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John Dickinson
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Genre
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Media
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Book
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Publisher | Kids at Random House | ||
ISBN | 0552552461 | ||
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Reviewer
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Jayne
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Synopsis
This stunning book opens twelve years after the end of "The Cup of the World" and tells the story of Ambrose, son of Phaedra and last in the king's line, who is living exiled with his mother in the dilapidated manor of Tarceny. Ambrose's life is threatened by the hooded priest of the Undercraft, an ancestral spirit of pure evil who must end Ambrose's life in order to survive himself. And even when Ambrose is hidden within the house of the Widow of Develin, a hallowed place of learning and haven of education, the priest and his minions slowly and subtly infiltrate within, subverting the minds of those most educated and powerful and leaving Ambrose in mortal danger. This book is about the meaning of kingship, the relationship between father and son, mother and son, the importance of courage and knowledge, innocence and experience. It is a huge and marvellous read - challenging and uplifting.
Review
'The Widow and the King' is the second in this trilogy and follows on from the first book some twelve years after we left the story in 'The Cup of the World'.
This book is also an enchanting and very compelling book which also has one of the best opening chapters that you could read, which makes you hooked from the first moment. I did not expect this opening as I had assumed it would carry the story on from where we left Phaedra fleeing for her life.
A knight finally tries to find his son, who he has been searching for and then the plot starts to thicken with Ambrose being taken away to a new place of safety to live with the Widow of Develin and her daughter Sophia.
He there starts to be formally educated and realises that there is a curse on his family. The Widow Develin has insisted that he changes his name so he is now called Luke to protect his identity. But one day he chooses to enter the library in the Widow Develin's property and finds out who he really is while looking at a scroll with Sophia, her daughter.
We then see the start of the next batch of warring factions among the settlements of the country. The writing for this part goes at a tremendous pace and is fantastically written with the same amount of enthusiastic talent that is shown in book one. Fraught with blood thirsty knights, who try the most unscrubulous ways to gain more lands and properties for themselves, as usual not considereing the ruined lives that befall those who are left behind.
We see the young people being driven from their home. Together they find that they can turn things around, if they work not against each other but together and with other knights from a different area of the Kingdom.
This is another beautifully written novel and is well up and may I say surpasses part one in the action packed drama and the emotive skills of the author's writing. The charactors have been increased but we do meet one or two of the old charactors of book one and learn more about them.
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