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Few Are Chosen: A dystopian comedic sci fi fantasy adventure (The K'Barthan Series Book 1) by [M T McGuire]

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M T McGuire

Few Are Chosen: A dystopian comedic sci fi fantasy adventure (The K'Barthan Series Book 1) Kindle Edition

by M T McGuire (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

197 ratings

Book 1 of 4: K’Barthan Series

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Readers of science fiction dystopia comedy books who also like portal fantasy, with aspects of found family will (hopefully) enjoy the dry sarcastic humour and satire of this series. There are dark sections and some gallows humour, but this is, for the most part, a light sci fi, hope punk, novel.

A man chosen by destiny. The wrong man.

Meet The Pan of Hamgee: coward, unwilling adventurer and, by some miracle, K’Barth’s longest surviving outlaw. He just wants a quiet life so working as getaway driver is probably a bad career move. Then he falls in love at first sight with a woman he hasn't even met who comes from an alternative reality. That’s when things really begin to get complicated.

Meet Ruth Cochrane: she’s the Chosen One, destined to play a pivotal role in saving K’Barth from a cruel dictator. She’s never heard of K’Barth, though. She’s a public relations executive from London and she’s totally unaware of the chaos about to hit her life.

Meet Lord Vernon: power hungry psychopath on the brink of world domination. He wants to cement his hold on K'Barth by kidnapping the Chosen One and forcing her to marry him. Only one person is standing in his way: someone who doesn’t even realise it, The Pan of Hamgee. For The Pan, and Ruth, that’s a deadly problem.

Few Are Chosen is the first book in a complete, finished series; the K'Barthan Series, comprising four dystopian humorous science fiction books. It is set in a contemporary dystopia, in a parallel reality but there is some futuristic technology. This book ends in a cliff hanger and for full enjoyment readers are strongly advised to read the series in order, continuing the story with The Wrong Stuff, K'Barthan Series: Part 2 (green cover) after reading this one. If cliffhangers really do your nut, it might be worth buying the box set for the single, really long book experience.

A quick word with the author:

Q - What made you write this series?
A – If you want the honest answer I wrote it for me. As a reader, I love British satire and humor (or humour). I love wit; funny epic fantasy series like the Discworld novels and comedic sci fi like Douglas Adams. I like sff and speculative fiction, I like adventure and action and a gripping tale that zips along quickly, I like genre mash ups and I love an angsty dystopian world. However, the best science fiction and fantasy stories, for me, are funny. I aim to write comedy in the tradition of all the great humorous British authors. I like to aim high. I wanted protagonists people could love and empathise with, mavericks, misfit characters, real people ... except they're not all people obviously, some of them are other alien (ish) species. This book is about misfit heroes and heroines winning the day, it’s about good versus evil even when the good guys are on different sides. It's dystopian science fiction fantasy action - it's dystopia but it's comedy, it's sci-fi but it's planet-based. You'll find all sorts of quirky characters and interesting alien species: from 6ft Swamp Things with antennae to cute furry creatures like the Blurpons, with their fluffy ears, big button eyes and penchant for extreme violence.Q - Should the books be read in order?
A - Yes otherwise the character development – and some of the technology – will make less sense! This is how they go.

0.5 Unlucky Dip, K'Barthan Series: Prequel
1 Few Are Chosen, K'Barthan Series: Part 1 - this book
2 The Wrong Stuff, K'Barthan Series: Part 2
3 One Man: No Plan, K'Barthan Series: Part 3
4 Looking For Trouble, K'Barthan Series: Part 4

Print length

288 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publication date

October 29, 2010
File size

5465 KB
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Total Price: $20.96

M T McGuire
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Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Few Are Chosen was voted Runner Up in its category in the Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards, 2011 by a panel of teenagers from schools in London.

About the Author

Hello there,
I'm M T McGuire. I grew up half way up a down but now I live in Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk with my family and a huge, hairy cat called Chewbacca. (Mwah ha ha haargh. You thought I was going to say 'pussy' didn't you?)
I write humorous fantasy fiction. If I came to stay at your house, I'd be the one who checks the wardrobe in your spare room for a gateway to Narnia. That's probably all you need to know about me really.
If you've read my writing, thank you, I hope you enjoyed it.
If you like my stuff and want to be kept up to date with what I'm doing you are welcome to visit my website and blog at hamgee.co.uk. I tweet sporadically too (mtmcguireauthor). --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004ASOS6A
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hamgee University Press; 13th edition (October 29, 2010)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 29, 2010
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 5465 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 288 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #1,495,595 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,503 in Humorous Science Fiction (Books)
- #9,807 in General Humorous Fiction
- #10,606 in Dystopian Science Fiction (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
197 ratings

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M T McGuire

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M T McGuire enjoys the real world but wouldn’t want to live there full time. That’s why she writes books. She grew up, or at least got bigger, halfway up a windy down in Sussex. Her home was also the first location choice for Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films, so maybe it’s not so strange that she’s ended up writing spec-fic. Perhaps there’s something in the water up there, apart from chalk.

After a short stint as a stand up comedienne, M T sat down, got married and moved to East Anglia. She now lives in Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, with a McOther, a McMini, a McCat and a selection of very silly cars. She hasn’t found a way to make any of the cars fly, and none of them is fitted with ordnance, but she and her team of evil scientists are working on that.

M T would like to be able to tell you she's an NY Times best selling author but that would be lying. Some of her books have won Wishing Shelf Awards though, a bronze and a silver.

Despite being over fifty now and supposedly an adult, M T checks all unfamiliar wardrobes for a gateway to Narnia. She hasn’t found one so far but lives in hope.

If you've read any of her stuff, she'd like to say, 'thank you' and hopes you enjoyed it.

Her blog is at http://www.mtmcguire.co.uk and she's MTMcGuireauthor on twitter.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

197 global ratings

5 star		61%
4 star		23%
3 star		8%
2 star		4%
1 star		4%

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constant reader

There’s a theory that anyone who wants to write good comedy should spend a little time doing stand up

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 1, 2015

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There’s a theory that anyone who wants to write good comedy should spend a little time doing stand up. Learn timing, comedic attitude, and all the rest. MT McGuire, the author of Few Are Chosen, tells us that she been a stand up comedian, and her timing and comedy are spot on in this great fantasy novel.

Our hero is The Pan of Hamgee, kind of an anti-hero really, who lives in a parallel universe where the normal every day land of K’Barth has been taken over by bad guys called Grongles. They run the place waiting for someone to pass a series of tests and be CHOSEN as the legitimate long-term ruler. Of course the current ruler, a GRONGLE called Lord Vernon, is working ruthlessly to get the job for himself. If you cross him you get blacklisted, which almost always assures a short and unpleasant life. The Pan on the other hand has been blacklisted for 5 years for some very petty offense, and yet he’s still around, hiding out in an upper room in a pub called the Parrot and Screwdriver, being cared for by two sweet, elderly women who may have more important connections than they are willing to admit.

One night, The Pan is captured by a group of thieves headed by a green swamp thing called Big Merv. The Pan is about to be dumped into the river in cement shoes, when he convinces his captors that they need him. His argument? Anyone who has been blacklisted for 5 years knows something about escape or at least running away, and so he will make a great driver for their get-away car (actually their get away snurd... a car that can fly and is overloaded with features from weapons to artificially intelligence.). So, Big Merv spares The Pan and makes him his get away driver.

From there on it’s a series of deadly encounters: confrontations with the Grongolian police, an epoch heist from the Bank of Grongolia, a face to face confrontation with Lord Vernon, meetings with secret messengers, philosophical reflection on the wisdom of the K’Barthian prophet, Arnold, and the eventual identification and saving of the true Chosen one.

Through it all The cowardly, but somehow heroic, Pan manages to talk his way out of far more trouble than he can run away from, giving us a really enjoyable read in the process. I can’t wait to dive into the other books in the series and find out how it all works out.

3 people found this helpful

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TriciaReads

Unforgettable

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 4, 2014

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The Pan of Hamgee is just trying to get by. Blacklisted, he turns to a life of crime in order to survive. As the getaway driver for the Mervinettes, he comes across an artefact obtained during the robbery that puts his life in more danger than it usually is. The tiny thimble means big trouble for The Pan. Will it be the key to the ultimate escape act, or is it the key to his past and future?

This novel is pure fantasy. Or is it? There's a bit of science fiction happening in the intricate world McGuire has created. There's something for everything here--fast cars (well, snurds), high-speed chases, heroism, humor, portals, evil villains, honest criminals, and fantastical beings of every sort of description. The book is incredibly well-written and unique. From gripping the edges of my Kindle to laughing out loud, I was thoroughly engrossed and entertained the entire time I read this book.

I absolutely adored The Pan. He's such an unlikely hero. Indeed, he insists throughout the book that his cowardly nature is what makes him a top notch getaway driver and escape artist. He continuously underestimates himself, insisting he isn't anything special. The character that really surprised me was Big Merv. At the beginning, he's a typical (well as typical as an orange Swamp Thing can be) gangster, running his sleazy operation with an iron fist, threatening to thump anyone who gets in his way, masterminding bank robberies. But, as the story evolves, we discover Merv is a loyal, honest criminal who holds tight to a moral code of ethics. Then, we meet Ruth--an ordinary human caught up in K'Barth's battles. Is she The Chosen One, or has Lord Vernon made a mistake?

Few Are Chosen is peppered with unforgettable characters, innuendo, humor, and fast-paced action. I'm so glad I read this book and can't wait to grab the next book in the trilogy.

2 people found this helpful

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LAS Book Reviews

A New Fantasy Fan

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 21, 2012

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With 'Few Are Chosen' I've discovered that I should have been paying more attention to fantasy fiction these past several years since Harry Potter. This series has become my newest, favorite fantasy series. M.T. McGuire has developed the fabulous world of K'Barth with a cast of unforgettable characters, delicious innuendos to current countries and politics, a storyline that keeps twisting and turning, a self-deprecating hero, non-cookie cutter villains, witty dialogue and... snurds.

The story is what lures me to a particular book. It's what holds me and shakes me until I laugh aloud. A good story can make my blood run cold or yell aloud at the protagonists victories. A good story also needs a good story teller. M.T. McGuire is an excellent story teller and an expert at 'show don't tell', that hard to do writing skill that is most troublesome to beginning writers. A prime example of that skill is demonstrated as she introduces quantum mechanics to the plot. You'll not find a narrative paragraph that describes quantum mechanics or the particular theory being demonstrated in the prose; however, you will most assuredly recognize and understand the concepts because you can 'see' it happening on the page.

Not only do I highly recommend, 'Few Are Chosen'; I'm off to buy the second book in the series! Someone mentioned Ms McGuire as a new writer, waiting to be discovered. As far as I'm concerned she's been discovered and, as long as she continues to write, she'll be on my reading lists.

Before I forget...I think it admirable when an author makes a real effort at connecting with new and potential readers. M.T.'s description of snurds and how they came to be, her lists of how and where she can be contacted, are excellent examples of her sociability and desire to provide the best reading experience to her (soon to be, I'm sure) multitudes of fans! The first chapter of book two is also a nice touch...;o)

4 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

BrianR

Not Pratchet, but a close 2nd

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 22, 2016

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What can you say - a trilogy in 4 parts (5, if you count the 'Unlucky Dip' prequel). Our somewhat inept hero lives in a parallel world that appears to us mere mortals as quite exciting. Never mind that its run as a dictatorship and all the people seem to be bizarre creatures - some of whom can pass for human - the place has flying cars! Not only that, our hero owns a Lotus that (mostly) doubles as his home.

The story tells of his adventures, essentially trying to survive the evil intentions of the government (that is dictator) and the capriciousness of the gangster boss 'Big Merv'. Despite his complete unsuitability for anything approaching adulthood, you can't help feeling a certain sympathy for 'The Pan of Hamgee' (our hero). He is without guile and tries to do the right thing while staying alive at the same time.

The story romps along and is very easy reading. There a shades of Pratchet here - a strange universe that seems, in its own way to be more or less self-consistent - mixed with light-hearted humour. Pratchet has quirky jokes scattered liberally - these books don't have the jokes but The Pan reminds me of Rincewind nevertheless. I came to the 1st book as a freebie, but be warned - if you read the 1st, you will end up buying the rest!

2 people found this helpful

eppingstrider

Wacky, scifi and a trilogy in four books

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 11, 2014

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The Pan of Hamgee is useless at most things, and what’s more he’s been on the Blacklist and therefore wanted by both the Grongolians and the Resistance, for five years now. That is a record, but it’s largely because his major skill is… running away. This makes him the ideal person to become the getaway driver for Big Merv’s illicit activities, mainly concerned with robbing banks. Arnold’s Y-fronts! Who would have the nerve to rob the Grongolian Central Bank? Surely nobody in their right mind … ok, you’ve guessed it!

This is a brilliantly inventive romp through a seriously repressed society who are rather used to the status quo, so nobody really minds any more, and anyway the Resistance is probably working for the Grongolian dictators. The author belongs firmly in the theatre of the absurd school of writing and I adore it. There is a tendency (unsurprisingly) to include some in-jokes about London, or English, politics and lifestyles (which I find refreshing in the ebook world, since we Brits are a minority group), but the general tenor of the jokes will amuse all early teens and adults who enjoy Pythonesque humour (or Goons, or Goodies, or HitchHikers Guide to the Galaxy). It may even appeal to Pratchett fans.

It also pulls through to early Sword & Sorcery works like Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, another series I loved, or John Brunner’s Traveller in Black. And it deals with alternative universes, which ticks another of my boxes, and the underlying theme is one that will provide lovers of deeper meaning plenty to get their teeth into. And the snurd (the getaway car) will appeal to another set of people – it’s really cool!

It’s pacey, original, intriguing, off the wall, and I love it. Thank goodness there are three more books in the trilogy to look forward to!

I awarded this book Best Read of 2014 out of over 60 books.

3 people found this helpful

Peaceseeker

Funny, shrewd and perceptive: an entertaining and satisfying read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 4, 2014

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Ms McGuire had me from: “...the loaded gentry” (sentence 3). Pithy observations came thick and fast: “Swamp Things were the only creatures that could punch as hard as Grongles.” “Big Merv was bound to think he’d done it on purpose; nobody normal could be that stupid.” “The Pan didn’t make a habit of retrospection.”

Then there were the characters’ names: Sir Robin Get, the last of the great Nimmists, Frank the Knife (no relation to Mac), Ada the PR front of The Parrot and Screwdriver (The Pan of Hamgee’s local), General Moteurs (a high-ranking Grongolian army officer)... Big Merv’s gang is known as The Mervinettes. I could hear the ghost of Spike Milligan chortling in the skies above Ning Dang Po, the capital city of K’Barth.

Our putative hero – the Pan of Hamgee – follows the time-honoured tradition of being unpromising in his youth. He is disarmingly open about his shortcomings: “It wasn’t so much that he was unhappy with his personality; he just wished it belonged to someone else.” Of course, as the story deliciously and hilariously unfolds, his hidden depths begin reluctantly to emerge...

But if this was all there was, it would be less of a book than it actually is. Accompanying the wit and smooth, skilful writing are some bitingly accurate observations about abuse of power, the subjugation of nations and the tendency of both conquering armies and resistance movements to provide opportunities for psychopaths to develop their full potential. “These days you didn’t ask people about their relatives, not when the State tended to arrest them in the middle of the night and mislay them by the morning.” “Periodically the looners behind the carnage changed, but the end result was the same.” “Passive non-cooperation, that was the K’Barthan way, unless you were a member of the Resistance. Every psychotic nutter in the country had joined them.”

K’Barth is a parallel universe two letters and an apostrophe away from Earth in a quantum mechanical kind of way. To travel between the two you just need a thimbleful of advanced science involving a modicum of Random Mathematics. Add to the mix a fertile imagination and you are in for some entertaining rides in a highly desirable Snurd...

One person found this helpful

C. M. Donaldson

The Pan of Hamgee cracked me up...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 6, 2014

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At first I thought what the hell is The Pan of Hamgee, and more precisely what is a Hamgean? (Obviously I hadn't read the prequel). Then you let your mind do a quick brain flick into fantasy mode and it all starts to become clear. The Pan is a hapless, hopeless creature, and you can’t help but start to enjoy a completely unconventional and original fantasy tale riddled with humour about his desperate exploits and antics.

When he initially burnt down his employer’s apartment by accident, and feared a dirt-nap with concrete boots amongst the fishes (Big Merv is a highly feared gangster after all) and yet managed to escape, The Pan had me hooked. You couldn’t help but root for him.

How many incidences can one person find themselves in where they are pursued, threatened, beaten up, incarcerated then they flee, get caught again, manage to escape, get caught again by an adversary worse than the last one, take another thrashing and still survive another day is beyond me, but that’s the sum of The Pan’s existence. He is nimble, quick and tricky, and he’s also a self-confessed coward who has made his ability to escape tight situations (usually of his own doing) into a fine art. Trouble is, he often falls from the frying pan (no pan pun intended) into the fire, and as an outlaw anyway, there is a price on his head and many who would claim his hide for the reward. He’s not very good though at keeping out of trouble, and his mouth engaging before his brain is partly the root of all his woes. And that is what made this novel all the more amusing, and amazing.

I loved this story and read it avidly night after night, wondering what kind of ‘doo-doo’ The Pan would find himself in next. I also loved the inclusion of strange artifacts, appliances and flying vehicles, and the discovery of a unusual portal. This story is set in a parallel universe and I was blown away by the imagination of the author. Thus, I have already sought out the sequel and continue to enjoy the antics of The Pan as his troubles escalate. The story has been described in the many reviews this has received, so I won’t go into it at length suffice to say it's just a brilliantly intriguing story with a great deal of imagination surrounding the quest to find The Chosen One, with creatures from different planets and a great deal of humour thrown in.

2 people found this helpful

Beefy

Perfect happy escapism

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 29, 2016

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Amazon recommended this book to me so, having seen the words 'British comedy story', I thought I'd give it a go. I'm not a man of tender years and I do like a light and breezy book with no swearing so I was delighted to find this series and the quirky, dare I say, slightly old fashioned (in a solid, good English way), feel to the writing. I have bought comedy sci fi books before and sometimes the jokes are too fast and furious for me to get to grips with the story but this is paced in such a way as to keep me turning the pages and get told off for keeping the light on so late reading! I enjoyed this book immensely and the only gripe I had was that it finished too soon with me wanting to know what happened next.
The characters are easy to visualise and remember so you don't get confused as to who is who and the story line is nice and silly so I can practice escapism as opposed to soul searching which is what I'm looking for in a British comedy story!
I have now gone on to read more of this series and will be keeping up to date as and when the story continues... :-)

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Few Are Chosen: A dystopian comedic sci fi fantasy adventure (The K'Barthan Series Book 1) Kindle Edition

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