Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die by Greer Stothers: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die by Greer Stothers

Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die is a cozy fantasy, of sorts. In a world not our own, or maybe it is, mad sorcerer Merulo—not called mad yet—declares in front of the entire court that he’s going to kill the god and put an end to magic. Forty years later, he’s still at it, only now he’s also at war with the church, which obviously doesn’t want their god to be killed.

The war isn’t going well for the church, but the Elder comes up with a prophecy for which she sacrificed the heart of last dragon, a great source of magic in a world where magic isn’t unlimited. Sir Cameron, a knight of church, needs to be killed by a specific method at a specific spot to bring the downfall of Merulo.

Cameron has coasted being a knight by avoiding battles when possible. His greatest fear is dying, which is very probable when fighting the sorcerer. So, when he learns about the prophecy, he doesn’t choose a noble self-sacrifice like the church assumes, but flees. The only place he can flee to is Merulo.

The sorcerer isn’t happy that he’s there, but since Cameron not dying is in his interests, he takes him in. Thing is, the prophecy is very specific and Cameron needs to die as he is, a beautiful blond man. Transforming him into a vulture isn’t a problem, then. Merulo prefers him being a vulture even, because Cameron has a very specific bodily reaction to being threatened and intimidated. Cameron doesn’t mind being a vulture as such, but having a human body would be better, so he sets out to cajole Merulo, until he has his body back, by way of being turned a woman.

At this point, the story had been a fairly amusing romp of Cameron’s attempts to survive by seducing Merulo. The young man is conceited and a bit obtuse, but good-natured and willing to help Merulo, even though he doesn’t understand Merulo’s need to kill the god when he’ll lose not only his magic but probably his life too. However, the joke was growing stale and it wasn’t even mid-point yet. Not even the attempts of Cameron’s former elf squire Glenda to hunt Cameron to kill him personally amused.

I was ready to put the book down, but then a couple of twists in short succession switched the story to a new gear. The tone changed too from a sex comedy to more mellow search for connection and family. Merulo gets help in his endeavour, and after forty years, he’s finally ready to kill the god and change the world forever. Cameron isn’t happy about it, because he’s learned to love the cantankerous old sorcerer and doesn’t want him to die, but since that’s what Merulo wants, he’ll be there to the end.

And then there was another twist, which quite frankly didn’t work very well. There had been many hints, but it completely switched the tone for the rest of the book from a secondary world fantasy to something opposite. The book should’ve ended before that; it would’ve been a good ending. With the twist, the book would’ve needed much more story than we got to make it work. The epilogue is fairly open ended though, so maybe there will be a sequel exploring what comes after. I’d definitely want to know how the world will fare, and have answers to a few questions that were ignored, like Glenda’s lack of emotions, and why Cameron’s father hated him, because it wasn’t solely for being gay. And what happened to the chancellor?

The story had potential, but it was much too long for the plot. The world felt constantly off, but that was deliberate, considering its origins—which also turned out to be a small let-down. Cameron was a fun character and easy to root for despite being conceited—and he had an upsetting awakening regarding that. Merulo stayed true to his character throughout even after learning to love too. Glenda’s POV chapters promised more than they gave and, in the end, she was pushed aside for another character. I’m especially disappointed in the latter, a half-dragon witch. The way she was presented gave to understand she would have a compassionate impact on the characters. 

The story had its fun moments, but never more than a chuckle. Cameron pestering Merulo for sex was constant, but when the other finally gave in, the scenes ended and were never mentioned again. Not even when Cameron was a woman to compare matters. There were hints about Cameron’s preferred gender, but nothing was made of that either, even though he got to experience being woman, only to want to be a man again. The pace was fast and light-hearted almost throughout. Chapter headings were fun and worth reading, but they too often promised insights that were never shown on the page.

All in all, this is a difficult book to rate. I’m dithering between three and four stars, but since it was well-written, the author managed to bring the rather impossible story to a satisfying end, the characters were good, and the twists interesting, I will give it four stars.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.