever being any lulls other than you know normal character development So take that with a grain of salt and as far as the dread is concerned. That's this that's not this kind of story I don't think I think it's more of it's almost Along the lines of like a slasher. It's it's horror adjacent in that this book isn't really meant to scare you It's more dark fantasy. It's more really cool adult content Not sex and all that stuff, but definitely the the violence and the blood and gore It's definitely a genre piece. Just don't go into this looking for subtext But have you read Krampus by Braum if you have let me know down there in the doobly-doo whether or not you loved it You hated it. You felt meh about it But if you felt any of those things let me know in detail so that we can have a discussion But until next time I have any you have been you this has been another episode of happy holidays I'll talk to you guys later. Bye. Bye