The Knight and Rogue Series, and an Announcement

All right guys. As you may have noticed, this site has been rather sparse of reviews lately. Why is that? Not because we're too busy (though we have had work up the wazoo), and not because we're plain lazy. It's because we've hit a major dry spell of good books. So, to resolve this dilemma, from now on we're not going to post reviews of only 5 star books, but whatever we happen to be reading every week. This should also give some insight to you readers as to what NOT to read, hopefully. :)


Now then, on with this week's review!
I will be talking about not one, not two, but THREE books: The Knight and Rogue series by Hilari Bell. The books in this series are The Last Knight, Rogue's Home, and Player's Ruse. These young adult novels are pure adventure, fantasy, and fun. Lighthearted comedy sprinkled over mysteries and friendships that are put to the test.



Book one begins with Michael, a Knight errant, and Fisk, his "humble" squire, helping a certain damsel in distress escape her captors. One thing they find out as soon as she escapes, is that she was locked up for a good reason - she was arrested for the murder of her husband! They let a freaking criminal go free! And so, our story begins. To shed some light, a knight errant is what you'd imagine the classic knight in shining armor to be: a kind hearted hero who goes around doing good deeds and heroic rescues, but there hasn't been one in over a century. So when Sir Michael chooses this profession, it's easy to see why skeptic heads would turn. Knight in shining armor? Try a noble lunatic coated in mud after his first "rescue" makes her mad dash away from the police. When he first started out as an errant, he decided he needed a squire, as all did. Luckily, he walks by a town's local court meeting to see Fisk, a nimble, sharp tongued bandit, in line to be punished for his many crimes. Michael takes pity on the guy, since they're not so different in age and Fisk had an innocent spark to his eyes. Fisk begrudgingly agrees to the deal, and as he is forever suspicious, he is itching for the moment when he can run away from the crazy "errant". Now this match made in hell have to go and find Lady Ceciel, the woman who had run off, or else Michael's errantry days are over. The growing bond between them is put under stress when they realize they had bitten off more that they can chew.

Book two gives us more insight about Fisk, and we get to meet his family. Fisk is called home by his eldest sister, Annie, with a letter stating that her husband, Max, has been framed for a crime he didn't commit. With Fisk's criminal past, she thought he may be able to help. As a side note: It took me a while to realize that Fisk is the squire's last name, and once you learn his real name, you can't blame him for going by his last. (Hint: His sisters nicknamed him "Nonny") While Fisk is nervous to go see his family after about five years, Michael worries that he may be more of a burden than a help to his partner with his newly received social status. It's not easy being chased out of every town you step into by an angry mob, and you'll see why once you read. (Just building suspense ^_^) Michael and Fisk are faced with a mystery on their hands, and the enemy might be closer than they think.
Fisk: "I still think it's Judith..." >_>'

Book three, and the regrettably last book of the series, just makes me feel even worse for Michael. This guy is worse than "Bad Luck Brian" (though only some of you will know that reference). In this book, Michael and Fisk run into Michael's childhood love, Rosamund. Really, this dude has it bad, and he seems to be friendzoned to the max. Because what does she ask them to do? Escort her to the group of traveling players her lover works with in a town threatened by ship wreckers. Ouch. Poor, noble Michael. Not that he lets it dishearten him much, because even though he's unredeemed AND shut down, he's still the classic do-gooder knight errant, spreading good deeds and idiotic plans that nearly kills the group of them all under the two moons. Especially when it involves trying to summon a Savant by wrecking nearly half the forest. (Slight exaggeration there, but you'll see what I mean ;)
And Fisk? He's just sitting by, waiting for the time when he has to drag Michael's butt out of trouble. Despite his hate of dogs, Fisk seems to be on a love-hate to the brink of death relationship with Trouble, their newly adopted mute guard dog from book two. Fisk also seems to have formed an addiction to admittedly crappy jokes, mainly along the lines of "What's the difference between a _______ and a bandit?" This guy has enough of those jokes to fill up a bank, and it gets on everyone's (ahem, Michael's) nerves. Oh, and in this installment you also get to meet the infamous character who trained Fisk. (Can you say "nutjob"?)

This trilogy has so many things to love about it, especially the array of characters. True, most are static without much change, but their qualities that they do show just make them all the more special. I'm really sad this series is over. There was still potential for more at the end of book three! I want more. Do you hear me, Hilari Bell? I don't care if you milk this like all of the other greedy authors I love have done.

Well, on that note, Peace out!
- Julia ;)