I usually dislike first person narration in fantasy books. But Andrew Rowe’s How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps completely won me over.

In this Fortress Fiction book chat, I talk about why this Zelda-style fantasy parody works so well, and what it taught me about two different styles of first person storytelling.

It turns out not all first person narration is the same. Some books use a confessional style that focuses heavily on internal thoughts and emotions. Others feel more like someone telling you the story of an adventure.

Andrew Rowe’s book uses that second approach, and it makes all the difference.

I also talk about:

• why Yui Shaw is such a compelling narrator

• how the book cleverly plays with classic Zelda-style adventure logic

• a great example of suspense created through first person  ...