Review by Booklist Review
When he was nine, Marshall Barton was kidnapped and set upon a barrel in front of his father's castle with a noose around his neck. When his father refused to spare him, King Gervaise took back Ransom--a nickname given by Claire, also a royal hostage. When Gervaise dies, Ransom is sent off to Lord Kinghorn to learn to be a knight. As he trains, Ransom hears the sound of the water of Kingfountain's falls; it gives him the strength and endurance to win every battle. His success leads him to become a knight to the eldest son of Devon Argentine, who deposed Gervaise, and his mysterious power is as much a curse as it is a boon. Each chapter begins with excerpts of Claire's diary, which tracks the romance-from-a-distance that grows between them. Wheeler (The Buried World, 2020) adds elements of Arthurian legend to the start of the First Argentine Series and, much like David Drake did with The Spark (2017), serves up an irresistible, great-hearted hero and a woman with the patience he deserves, along with splendid palace intrigues and battles.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
With this superlative epic fantasy, Wheeler (the King's Fountain series) launches his First Argentine series, which returns to the Kingdom of Cedigion to chronicle the turbulent events surrounding the first rulers of the Argentine dynasty. Wheeler twists medieval history and the Arthurian legends that inspire him into new configurations, and many elements of those stirring old tales echo through this swashbuckling coming-of-age story. Episodes from appealing hero Ransom Barton's early life alternate with brief entries from the journals of Claire de Murrow, who grew up with Ransom in the court of King Gervase, where both were held as hostages to guarantee her parents' loyalty to the crown. Through many painful trials both physical and emotional, Ransom wins his knighthood and loses his heart to Claire. Throughout, Ransom is stirred by strange bursts of strength and skill that suggest he's one of the "fountain-blessed," but while he fights ferociously in his duty to successive lords, his recklessness proves a liability that he must learn to overcome. Wheeler does an expert job of reintroducing his fantasy world through the eyes of sympathetic characters that fans and new readers alike will root for. This is sure to be a hit. (Jan.)
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