Not Quite Scaramouche: A Guardians of the Flame Novel

Not Quite Scaramouche (2001) is the ninth fantasy novel in the Guardians of the Flame series, following Not Exactly the Three Musketeers. In the previous volume, Baroness Elanee instigated a plot to lure Ellegon into a trap, but Pirojil, Kethol, Durine and Erenor foiled the setup. However, Durine and a medium sized brown dragon were killed and Erenor required a healing draught for his slit throat. Although her treasonous plot misfired, Elanee herself survived until Ellegon and Pirojil executed the death warrant on her. Her son Miron disappeared in the confusion. In this novel, Emperor Thomen calls Parliament into session and Jason Cullinane is late. In addition, Henrad the wizard is beginning to feel the presence of another wizard in the castle. Walter Slovotsky, the new Imperial Proctor, decides to kill two birds with one stone and sends Pirojil, Kethol and Erenor to Barony Cullinane. Jason delays to the last minute before leaving for Parliament and then finds himself delayed by assassins. Kethol first detects something scaring the wildlife and he, Pirojil and Ahira Bandylegs go into the woods to check out the situation. They find an assassin with two crossbows, one of which gets Ahira in the thigh and the other scrapes Kethol's ear. Pirojil takes the party off the Royal road and occupies a nearby farmhouse. That evening, Kethol and Ahira take a shortcut through the woods to Dernal's Ford and Pirojil and Erenor head off through the rain on the Royal road to Belneten's Spring. Pirojil and Erenor find more assassins waiting for them, but the other party find Imperial troopers guarding a landing zone for Ellegon. The next day, Jason and his close associates ride to Parliament in style, way above any possible assassins on the ground. In this story, Miron returns to Biemestren through the sponsorship of Baron Tyrnael. General Treseen recommends that Miron be installed as the new baron and Parliament tends to agree. Walter delays the decision, hoping for an alternative. Leria provides a means of searching for the long gone Forinel, heir presumptive to the barony, and Pirojil, Kethol, Erenor and Leria fly off of Ellegon to search for the heir. This story twists and turns like a snake with its head cut off. Some things remain the same, of course, such as Kethol dashing heroically after the assassin and Jason standing up on Ellegon as they fly along. Naturally, the barons are always plotting something and the Imperial governors in the Holt baronies are playing their own game. Recommended for Rosenberg fans and for anyone who enjoys tales of high adventure and intrigue with more than a touch of cynicism. -Arthur W. Jordin

In Not Quite Scaramouche, Kethol, Pirojil, and the mildly competent and untrustworthy wizard, Erenor, are charged first with bodyguarding characters that readers of previous Guardians of the Flame books will remember fondly, and new readers will surely enjoy. Naturally, things don't go as planned as our heroes end up having to flee into the countryside to attempt to recover a missing heir. This is a great read and very entertaining.Another GREAT READ !! The Price of Immortality by C.M. Whitlock

I have to agree with the other reviewers: Rosenberg just keeps getting better with every book. I was nervous when he took the series off on a tangent with Walter Slovotsky a few years ago, and again when he brought Pirojil, Kethol, and Durine to center stage with Not Exactly the Three Musketeers.I should have known better. Rosenberg clearly did. Terrific book.

I really like what Rosenberg is doing with these characters, but it was just *great* to see more of Walter Slovotsky, my favorite of all of his characters, this time.More Ellegon, next time, please!

Rosenberg just keeps reinventing heroic fantasy with apparently no effort at all. In Not Quite Scaramouche, he takes his three motley heroes into and out of palace intrigue, and back on the road again (where they clearly belong. I don't know why, but Rosenberg seems to do "on the road" scenes and chapters better than anybody else now writing).In this one, Kethol, Pirojil, and the mildly competent and untrustworthy wizard, Erenor, are charged first with bodyguarding characters that readers of previous Guardians of the Flame books will remember fondly, and new readers will surely enjoy. Naturally, things don't go as planned -- our heroes end up having to hare off into the countryside to attempt to recover a missing heir. They, and we, never quite know what will be around the next bend, except that it will usually be dangerous for them, and always be entertaining for us.I liked Not Exactly the Three Musketeers very much; this one is even better. The replacement of the stolid Durine with the untrustworthy -- but not entirely untrustworthy; Rosenberg is too clever for that -- Erenor reminds me in a perverse way of every time a good television ensemble drama, like Mash or NYPD Blue, replaces a good major character with a better one.The only thing I missed was the cameo appearance by Rosenberg himself that I so much enjoyed in the last one. Maybe next time?