Not Quite Scaramouche: A Guardians Of The Flame Novel

Not Quite Scaramouche: A Guardians of the Flame Novel

Several of them, in fact. He's the heir to an empire-but he doesn't want to be. And nobody believes that he could or would walk away, and give the job of ruling the kingdom to someone else.In this roller coaster of a sequel to Not Exactly the Three Musketeers, it looks like the stage is set for a major shake-up in the kingdom. Jason's help in keeping everything from blowing up are the self-appointed soldiers of the errant Jason, sent by that wily off-worlder Walter Slovotsky to keep Jason in one piece . . . more or less.There's Kethol, the long and lanky redhead with an easy smile, who's quick with a quip and quicker with a sword; Pirojil, the ugly one, whose looks deceive and whose might and loyalty are worth a kingdom; and the fledgling wizard Erenor, a man who tries to stay two steps ahead of his enemies--as well as one step ahead of his friends. They're all part of the Cullinane retinue, sworn to protect the Cullinane manse and the sometimes-heroic Jason Cullinane and they have their hands full.Because no one likes a vacuum--or one too many contenders for power, Jason's soldiers are going to have to do some fast adventuring to make it all turn out all right.Next in Joel Rosenberg's bestselling Guardians of the Flame series, Not Quite Scaramouche continues the adventures of the journeyman soldiers of Castle Cullinane (and their sometimes ill-fated leader) in all their raucous glory.From Publishers WeeklyThis sequel to Not Quite the Three Musketeers (1999), part of the Guardians of the Flame series, is not quite honed to rapier sharpness. The story proper doesn't begin until 50 pages into the book, when a contentious group of protectors sworn to Baron Jason Cullinane sets out to transport Jason and his mother to a session of parliament convened by Emperor Thomen. The road to Biemestren, where the parliament is to congregate, is fraught with danger in the form of assassins from rival baronies. Along the way, modern colloquial expressions annoy more than amuse; slang and topical allusions used within this essentially fantastic realm fail to superimpose a contemporary sensibility on these mythic archetypes of dragons, swordsmen and wizards. The novel does contain patches of witty and vivid prose, such as the scene in which Baron Cullinane's guardians attempt to force a potential assassin to reveal his hiding place by using themselves as targets in a zigzag flight across an unnaturally silent meadow. Rosenberg may be off his mark this time, but he is quite capable of a smartly executed riposte in the next adventure in this series.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.From BooklistThe sequel to Not Exactly the Three Musketeers (1999) continues the picaresque adventures of ugly Pirojil and dapper Kethol, now accompanied by the brash young wizard Erenor instead of their old comrade, a casualty in Not Exactly, Durine. A certain tension hovers around the champions of House Cullinane, particularly since the dispute over the succession to the barony of Keranahan is anything but resolved. Most of the heirs are missing, and contention among the remainder threatens to set House Cullinane and imperial proctor Walter Slovotsky at daggers drawn against the Emperor Thomen. Fortunately, an acceptable next-best resolution materializes. With a little sleight of hand, Kethol will become baron and wed beautiful Leria. The plot would be too lightweight for a longer book, and even at this length many readers may feel they are just tagging along for the sake of developing relationships, intelligent world building and magic, and new encounters with the dragon Ellegon, a master of sarcasm. Still, it's a treat. Roland GreenCopyright