Pathfinder Tales: "Liar's Island" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

Wow, there's a lot happening in Liar's Island!  It's a fast-paced, action-packed, and often downright hilarious novel that I highly recommend.  The con man with a heart of gold Rodrick is back, along with his intelligent ice sword Hrym, and this time they'll be leaving the mainland behind for an adventure in rarely-seen Jalmeray!  I'm a Tim Pratt fanboy, and this novel represents him at his best.  It's full of careful attention to Golarion setting lore without becoming dense, has a knack for fun without becoming silly, and somehow makes you really *care* about a talking magical sword.  It's one of my favourite Pathinder Tales novels, so go read it! (though I give you permission to read the prior novel with Rodrick and Hrym--Liar's Blade--first.)

SPOILERS!

Rodrick and Hrym are up to their thieving ways in Absalom when they're interrupted by, of all things, a djinn with an invitation: come to exotic Jalmeray and meet the thakur (king)!  It's an invitation that's not easy to refuse, but the journey to Jalmeray is interrupted when their ship is interdicted by a vessel from the rival country of Nex.  There's some downright hilarious banter and we start seeing signs that Hrym isn't quite "himself"--the reader will realise that Hrym is being unknowingly affected by a demonic taint received at the end of the previous novel that causes him to act out violently when he's "asleep."  In Jalmeray, Rodrick and Hrym meet the thakur's advisor, Nagesh, who turns out to want the pair to help assassinate someone!  Rodrick and Hrym decide to rob the palace and make a run for it instead, only to get swept up in a jungle treasure hunt for the fabled Scepter of the Arclords and a close encounter with the murderous Knife in the Dark cult.  It's really funny, really exciting, and the ending promises to take the characters in a new direction.  It's a book I want to reread while looking forward to Liar's Bargain.