17 May 2015

In Search of Adventure- Alicia Willis

  
Comrades of Honor Series, #2 
Kindle Edition, 359 pages, June 2013 
"Enter In Search of Adventure, the thrilling second installment of The Comrades of Honor Series! Packed with action at every bend, this tale takes up the story of Nathaniel de Lance, once the page of Sir Robert.

Now a young man and belted knight, Sir Nathaniel takes young Kenneth Dale for his squire, a boy left destitute by a stroke of ill-fortune. Quickly learning to trust and care for each other, Sir Nathaniel and Kenneth become fast friends, little knowing how much they will need their mutual comradeship.

Taking advantage of his liberty as a knight, Sir Nathaniel leaves his boyhood home to visit old friends. The small journey quickly takes an unexpected turn, however, and climaxes into a perilous adventure. Old enemies revisit the scene, creating hazards that require all of Sir Nathaniel’s strength and valor to overcome. Trapped in a hostile country, the question arises: Will he ever return?

Join Sir Nathaniel and Kenneth in their rousing adventure and witness the perils that strengthen their courage. Their friendship is extraordinary – but will the rewards of their devotion be greater still?

A novel of adventure, comradeship, and suspense, as a valiant knight seeks to overcome his merciless foes and retain honor in a hostile land."
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Though the title may sound a little on the cheesy side to some, this book is anything but. Those looking for a good, old-fashioned adventure/coming of age story with knights and ladies will likely be well pleased with this one.
Written in the style of classical authors, such as Henty and Pyle, it could also appeal to thier readers, and is free of some of the issues that sometimes plague more modern works (political correctness, excessive sexual content etc.....). 

Miss Willis has really done well to write edifying, clean Medieval stories that counter so much of the slush that is served up as such today.

In a sense, its just smashing good fun- and family friendly fun at that. With the last book I found the archaic style langauge to be something of an issue- but this time around I actually found it rather endearing.
It was intersting to see some of the characters from the last book develop and come into thier own- especially those like Nathaniel whom I found a little flat last time around.
The theme of loyalty and courage was also well-delivered (as well as the messages about not judging by appearances, or failures which could be derived from the story).


Historically- it seemed fairly accurate in the broad sense- though having French characters referring to Shires in France seemed a little dubious. Also, I'm not sure if the idea of bands of knights being able to travel across countries to attack and kidnap one another, without intervention from any kind of centralized legal system seemed plausible.
The King was supposed to be able to control things like that, or local enforcement officers- but we don't really see anything like that here.

The above were really my only complaints though. Overall I enjoyed this, and would certainly like to read the next one.

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