5/5 A Fun filled Medieval Fantasy Adventure
This book was on my review list and is a MG/YA Fantasy and it is reviewed as such.
Firstly, what twelve-year-old boy wouldn’t love this fantasy adventure. It has swords and squires, knights on mighty chargers, evil kings and devilish machinations.
I confess I am a little older than twelve…by a lot but this book was light-hearted, fast actioned and thoroughly entertaining. It tells the tale of a young boy Will who longs to be a knight and through happy circumstances makes friends with two squires from Alamore Castle called Colin and Rowan and suddenly finds himself thrust into castle life as a newly minted squire. There he meets the king and the enigmatic Ranger of Kings, a cloaked and hooded man who for much of the story remains a mysterious figure.
Will’s tale is wonderfully told and hurtles along at breakneck speed. All of the characters are uniquely portrayed and as the story deepens so do they. There is a large cast but they are introduced in such a way that it is not overwhelming.
The author also knows her way around a horse because they feature quite prominently in the story and each one has its own distinct personality.
This was an easy, comfortable read that took me back to my childhood days of reading Eddings and MacAffrey and the simple joy of adventuring in a fantasy world that fired my imagination and I enjoyed it more than I expected for that reason.
Whilst this is a MG/YA book I think many ‘grown-ups’ would enjoy the simple pleasure of a good story well told.
A D Green 