Bastard King, The: Book One Scepter of Mercy

This is the first of the three "Scepter of Mercy" books, which are 1) The Bastard King 2) The Chernagor Pirates 3) The Scepter's Return Although he used the pen-name Dan Chernenko, these books were actually written by Harry Turtledove. Apparently he felt the books were different from his usual subject matter and wanted to see the reaction they would get without his name. The most recent printings actually do have his name on the cover, followed by "writing as Dan Chernenko". The prologue which begins the book reads as follows: "Once apon a time, a long time ago, the Kingdom of Avotnis had two kings at the same time. King Lanius was the son of a king, the grandson of a king, the great-grandson of a king, and so on for a dozen generations. King Grus was the son of Crex the Unbearable. Between them, they brought the Scepter of Mercy back to the city of Avornis in truimph, and did many other deeds of which the bards will sing for ages yet to come. One of them, pretty plainly, was a great king. The other, just as plainly, was not. The only trouble is, it's not always obvious which was which ... " Lanius is born at the beginning of the book as the only son of King Mergus of Avornis, a country beset by enemies on all sides, particularly by barbarians to the south, in territory ruled by the immortal "Banished one" who used to be a God before the other Gods expelled him from heaven. Even before he is born, it is obvous that the Banished one has some reason to hate and fear the young prince - and that this evil former God has a similar obsessive hatred for Captain Grus, the able but low-born commander of a river galley in the navy of Avornis. Under the local religion, in which Olar, the current principal god, has six wives, nobody is allowed to marry more than six times. King Mergus has already got through his alloted six wives, but in his desperation to leave an heir for the kingdom, gets a dubious dispensation to marry Lanius's mother. As the son of the King's seventh wife, Lanius is perceived by many as a bastard. However, the realm still needs a King - at least one King ... I'm astonished that this book and series got such a kicking from other reviewers: obviously it didn't appeal to everyone but I quite liked it. This series does have both the strengths and weaknesses of many of Harry Turtledove's books. For example, there is a strong storyline, well crafted and believable characters - but he does tend to repeat things an awful lot. If you can put up with that minor flaw you will probably enjoy this trilogy.

The only complaint about the book and series is the end. It left me wanting more resolution to the story/something more form their lives. It is worth the time to read all three, it just maybe needed a little more (Maybe book 4).

This book is a little more cerebral than many of the pulp churned out these days. Not a bad book at all, but its slow pace can be tedious. Not comparable to George R R Martin, but better than most.

The Bastard King is the first novel in the Scepter of Mercy series. King Mergus of Avornis had ruled for almost thirty years without having an heir of his own body, despite trying with six wives, the maximum allowed number. Nonetheless, when the witch Rissa declared that the child carried by his concubine would be a boy, Mergus immediately took the pregnant Certhia as his seventh wife. Arch-Hallow Bucco objected, calling the child a bastard, and would not let the King take the boy into the Cathedral to worship the gods. Three days later, the church had a new Arch-Hallow and Bucco was sent to the Maze.In this novel, Prince Lanius, the bastard prince, is the center of a great controversy. After Bucco is banished, events became rather settled for a while and Lanius becomes enamored with book learning. He even spends his spare time in the palace archives. However, King Mergus dies when Lanius is only five years old.Prince Scolopax, Mergus' brother, then takes the throne by sheer gall (he claims it and nobody says otherwise). He sends Queen Certhia to the Maze and restores Bucco as Arch-Hallow. He also refuses to pay tribute to the Thervings. He has a fine and happy time until he drops dead of overindulgence after three years.Arch-Hallow Bucco then becomes the head of the Regency Council as ordered by Scolopax. Queen Certhia returns from the Maze. Then Bucco sends Certhia back to the Maze. Bucco calls together the army under Duke Regulus, but the Duke decides to put himself on the throne. However, after accepting a dinner invitation from Lepturus, chief of Lanius' bodyguards, Regulus soon finds himself dining within the Maze. Then the Thervings invade Avornis, burning and pillaging.Bucco negotiates a settlement with King Dagipert of Thervingia that includes a lot of gold and the betrothal of Lanius to Dagipert's daughter. With the contrivance of Lanius and his chief bodyguard, Queen Certhia returns from the Maze, abolishes the Regency Council, sends Bucco back to the Cathedral, takes over the Regency herself, and nullifies the betrothal. Then the Thervings invade once again.Certhia appoints Count Corvus as commander of the Arvornan army and sends his brother, Count Corax, to fetch an army of Heruls to attack the Thervings in the rear. Commodore Grus leads a flotilla of river galleys and barges to the Herul camp to ferry them across the river. Despite his distrust of the Heruls, Grus is prepared to load them onto the flotilla, but Count Corax treats him as a low class taxi driver and tries to draw on him; Grus has Corax returned to the Herul's camp on the wrong side of the river. Corvus grows bored with waiting for Corax and charges out into an ambush, barely making it back to Avornis before the Thervings arrive to besiege the town.After that fiasco, Certhia orders Grus to report to the castle, but Grus ignores the order. She then tries to have Grus punished for his defiance of her orders, but Grus claims to have never received an

It is a rousing saga that holds much promise, enough so I am looking forward to book two in the series, Dan Chernenko launches the Scepter of Mercy series of fantasy books with The Bastard King. In a simple, straightforward narrative style, Chernenko sets his tale in the kingdom of Avornis and chronicle the rise of two extraordinary men - Lanius, the bastard son of King Mergus, and Grus, a royal navy captain of born of humble origin.Lanius was the son of Certhia, King Mergus? concubine. A beautiful woman, she held the heart of the King. In Avornis commoners were allowed three wives, nobles four and kings six. Since Mergus already has his six wives, Certhia must remain his leman. However, with the news she is to bear his child, Mergus grows determined to make her his seventh wife so his son will follow him onto the thrown. Mergus knows his younger brother Prince Scolopax is hungry to take over the throne, and will not welcome the news Mergus is to have a son. Since Lanius is the illegitimate son of a seventh wife, in the eyes of the people and church he cannot inherit rules. But a council of regents rally behind the child as a figurehead, while they control the real power. The child Lanius finds his life ruled by a series of regents so has little control over the fates. At one point, his mother, Certhia holds the power, and later Grus - a more powerful influence, who serves as jointly as king with Lanius. Grus has rising far from a humble naval captain to a great general and intends to make the most of his position. Grus, who is constantly tormented by dreams of things to come, must continually must battle the Thervings and the Menteshe, warlike tribes under the control of a banished Auld God, now called the Evil Banished Ones.A very strong entry into the fantasy realm.