Willoughby the Narrator

Princelings of the East #7

by Jemima Pett

Book 7 in the Princelings of the East series sees Willoughby, nephew of Lord Mariusz of Hattan, succumb to his curiosity about the time tunnel. A quick trip to the other side sees him trapped in the Realms. He tells his own story of how he survived, learned a new occupation, and became part of Castle White Horse at the most dangerous time in its history. His adventures as a wall-runner and itinerant story-teller, or narrator, bring him to the attention of those in power, who need someone who can go anywhere and give them information. To spy, in fact.

It's a tale of danger and double-dealing, lightened by Willoughby's stories, as told to his adoring public.

Willoughby's tale starts at the tail end of Book 1, and reviews the events surrounding his first appearance in the series in Book 5; this book is best read after either of those two, but of course, the full sequence is best.

Suitable for good readers aged ten and upwards, and essential reading for ninja story-tellers in troubled times.

267 pages, Paperback

Published April 27, 2017

About the author

Jemima Pett has been living in a world of her own for many years. Writing stories since she was eight, drawing maps of fantasy islands with train systems and timetables at ten. Unfortunately no-one wanted a fantasy island designer then, so she tried a few careers, getting great experiences in business, environmental research and social work. She finally got back to building her own worlds, and wrote about them. Her business background enabled her to become an independent author, responsible for her own publications.

Her first series, the Princelings of the East, is now complete, with ten mystery adventures for advanced readers set in a world of tunnels and castles. There's a strong element of time travel, and relies on thinking yourself out of difficult situations! Jemima does chapter illustrations for these.

Shehas also published two volumes of Christmas stories for young readers, the BookElves Anthologies, and her father's memoirs White Water Landings, about the Imperial Airways flying boat service in Africa. Her current work-in-progress is the third in her (adult) science fiction series set in the Viridian System, in which the aliens include sentient trees.

Jemima now lives in Hampshire with her guinea pigs, the first of whom, Fred, George, Victor and Hugo, provided the inspiration for her first stories, The Princelings of the East. She is currently writing short stories for anthologies, and working on ideas for a new climate-related fiction book.

See my blog at jemimapett.com
The Princelings series at Princelings of the East series
My science fiction books at Viridian System series

Reviews

[Jemima Pett]

This is the seventh book in the Princelings series, and of course I think it's great.

Willoughby gets stranded in the Realms as a result of the events of book 1, The Princelings of the East, so you may miss the nuances if you start with this one. He first appears in the series in book 5, The Talent Seekers. Since Willoughby ends up making a living as an itinerant story-teller, it makes sense for him to tell his own tale - which he does, as he changes from lost trainee ninja, to confident teen, to undercover operative and spy. He also tells some of his lovely stories - with his own take on some traditional tales thrown in.

Fitting the real Willoughby into my world was hard at first. He lived with the same family as Mariusz, who tells his own adventure in book 4. Willoughby's personality and antics as he endeavoured to become a ninja suggested that a passing appearance (and disappearance) in Book 5 would not be enough. I was quite pleased when I worked out how he came to be here in the first place.

This may be the end of his story so far, but he'll turn up in the last book, as he still has an important task to achieve.

[Chris The Story Reading Ape · Rating 5 out of 5]

We first met Willoughby in a previous book The Talent Seekers’, but never found out where he originally came from, or, what happened to him after leaping out a tower window and falling towards the jagged rocks below.
Well ... In this book, all will be revealed.

See my review also at:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...

[Victoria Zigler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved hearing Willoughby's whole story, and thought the addition of some of his tales when he's telling them was a nice touch.

[Chris The Story Reading Ape · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s more to Willoughby than you think.

We first met Willoughby in a previous book The Talent Seekers’, but never found out where he originally came from, or, what happened to him after leaping out a tower window and falling towards the jagged rocks below.
Well ... In this book, all will be revealed.
Adventures, intrigue and dastardly deeds galore await the reader.