FINISHED:

Caveney, Philip. (2007). Sebastian Darke: Prince of fools. New York: Delacorte/Random House.

[Will have a review for this one shortly...

Voila:

Sebastian Darke, a not-so-funny jester, travels with his buffalope, a wise-cracking, deadpan, shaggy beast, to the kingdom of Keladon to seek employment as a royal jester of the court. Along the way, with the help of newfound friend and miniature-statured Captain Cornelius, he finds himself saving the life of Kerin, Princess of Keladon, whose entourage has been attacked by warriors while on her way back home. It turns out that King Septimus of Keladon, Kerin’s uncle, had a hand in her parents death and would like Kerin to suffer the same fate, so, through a series of events, pins Kerin’s eventual disappearance on Sebastian. Caveney’s novel follows the path well-worn by many other authors, serving up a tale of medieval folk banding together against an evil dictator, with a few twists, turns, and moments of suspense that aren’t so surprising, and a scattering of odd, softly rendered, grey-scale illustrations which feel not so entirely necessary. However, there is quite a bit of dry humor here to delight those with a taste for the off-beat, and a good message here that Kerin learns about poverty and slavery when she finds herself put up for auction in a nearby village. In the end, though, likely to aid in the setup for sequels, Kerin rebuffs Sebastian’s advances because she is now a queen and must marry royalty. So, slavery and poverty among her citizens are things she will no longer tolerate, but classism is still ok – what kind of a message is that? Despite a proliferation of surprisingly graphic moments of violence and familiar narrative elements, fans of Lloyd Alexander and the like, looking for a bit of contemporary humor in their medieval adventure stories, will find plenty to enjoy here.]

STARTED:
Hamilton, Virginia. (1968). The house of Dies Drear. New York: Simon&Schuster.

[Haven't ever read anything by Virginia Hamilton and this one has always peaked my curiosity...]

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