The Knight: A Tale from the High Kingdom by Pierre Pevel

Eternal War With the Last Dragons

The Knight: A Tale from the High Kingdom by Pierre Pevel, Orion, £8.99, Kindle 4.99 (Correct at time of writing)

Pierre Pevel is a well-known award-winning French writer of scripts, role-playing games, and fantasy novels. Although Pevel has a history in fantasy novels, this is the first novel he has written set in a world of his own invention. Prior to this, his books were typically alternative histories set in a precise time period.

The Knight is the story of Lorn Askarian, who has been imprisoned for three years on charges of treason. His crime is a subject of much discussion in the kingdom: he either brought it to the brink of destruction or saved it, depending on whom you talk to. Released from prison by the dying king of the High Kingdom to rebuild the Onyx Guard, protectors of the monarchs of the kingdom until its dissolution, Askarian’s mission is a threat, both to his enemies who had him imprisoned, and to the current Queen, who has used her husband’s illness to draw more power to herself .

The High Kingdom is situated in the world of Imeloria, once ruled by dragons, and is in perpetual war with Yrgäard, the last dragon kingdom. This has brought the kingdom to the verge of civil war, and the Queen’s regency is opposed by a growing faction of noblemen. The King’s approaching death will bring a battle for succession between the Queen’s son, Alderan, and the King’s oldest son, Yrdel. Although Askarian’s mission seems clear at the outset, there is a suspicion that all may not be as it seems.

It is hard, and unfair, to judge writing in translation, but from this book it seems Pevel is an excellent writer and translator Tom Clegg has done a first-rate job. This is the kind of book that keeps you up well past the time you swore you would go to sleep. I have always felt that continental Europeans get a good deal: everything published in English from the US and the UK is translated into their native languages. However, very little continental European material has been translated in the past. I hope that The Knight will persuade publishers and readers to take the risk with foreign-language fantasy, science fiction, and genre fiction in general, and that we will see more foreign-language books in English.

Peter Mann

The Knight: A Tale from the High Kingdom