Author: J. V. Jones

Title: The Book of Words I - The Baker's Boy

Published: 1996

I think I've read Jones before in Finnish, but I don't think this particular book is available in my native. I just finished the book, and the only thing that bothered me were some character names, but more of that later.

The story starts with a prologue, in which a man called Baralis kills his servant, Lusk. Quite a start for a book, eh. Baralis is, obviously, the villain of the book: he's up to something nasty. He has knowledge of sorcery as well as knows how to use it, and he uses these powers, after raping the queen of his king, to make sure the queen is to carry a child. Why? - well, it's not revealed in this part of the series at any point. 

Anyway, soon after we're introduced to bunch of other characters. Bevlin, a wiseman who's worrying about a prophecy made long time ago; Tawl, a knight of Valdis who yearns to reach his third circle (the circles are the symbol and the marking of the knights, the third being the final stage) and seeks out Bevlin, who sets Tawl on a journey to find a boy mentioned in the prophecies. Then we meet Melliandra, Lord Maybor's daughter, who finds out she's to marry Prince Kylock - or so her father plans. We also meet two guards, Grift and Bodger, who sit somewhere, drinking ale and discussing as important matters as how to 'rollick' with a girl and how to avoid the ghones. And then we of course meet our Baker's Boy, Jack, an orphan boy bullied by the Baker of the castle, Master Frallit.

At this point I need to ask you to read through the list of the characters I mentioned, then look again at the name of the main character. See something... funny? What I thought at one stage was that Jack is from our world, and that's why his mother couldn't tell him where she's from.... But who knows, really, because Jack's mother's identity or where she came from are not stated in this book. Also, there are other names in the story that are, at least for me, rather unusual in fantasy stories that do not happen in our world: Sara, Anna (Tawl's sisters, these two), Megan (a prostitute Tawl meets in a city called Rorn), Lilly (a chambermaid who wishes to get a higher position as a lady's maid by sleeping with Lord Maybor)... so Jack probably is from the world of this book. It's kind of a relief, kind of a pity. Oh well.

I was also sure that this Jack will do something great, or become something great, and I was right.

It also should be noted - remembering the means how Baralis ensured the queen would carry his child, that is, sorcery - that sorcery, at least in the Four Kingdoms (the location where all but the knight Tawl are from), is not allowed. It's considered a devil's weapon, it's greatly feared (probably because people don't understand how it works) and users of sorcery... well, they don't live long, usually.

I must say I loved this book. It flows so well, it's captivating, there are so many events but all are, after a while, clearly linked to each other. It makes me a bit envious, looking at my own scraps of a novel haha. And the end, it was hilarious! The other thing I must complain about is the long chapters. I'm not a fan of those, because I love reading a chapter at a time, and so if I need to stop in the middle of a chapter... it's annoying, I tell ya. Otherwise, I can't wait to get my hands on the second part of the series, A Man Betrayed!

Also, I was  surprised to find the writer is a female. All along I thought it was a man..... Oh well, live and learn!

 

Started: Jan 5, 2011

Finished: Jan 26, 2011

Recommended for: all the friends of fantasy; my goodness, Robert Jordan praises this book on the cover!