{fourth of 11 in Ironhall Books/ first of 3 in Chronicles of the King's Blades; fantasy, sword and sorcery, adventure}(2002)

This is the first of the second trilogy of the Ironhall books, now taking place a generation or two later (so the 'Henry VIII' facsimile is no longer around). Most of the characters have changed but the famed Sir Durendal is now Grand Master of Ironhall. The story starts with Durendal offering a mission to a disgraced Blade and then we go back in time a couple of years to find out how Beau was disgraced and finally ends with him completing his mission to win back his blade, 'Just Desert'.

To remind you, Ironhall Blades are the best of the best. However, boys are not sent to Ironhall to become heroes but usually as a last resort. They train hard and become expert weapons masters - but of course each boy has their own speciality. At the end of their training the monarch comes to Ironhall (or occasionally a noble to whom the monarch has decided to give a Blade to) and runs each boy through the heart with their own customised sword and a spell which, rather than killing them, binds the new Blade to their master - or mistress (on rare occasions). Bound Blades will die before letting harm come to their master (though their loyalty doesn't blind them to that master's faults) and can go without sleep for days.

Beaumont (Beau) is acknowledged as one of the best Ironhall has had in a while and is dubbed 'the Paragon' because he's effortlessly the best at everything. So it is a bit of a surprise to Ironhall denizens when the king does not take him for himself but gives him and the next two Blades (Ironhall operates on a strict first-in-first-out basis) to a portly minister named Wassail. Durendal, however, suspects that there is a reason behind this and it turns out that Wassail is being sent on a long and diplomatically delicate (and therefore secret) mission where the Blades' skills will be needed and sorely tested.

Duncan gives us two points of view; the Chivians', who are going into Skyrria, and in the Skyrrian camp, Czarina Sophie. The Czarina and her sister Tasha, who is betrothed to the King of Chivial, live on a knife‘s edge. Czar Igor has a volatile personality (not to mention being paranoid) and could be this world's facsimile for Ivan the Terrible. He rules with an iron fist and uses magic to enforce his will with giant hounds. Sophie has her work cut out to keep him from flaring into violence - when he's around - and keeping her adult stepson, who is even more depraved than Igor, away from Tasha.

As always, I enjoyed the writing in this series. Puns are scattered around and Duncan pokes fun at, amongst other things, the beards on the Skyrrians.

The lead boat had gone on ahead to carry warning, so the reception party was waiting when Wassail stepped ashore around noon. Bands played hobnail Skyrrian music like cats quarreling in a thunderstorm, peacock Pursuivant preened amid an exaltation of Skyrrian heralds, and a dozen hairy grandees glittered welcome in the sunshine. Why would men deck themselves up in so much jewelry and gold brocade, and then hide behind such jungles? Even the liveried pike-bearing men-at-arms had whiskers down to their belts. Strike a spark and they would all go up like dry hay.

...

The open carriage provided for His Excellency's triumphant entry into Kiensk resembled a converted hay wagon, but it was drawn by eight spectacular white horses. Wassail and three Best Beards climbed aboard.

Beaumont should be irritating but he's not; he's not arrogant though he is cocky but he does have a brain and cares for his charges and his friends.

There is lots of fun - and tension. There were points I almost couldn't bear to continue reading. I know from experience that Duncan can kill off his Blades if the situation calls for it (Ironhall graduates are not usually known for long lifespans) and with them going into a parallel Russia where a despot Czar rules and his son, who is even worse, is just waiting to take over ... I could sense desperate times ahead.

(March 2024)
4.5-5 stars ( )

This felt a lot like The Three Musketeers, and Dumas would have loved the main character. The incredibly competent, idealistic, and clever swordsman is a dead ringer for D'Artagnan, right down to his eventual disillusionment and amazing attractiveness to women. Good stuff. ( )

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.tumblr.com by express permission of this reviewer Title: Paragon Lost Series: A Chronicle of the King's Blades, King's Blades Author: Dave Duncan Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars Genre: SFF Pages: 348 Synopsis: Sir Beaumont heads up a special journey to get a new Queen for their King. And because of Politics and other bad things, completes the mission but loses all status and is kicked out of Iron Hall. And the story finishes with him really completing the Mission and getting it all back. My Thoughts: There are times where I hate Duncan's use of the split timeline. We start the book at the 2/3rds mark chronologically, get introduced to the situation, then immediately jump back to the beginning, hear about that, then jump to the resolution. It isn't nice neat segments though. But huge parts so you forget where you were or where you were heading. That is the main reason I took a star off. Other than that, this was a great King's Blades story. While it is a stand-alone story, you are definitely served by knowing the history of the previous 3 books in the series. Think European magic swordsmen in Russia. Messy, cold, brutal and lots of paranoia and fear. More about politics and international incidents than magic sword fighting though. Well, you can't win them all. " ( )

Dave Duncan is a little bit like Sir Beaumont, there is little that he does wrong. The pacing is perfection, the characters are lovable, likable or despicable, the world is well crafted and the plot is just plain fun. The world is done well enough to classify this as alternate history. You will easily recognize both lands and people who existed during our own medieval period, only with magic and of course, different names.

Full Review here:

Dragons, Heroes and Wizards ( )

Another fun adventure. ( )