The Advent of the King by Fletcher King

Reviewed by David Daffins

In Fletcher King’s The Advent of the King, a young, rash king attempts to cope with challenges to his reign of which he has not been prepared. A neighboring kingdom is making preparations to invade his kingdom, and with infertility plaguing his own people, his subjects may rebel.

The moment the reader picks up this fast-paced medieval adventure, one is drawn quickly into a richly delineated world of 9th Century palace life -- high adventure, earthy romance, and courtly intrigue -- from which there is no escape until the final chapter. (And even then one finds oneself rushing to the computer to find the publishers website in hopes of quickly getting hold of the sequel!)

From the intricate twists and turns of its plot, to the wildly unexpected outcomes of the events into which the characters find themselves entangled, the reader is propelled along like a fully fledged participant in the action.

The characters are all unique members of a society that ranges all the way from the handsome but dissolute King of the tiny Kingdom of Speyron, to some of the raunchiest serving wenches that ever plied the world’s most ancient profession. And all of the principal characters have personalities that are at once engaging and yet exasperating, ringing true to life with all the complexity of motive and irrationality of method that make us human beings the most glorious yet most perverse of creatures.

The situations into which the characters find themselves entangled range from the comings and goings of daily (and nightly) palace life, through the often violent convulsions of insurrection and battle, to the most sublime out-workings of religious fervor. Yet all portray for the reader a life that is both fully human and totally believable. And nowhere in this, Fletcher King’s first hard-charging novel, is there even a hint of the sort of cardboard stuffing that has given adventure fiction such a bad name over the years.

And with all of its glimpses into the seamier sides of human existence, with few exceptions, it retains a sense of moral purpose and integrity beyond the scope of most works of fiction, adventure or otherwise. A difficult task for a smartly fashioned medieval novel, and yet one which the author handles with a real skill and ability, creating an authentic sense of medieval life along the way.

Not to mention the fact that it’s a damn good read!

The Advent of the King, ISBN 1-4259-1493-4, LC# 2006900565, was published on July 30, 2006 by AuthorHouse Books, 1663 Liberty Drive, Ste 200, Bloomington, IN 47403.

Go to the Official Website for The Advent of the King.
Buy The Advent of the King from AuthorHouse Books.