Review Detail

Reader reviewed by L. Eustace

The second book in "The Book of Words" trilogy, it starts of immediately after the first volume, "The Baker's Boy" finished. Hauty Princess Melli is kidnapped when soldiers search for the body of a man her buddy Jack, the baker's boy, killed. She is then sold like a sack of rice, and eventually ends up in the hands of a widowed Duke.

On the other side of the story, Jack is running away from the soldiers, trying to stay alive. He meets Tessa, a woman older than him, who becomes his most trusted friend, his equal. Jack is in love with Melli, but Tessa tells him she was beaten then hanged to death, which clearly is not true.

And in another subplot, the evil Prince Kylock, who was to marry Melli before she ran away, ends up preparing a marriage with the Duke's daughter, Catherine, who's conjuring up black magic during her spare time. This is a book with a whole load of characters, that are delightful to read, and even quite easy to keep track of.