I had a blast making this video! If you'd like to see more content like this, or even a Part 2, please let me know in the comments! Thanks for watching, as always!
Some of my favorites that you might not know: Garrett, P.I., Glen Cook: Garrett, The Dead Man, Saucerhead Tharpe, Morley, Tinnie Tate ... fantasy noir of the first order. Super Powereds, Drew Hayes: A group of misfit "powereds", supers that can't control their powers, are treated to give them control and then enter a super hero academy. Myth Adventures, Robert Asprin: Skeeve is a thief who apprenticed himself to a wizard, because eating is good. Aahz is a demon wizard who ends up as Skeeve's master and mentor. Over time they develop a whole crew of oddly assorted friends and accomplices. Vlad Taltos, Steven Brust: Vlad is an assassin and an underboss in the Jhereg criminal organization. He has a variety of friends, both human and Dragaeran, who help him from time to time to execute (both meanings) heists. Better heist fantasy than Mistborn, IMO. Belgariad, David Eddings: Quest fantasy, featuring representatives of each of the cultures/races of man in an attempt to stop the big bad evil guy from doing big, bad, evil things. Well-defined characters that are very memorable. Doomfarers of Coramonde, Brian Daley: A US Army squad and their M-113 APC are transported from Vietnam to the fantasy kingdom of Coramonde.
This video was super enjoyable. It was great to hear about Kings of the Wyld, Guards! Guards! The Drawing of the Three , Best Served Cold & Outlaw again. Hmmm maybe Motley Crew=Great book! Love Booktainment! You may want to copyright…
Kings of the Wyld was my second ever modern fantasy after reading mistborn. I smiled ear to ear through that whole thing. It was such a fun time and surprisingly touching throughout!
Great video Brian! I love me some motley crews, and Kings of the Wyld was a perfect 10 on that for me too. I also really the liked the crew dynamics in the Dark Tower.
Corporal Nobbs really puts the motley in that particular crew, lol. "Oddball carnival of psychopaths." Damn, I can't wait to dive into my First Law re-read next year. I knew Never Die'd be on this list after that reaction you had to it. I've never even heard of Eric Ugland before. Great list! And a great one for the road today. I feel like sometimes we're so focused on achieving whatever goal we have that it's easy to take for granted the strengths we've gained along the way. Something interesting to think about as usual, thanks as always!
Sir, you had the gaul to threaten a ban for an Orange joke and you want to Rick Roll us? ;) I think Friendly is one of my favorite characters of all time. That whole crew was a balancing act and you felt like anyone could flip the table at any point, but they had their reasons and kept at it for as long as possible. The others are on my TBR or have been added! I think Sanderson has some good motley crews put together, moreso in era 1 of Mistoborn than anything else. John Douglas put together a pretty good group in The Black Crown. I don't think I've read a whole lot else that really built up a party though. I definitely plan on it in a future D&D inspired book though, so I'll definitely be checking all of these out. I love these theme videos! Can't wait for the next one.
Love both the Good Guys and the Bad Guys from Ugland! If you keep reading the City Watch series from DiscWorld, the crew becomes exponentially more Motley as they increase their numbers. And I recommend Drew Hayes’ “Fred the Vampire Accountant” series- all the fantasy tropes, flipped on their heads, with a strong storyline moving through each book in the series.
Awesome! I have heard only positives about Vampire Accountant! It's on TBR Mountain as of NOW! Have to do it for an Good Guys / Bad Guys fan! btw, have you checked out the first book in Grim Guys??
@@BrianBell7I have but I’m really thinking of waiting to go back to it until there are at least 3 books out- I binged the first 5 books of each of the Good/Bad series when I discovered them and Ugland seems best taken in big, full bites, rather than nibbles.
Motley crews are the best, I always thrive on good interpersonal relationships in my stories so this trope just works every time for me!! I definitely need to check out Never Die, I love all of Hayes' stuff. Some of my favourite motley crews are in The Wickwire Watch by Jacquelyn Hagen, Spark of the Divine by Louise Holland, Among Thieves by MJ Kuhn and A Chorus of Dragons by Jenn Lyons!
Great video and topic! The Discworld City Watch Motley crew only gets better (and bigger) as the series goes on! And I absolutely loved the Kings of the Wyld crew too! Others I have enjoyed are Geralt and his crew in the Witcher series (Regis is my favourite!) and the crew from the Mistborn trilogy. I've also thoroughly enjoyed many Motley crews in video games, with my favourites being the crews in the Mass Effect trilogy, Pillars of Eternity 2, and The Outher Worlds.
@BrianBell7 I'm so glad to hear that!! I love both of those as well, and I'm currently playing BG3 now too. The BG3 crew will definitely be up there with my favourite video game crews, but I wanted to finish it first before adding it to the list. What act are you in for BG3?
@@rsimpson235 I think I'm in Act 2. I just persuaded Ketherik not to fight me, but phase 2 of that battle is about to start and I have exactly zero health potions.. not good.
@BrianBell7 I didn't even know that it was possible to convince him not to fight! This game is so amazing! Good luck with phase 2 though! You got this!
@@BrianBell7 Or maybe build a channel based around videos like this😜. I really enjoy these videos so I glad you take the risk to make them. These video are fun with valuable content at the same time.
I've been thinking through things, and mostly I'm coming up with duos and trios. More ensemble casts are largely the province of self-conscious epic fantasy, and even a lot of those boil down to trios. And I'm unsure of what makes a group 'motley' or not. "Five teenagers from all walks of life"? (To quote Dynaman.) So, of course the Fellowship (I get a feeling one wizard and one Hobbit don't suddenly make Thorin's band 'motley'). Dragonlance, Belgariad, Sword of Shannara, Wheel of Time... The Wizard of Oz. Azure Bonds is four... and my well starts running dry. Out of those, the main characters of the Belgariad are the easy nod. Eddings tends towards writing so broad that you almost have caricatures instead of characters, but its effective, and you develop sympathy for all of them. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz gets special mention for a well done band-of-four iconic characters.
I started Kings of the Wyld last night. Just made it to where Moog is introduced. I’m reading it on Kindle, so had no idea that’s how his name was pronounced. Same of my favorite motley crews are the Bridgeburners from Malazan and Bridge 4 from Stormlight.
So the name Moog in the book is a reference to Robert Moog, who basically invented synthesizer keyboards. I recently saw a clip of him saying his name is pronounced "mowg", not "moo"g/ Same for me on Stormlight!
@@BrianBell7 I have but, I didn’t feel like it was nearly as good. I think I should’ve waited a bit to read it instead of reading it right after Kings of the Wyld. I’m positive I’ll read it again in the future.
Wait, so Rick Thunder is the man behind the intro? Multi-talented dude. And that's a fact. I'm a big sucker for motley crew/found (especially dysfunctional) family books, so I am putting most of these books on my list. Especially Kings of the Wyld, since I've been meaning to read it for ages and don't know why I haven't yet. So with Never Die, Iron Gut is what turned me off from the series. I'm sure Hayes was setting him up for something amazing, but the constant fatphobia against him in the writing itself was such a turn-off for me that I've DNF'd the book at halfway through twice. So if you tell me it's worth wading through that nonsense, I'll try to get back to it. Edit: And my current favorite motley crew is to be found in Adrian Tchaikovsky's Shards of Earth. For me, 10/10 motleyness.
@@BrianBell7 I appreciate that Iron Gut is fine with himself, but I don't need to be constantly reminded in every sentence in which he's mentioned that he's fat, compulsively eats and drinks, and that that's funny because he's a master of qi, which requires discipline that he demonstrably lacks in everyday life. Again, my issue is with his writing more than anything else.
I had a blast making this video! If you'd like to see more content like this, or even a Part 2, please let me know in the comments! Thanks for watching, as always!
Always down for a parte deux.
Absolutely 🎉🍾
OMG, love the crew from Guards! Gueards! - such a mess, in the best way possible!
Great video! ✨
Thanks, Silvia!! They ARE a hot mess!
“An oddball carnival of psychopaths” has to be the best alternative description of a “motely crew” in fiction! Loved hearing about all your faves! 🎸
Hahah right?! Thank you so much!
Some of my favorites that you might not know:
Garrett, P.I., Glen Cook: Garrett, The Dead Man, Saucerhead Tharpe, Morley, Tinnie Tate ... fantasy noir of the first order.
Super Powereds, Drew Hayes: A group of misfit "powereds", supers that can't control their powers, are treated to give them control and then enter a super hero academy.
Myth Adventures, Robert Asprin: Skeeve is a thief who apprenticed himself to a wizard, because eating is good. Aahz is a demon wizard who ends up as Skeeve's master and mentor. Over time they develop a whole crew of oddly assorted friends and accomplices.
Vlad Taltos, Steven Brust: Vlad is an assassin and an underboss in the Jhereg criminal organization. He has a variety of friends, both human and Dragaeran, who help him from time to time to execute (both meanings) heists. Better heist fantasy than Mistborn, IMO.
Belgariad, David Eddings: Quest fantasy, featuring representatives of each of the cultures/races of man in an attempt to stop the big bad evil guy from doing big, bad, evil things. Well-defined characters that are very memorable.
Doomfarers of Coramonde, Brian Daley: A US Army squad and their M-113 APC are transported from Vietnam to the fantasy kingdom of Coramonde.
Thanks, Doug! Super Powereds are on my fall agenda! Doomfarers sounds cool too! I like the idea of fantasy noir in Garrett PI too.
Super-Powereds (or anything by Drew Hayes) is amazing and Book 4, in hard cover form, could definitely be used as a murder weapon…
I need to get to Kings of the Wyld. Awesome list my brother. My number 1 member of my Motley Booktube Crew!
You are a 10 on the Motley Meter!
@@BrianBell7 😀thanks!
Same here!
@@Zivilin thanks!
The most unexpected Rick Roll I’ve ever experienced… 😂😂
YES!!
Great video! Thanks for reminding me that I have "The Bloody Rose" waiting for me on my shelf!
It's excellent, enjoy!
This video was super enjoyable. It was great to hear about Kings of the Wyld, Guards! Guards! The Drawing of the Three , Best Served Cold & Outlaw again. Hmmm maybe Motley Crew=Great book! Love Booktainment! You may want to copyright…
Thanks, Heidi!
I'm 200 pages into Best Served Cold and Monza definitely has the looks that kill (if she don't get her way, she'll slice you apart).
you know it!!
Kings of the Wyld was my second ever modern fantasy after reading mistborn. I smiled ear to ear through that whole thing. It was such a fun time and surprisingly touching throughout!
Totally, a really fun adventure. We need more of those, IMO
This was a blast, and thanks for putting One More Last Time on my radar!
You'll love the audio, Ben!
I've got some motley reading to do lol. So many books to add to the TBR. Fun video!
Motley it up!!
Great video Brian! I love me some motley crews, and Kings of the Wyld was a perfect 10 on that for me too. I also really the liked the crew dynamics in the Dark Tower.
Thanks, Chas! It's another thing we have in common!
Totally enjoyed this video Brian, excellent Book-tainment dude 🥳🥳🥳
Thanks a ton!
Corporal Nobbs really puts the motley in that particular crew, lol.
"Oddball carnival of psychopaths." Damn, I can't wait to dive into my First Law re-read next year.
I knew Never Die'd be on this list after that reaction you had to it.
I've never even heard of Eric Ugland before. Great list!
And a great one for the road today. I feel like sometimes we're so focused on achieving whatever goal we have that it's easy to take for granted the strengths we've gained along the way. Something interesting to think about as usual, thanks as always!
Thanks, my friend! I'm glad the One For The Road spoke to you today!!
Man i randomly found Kimgs of the Wyld a year ago and I absolutely loved it. It's still on my bedside table
I love to hear that! Saga rocks!!
Sir, you had the gaul to threaten a ban for an Orange joke and you want to Rick Roll us? ;)
I think Friendly is one of my favorite characters of all time. That whole crew was a balancing act and you felt like anyone could flip the table at any point, but they had their reasons and kept at it for as long as possible.
The others are on my TBR or have been added!
I think Sanderson has some good motley crews put together, moreso in era 1 of Mistoborn than anything else. John Douglas put together a pretty good group in The Black Crown. I don't think I've read a whole lot else that really built up a party though. I definitely plan on it in a future D&D inspired book though, so I'll definitely be checking all of these out.
I love these theme videos! Can't wait for the next one.
If it’s any consolation, I’ve also banned myself for Rick rolling the intro 🤣⚡️
Love both the Good Guys and the Bad Guys from Ugland! If you keep reading the City Watch series from DiscWorld, the crew becomes exponentially more Motley as they increase their numbers. And I recommend Drew Hayes’ “Fred the Vampire Accountant” series- all the fantasy tropes, flipped on their heads, with a strong storyline moving through each book in the series.
Awesome! I have heard only positives about Vampire Accountant! It's on TBR Mountain as of NOW! Have to do it for an Good Guys / Bad Guys fan! btw, have you checked out the first book in Grim Guys??
@@BrianBell7I have but I’m really thinking of waiting to go back to it until there are at least 3 books out- I binged the first 5 books of each of the Good/Bad series when I discovered them and Ugland seems best taken in big, full bites, rather than nibbles.
Motley crews are the best, I always thrive on good interpersonal relationships in my stories so this trope just works every time for me!! I definitely need to check out Never Die, I love all of Hayes' stuff. Some of my favourite motley crews are in The Wickwire Watch by Jacquelyn Hagen, Spark of the Divine by Louise Holland, Among Thieves by MJ Kuhn and A Chorus of Dragons by Jenn Lyons!
They are so much fun! Looking forward to continuing on with The Riverfall Chronicles when time permits!! I'll add the rest to TBR Mountain!
As I read I could hear the Kings of the Wyld soundtrack in my head.
nice!
Great video and topic! The Discworld City Watch Motley crew only gets better (and bigger) as the series goes on! And I absolutely loved the Kings of the Wyld crew too! Others I have enjoyed are Geralt and his crew in the Witcher series (Regis is my favourite!) and the crew from the Mistborn trilogy. I've also thoroughly enjoyed many Motley crews in video games, with my favourites being the crews in the Mass Effect trilogy, Pillars of Eternity 2, and The Outher Worlds.
Don't get me started on my love for Mass Effect and Outer Worlds!!! Love them both a ton! Currently playing BG3
@BrianBell7 I'm so glad to hear that!! I love both of those as well, and I'm currently playing BG3 now too. The BG3 crew will definitely be up there with my favourite video game crews, but I wanted to finish it first before adding it to the list. What act are you in for BG3?
@@rsimpson235 I think I'm in Act 2. I just persuaded Ketherik not to fight me, but phase 2 of that battle is about to start and I have exactly zero health potions.. not good.
@BrianBell7 I didn't even know that it was possible to convince him not to fight! This game is so amazing! Good luck with phase 2 though! You got this!
Im super excited to get to the Dark Tower everything I hear about it just sounds so awesome. Ghost Echo is such a cool name also
I'm excited to follow your path of the beam!
Way to sneak in a Rick roll sir. Well played 😂🤣 Oh and some Motley Crue cameos,as well 😂. I can tell you had fun making this one. 😊
Thanks! I did have fun with this one! Gotta do these kinds of videos from time to time!
@@BrianBell7 Or maybe build a channel based around videos like this😜. I really enjoy these videos so I glad you take the risk to make them. These video are fun with valuable content at the same time.
😂 that intro was awesome
finally someone noticed!
I've been thinking through things, and mostly I'm coming up with duos and trios. More ensemble casts are largely the province of self-conscious epic fantasy, and even a lot of those boil down to trios. And I'm unsure of what makes a group 'motley' or not. "Five teenagers from all walks of life"? (To quote Dynaman.)
So, of course the Fellowship (I get a feeling one wizard and one Hobbit don't suddenly make Thorin's band 'motley'). Dragonlance, Belgariad, Sword of Shannara, Wheel of Time... The Wizard of Oz. Azure Bonds is four... and my well starts running dry.
Out of those, the main characters of the Belgariad are the easy nod. Eddings tends towards writing so broad that you almost have caricatures instead of characters, but its effective, and you develop sympathy for all of them. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz gets special mention for a well done band-of-four iconic characters.
Belgariad is getting some comment love on this one today! Thank you!
I started Kings of the Wyld last night. Just made it to where Moog is introduced. I’m reading it on Kindle, so had no idea that’s how his name was pronounced. Same of my favorite motley crews are the Bridgeburners from Malazan and Bridge 4 from Stormlight.
So the name Moog in the book is a reference to Robert Moog, who basically invented synthesizer keyboards. I recently saw a clip of him saying his name is pronounced "mowg", not "moo"g/ Same for me on Stormlight!
I LOVE Kings of the Wyld!!
It’s so fun! Have you read the follow up book Bloody Rose?!
@@BrianBell7 I have but, I didn’t feel like it was nearly as good. I think I should’ve waited a bit to read it instead of reading it right after Kings of the Wyld.
I’m positive I’ll read it again in the future.
@@Maeve_Ever_Books I felt similar. Good, but not as good as the first.
Man, I really need to read Never Die
It really surprised me. And it reads very fast.
I also loved Kings if the Wyld. Haven’t read Bloody Ride though, have you? I never realized the musical references. -Palmer Pickering
I have! I liked it! Maybe not as much as the first book, but still similar formula!
Wait, so Rick Thunder is the man behind the intro? Multi-talented dude. And that's a fact.
I'm a big sucker for motley crew/found (especially dysfunctional) family books, so I am putting most of these books on my list. Especially Kings of the Wyld, since I've been meaning to read it for ages and don't know why I haven't yet.
So with Never Die, Iron Gut is what turned me off from the series. I'm sure Hayes was setting him up for something amazing, but the constant fatphobia against him in the writing itself was such a turn-off for me that I've DNF'd the book at halfway through twice. So if you tell me it's worth wading through that nonsense, I'll try to get back to it.
Edit: And my current favorite motley crew is to be found in Adrian Tchaikovsky's Shards of Earth. For me, 10/10 motleyness.
I liked how Iron Gut was totally happy in his own skin. Never know though how readers will react. Rick is a man of many talents!! And that's a fact!
@@BrianBell7 I appreciate that Iron Gut is fine with himself, but I don't need to be constantly reminded in every sentence in which he's mentioned that he's fat, compulsively eats and drinks, and that that's funny because he's a master of qi, which requires discipline that he demonstrably lacks in everyday life. Again, my issue is with his writing more than anything else.
@@groofay That makes sense.
Any motley crew with a belligerent alcoholic trying to make themselves better works for me-especially when they fail 😂
-Referring to best served cold
Right?! What a crazy crew!