Once again, I stumbled over this in a thrift store. I was familiar with Doyle and MacDonald's Mageworlds books, which I greatly enjoy as one of the most entertaining and interesting space operas in the Star Wars mold. I had no idea they also wrote fantasy.

This is an excellent rendition of an Arthurian style romance. It is set in a fantasy alternate of medieval Great Britain divided into Suthanglia, Nordanglia, Caledon, and Ierne, home to various peoples as well as magical creatures like trolls and ogres. It is modeled along late medieval society with feudalism and chivalry in full swing--heavy armor, jousting, tournaments, border castles, etc. Our hero is William Odosson and the story opens the day before he is knighted and continues through his first season away from home. All along the way he encounters dangers and challenges and follows the hero's route. But this is not the story of the lone wanderer, he accomplishes the various tasks with the assistance of his friends and others.

I thought the authors did an excellent job portraying the time period and its people. The writing was generally good, carrying the story largely through dialogue and actions, rather than lots of exposition and internal monologue. It was an elegant little story and I was disappointed when it was over. ( )