Not Really The Prisoner Of Zenda (Guardians Of The Flame book 3) by Joel Rosenberg
01/09/2004 . Source: Paul Hanley 
pub: TOR. 383 page hardback. Price: $24.95 (US), $34.95 (CAN). ISBN: 0-765-30046-X. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check out website: www.tor.com This
is the ninth book in the series 'Guardian Of The Flame' by Joel Rosenburg. I have
not read any earlier books in the series so I can say, first of all, that this
book successfully stands alone as a good read. It may well be that someone
who had read the earlier books, which I gather include 'Not Exactly The Three
Musketeers' and 'Not Quite Scaramouche', would enjoy it more but if you have not
read the earlier books you can still enjoy this one.
Anyone who has
read Antony Hope's 'The Prisoner Of Zenda' will know this is the story of a commoner
who fortuitously bears an uncanny resemblance to the King of Ruritania. 
This
commoner has to take on the role of monarch when the king himself is kidnapped.
The plot is complicated because the king is betrothed to the Princess Flavia to
whom the hero, an English Edwardian gentleman, himself becomes enamoured. The
commoner proves a far more effective king than the man he replaced but, as an
honourable man, both rescues the real king from the clutches of his rascally half-brother,
returns him to the throne and then fades into the background. The first
advice I would give is to read the original 'Prisoner Of Zenda'. Joel Rosenburg
has cleverly followed the outline of this original plot in his book, as I gather
he has followed other classic plots in previous books in the series.
The
Emperor Thomen is beset by problems and has no need for a major crisis arising
from the death of an important member of the nobility, Baron Forinel. The heir
to the Barony, Forine's half-brother Miron, is an unpleasant, unprincipled and
disloyal individual.
A simple solution, as few know Forinel is dead,
is to have someonjoy this book.
Paul Hanley
|
