Twenty years after the end of The Sword in the Stars, an ancient evil stirs in Myriad. King Aravel is long dead, leaving the throne to his wife Queen Maren, and his son Lochlan, who is about to be crowned High King of Myriad. There just one problem, Loch isn’t quite sure that he wants to be King.
Meanwhile, rumors abound. Cythraul, Morlan’s chief assassin, seems to have returned from the dead. Alistair and Telwyn set off on a perilous journey to discover the truth and end the villain once and for all.
But an even graver danger threatens Myriad. With Loch absent experimenting with a life of errantry and Alistair and Telwyn distracted on the hunt, the time is ripe for invasion. Evil descends on Myriad in greater numbers than ever before. Will the people of Myriad be able to survive the terrors approaching from all sides?
Whew! I have to start off by saying that The Errant King is now my favorite Batson book, topping The Door Within Trilogy, the Pirate series, the Berinfell Prophecies, and even The Sword in the Stars.
In the The Errant King, Wayne Thomas Batson spins a masterful tale filled with excitement, adventure, danger, and truly creepy villains with plenty of humor sprinkled on the side.
The Errant King is the second book in the Dark Sea Annals series, an epic story that will span seven books ere it reaches the conclusion. In this second book, Batson takes his writing to a whole new level, interweaving dozens of intricate plot lines, some carrying over from The Sword in the Stars, others reaching on into the next books. Because of the epic plot however, you don’t want to read The Errant King without reading The Sword in the Stars first.
I felt like I really connected with all of the characters – especially Loch, Telwyn, Ariana, Fred. And of course Alistair and Abbagael. (As a side note, I had heard so many people talking about Fred, I couldn’t wait to read the book to find out what it was all about. All I can tell you is that Fred is one of the most creative and imaginative characters I’ve met thus far. Definitely worth reading if only to find out who Fred is.)
There are plenty of allegorical and Christian themes woven skillfully throughout the entire framework of the book. It’s another one of those books that, as I call it, echoes eternity.
The largest difficulty I had with the book was when two characters fell in love in less than a week. It seemed somewhat ridiculous, but did not detract too much from the story.
Others have remarked negatively on the inclusion of a scene where the young King Loch has to deal with the overtly flirtatious advances of a young woman. However, I think the scene was well handled and added greatly to Loch’s character as well as providing a good lesson for teens reading the story.
Overall, The Errant King was a tremendous and captivating read. Due to the violent battles and the somewhat gory nature of the descriptions as well as some extremely nasty villains, I would recommend The Errant King for an older reader, around 14 up to adult. If you’re looking for a high action fantasy adventure, than the Errant King belongs on your list! 5 stars!
Charley R says
Ooh, I've not heard of this series before … I may have to hunt them down, though I may be a little too old for the age bracket (I'm late teens, and broke the reading scale thingie when I was eight :P). Still, you've really sold it to me! Lemme at it, I say! xD
Gillian Adams says
Yes it's definitely worth reading! I wouldn't worry about the age bracket. It is targeted for an older audience, so I meant I wouldn't necessarily give it to someone under 14. But older readers will certainly enjoy it. I wasn't very clear on that point!
Noah Arsenault says
Thanks for the review! I'm reading tEK right now and I find it helpful. :)