Colleen Mondor Reviews Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz by Garth Nix

Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz, Garth Nix (Harper Voyager 978-0-06-329196-6, $30.00 hc, 304 pp) August 2023.

Published over the past 15 or so years, Garth Nix’s tales of Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz are now collected in a single volume titled after the two characters. Set in a variety of towns and kingdoms across an imagined landscape, these stories of sword and sorcery follow a knight and his powerful puppet companion (Tactical genius? Miniature sorcerer? Devastating assassin?), as they pursue their solemn vow to rid the world of dangerous “godlets.” As directed by the “Council of the Treaty for the Safety of the World” and under the authority of the “Three Empires, Seven Kingdoms, Palatine Regency, Jessar Republic and Forty Lesser Realms,” Hereward and Fitz are, literally, out to save the world. They accomplish their assigned task (with a handy list of godlets in need of destruction) by breaking and entering, lying, occasionally stealing, and very often evis­cerating the bad guys. Basically, Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz is a collection of witty, bloody hijinks in which the bad guys get what’s coming to them from the end of a sword (or knife, or magical sewing needle, sabre, carbine, or can­non), and much hilarity ensues along the way.

Another enjoyable aspect of the title is the variety of environments in which Hereward and Fitz pursue and vanquish these godlets, but also in the variety of environments in which they pursue and vanquish these godlets. There are fortresses with armed guards, a gated island requiring the assistance of pirates, a palatial estate that involves a run-in with a thief and the inhabitants of a private menagerie, a distant (haunted) abbey inhabited by somewhat clois­tered warrior-nuns, a frozen field with some quite unfortunate farmers, and, well, you get the idea. Each adventure includes plenty of smart banter, a bit of humor from Hereward (along with more cynical observation from Fitz), and plenty of sword and sorcery-inspired hijinks. One tale, “Losing Her Divinity”, is told from the perspec­tive of a traveler who later engages the two heroes, but the others all feature Hereward and Fitz from the beginning, usually complaining about their current predicament but determined to see things through. (They have a right to complain, as they are often in very precarious situations.)

“The Field of Fallen Foe” is new to this collec­tion, and joins eight other stories which com­bined bring in 300+ pages of what can only be described as a grin-inducing, buddy/road series that also includes some gore, a bit of ill-chosen romance, and plenty of puppet eye-rolling (if only Fitz could physically roll his eyes). Sir Here­ward and Mister Fitz will cure you, at least for a little while, of the world’s ills. Trust Garth Nix to do what he does best and give us all much-needed heroes to cheer.

This review and more like it in the September 2023 issue of Locus.

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