Adam Mortimer was born a commoner and his father has always told him to remain free of any entanglements to the Aristocrats, so that he can stay his own man. Whilst for the large part, this is great advice, Adam has found that has he has moved through his schooling at Jude’s, he has suffered as he has not been able to create the friendships that others have. Over his time at Jude’s, Adam grew somewhat resentful of the Aristocrat’s and their priviledge, their excess, and their blatant abuse of power. As a result, when the time came to undertake the Wizarding Challenge, he took it all on his own, much to the chagrin of other participants.
It is therefore somewhat of a surprise when at the end of his schooling, that Adam, forlorn and worried that he has absolutely no prospects for a future (There are none unless you are willing to sell your soul to the Aristocrat’s!!), finds himself in the presence of a King’s Man. Sir Gareth offers tells him he is actually impressed by his integrity, something that is rare these days, and offers him a position to train as a Kingsman.
Adam joins 5 other candidates, known as ‘Princelings’ on their journey to becoming ‘Squires’ before they will become fullyfledged Kingsman if they pass everything. Here Adam meets Caroline, a beautiful, charismatic, highly intelligent woman, one who outshines most of the other Princelings in just about every aspect of their training. Caroline and Adam have an affinity together, working very well with each other, and find themselves paired on a lot of challenges together, growing as friends and comrades. The training is brutal, intense (And I should note that this is a step up from previous books, there is some pretty graphic violence in this story, not for really young readers without parental supervision), and it is obvious that they have been paired so that can not only learn with, but from each other, as well as lean on each other from the psychological stress of the training. Nuttall has done a brilliant job of creating this gritty and realistic training environment, one in which you can really feel the fierce intensity of the scenarios that they are put under, the stress they have to endure. Whilst this is just a fantasy story, and obviously there is the magical element, Nuttall has really captured the human and psychological aspect of their training so you can really empathise with them. It is very well done.
This is a story that is divided into multiple sections, with the start being Adam’s initial history, from his time at school, to his training, and ultimately, being selected by the very gruff and intense, but fair, Sir Griffon, as a Squire. He and Caroline are chosen to return to Shallot, to help Sir Griffon with the ongoing troubles there, as the city is beginning to tear itself apart. The lower classes have had enough, sick of their lot in life at the hands of the Great Houses and the Aristocracy, they have found a new voice, someone who is educated and intelligent and able to articulate their troubles, pull them together and rally them under a single, powerful cause. This of course has sent a ripple of fear through the Great Houses, and the quickly pull together their own vast forces and power to retaliate.
What follows is nothing short of gruesome and intense. Again, this is one book that is not for younger readers.
This is a fascinating book in this series, as it brings together so many elements of the existing series. Adam was a student at Jude’s, and therefore knows all of the major characters we have come across in the previous stories (from House’s Ruben, Aguirre, Bolingbroke, even those in Water Shallot. This book ties together each of the previous 6 books in unique ways, whilst bringing to light the intriguing political situation that is underlying the three sections of the city, North, South and Water Shallot, separated by the great river. Nuttall has not only crafted this exceptional story, but the world building that ties them all together is nothing short of masterful.
The Character work in this book is outstanding. From the main characters of Adam and Caroline, who are both fascinating as the two prospective Kingsman Candidates, to the Kingsman themselves, and then so many other characters we have come across from other books. The wonderful thing about this book though, is that the characters are all out of their ‘comfort’ zones, we get to see them in new ways, and it is intriguing seeing them in new ways, especially some of them several years on.
This is easily one of the best books in the series, for many reasons, the clever and intriguing mystery of the story as the Kingsman (Squires!), must rush to find what is happening in the city before thousands are killed. There is the underlying story of Adam, as well as Caroline, which is wonderful to watch their story unfold. There are so many characters that come into this story from all aspects of both Upper Houses and Lower classes, that are just wonderful to read about and see engage, it is brilliant from both the characters, and the storylines. Overall though, is just the brutal, powerful and at times intense, (but at all times, utterly captivating), storyline, that you just can’t put down. I went through this one in less than a day as I couldn’t put it down. Absolutely stunning!!!