“The Victor” is a medieval love story. I don’t mean the mushy type you would find in a Harlequin romance novel. This is the story of the love of a King for his kingdom.

The story starts off with a battle. Baron Lucius, one of King Eloth’s favorite people has become jealous over the years and he covets everything that belongs to the King including his sword, “Ephlal”.

When his attack is thwarted and he and his men are captured, the King shows mercy and banishes them from his kingdom. The King still holds out hope for his former friend. We all know that you can’t just banish the green eyed monster. There is also the love story of the King’s son Joshua for his childhood friend Llyonesse. Joshua demonstrates the type of king he will one day become when he sets the people of his future kingdom free and rescues Llyonesse his bride to be.

This is definitely a character driven story. As I read I felt I had stepped into the story. I traveled with Penloth as he went out to capture Lucius. I felt Joshua’s anguish when he thought he had lost all.

This was a book I could not put down. The range of emotions felt throughout this book was probably what kept me reading non-stop. You feel the love of a King for his kingdom and for his children. You feel heartbreak when one of the characters you have come to love meets and untimely death. You feel anger at the antagonist and want to take matters into your own hands. You feel vindicated when things work out the way you wanted in the end. There were so many twists and turns throughout that it kept me guessing.

The book had a feeling of reading “Lord of the Rings” meets “Chronicles of Narnia” meets “Sword in the Stone” all rolled into one.

This book is written as an allegory as was “The Chronicles of Narnia”. This is a book that young adults and adults alike will enjoy. Boys and girls will enjoy the fight scenes and girls will have their bit of romance to latch on to. For middle school students like I teach both boys and girls will love the fighting and the romance. This was a perfect book for them.

I enjoyed the fact that Marlayne added endnotes to it, that I didn’t really see them until I got to the end and had read it through a second time.

This is one of the best books I have read recently and I proudly start my new year off with it. I purposely told you very little to wet your appetite. Please check out her website and in her sidebar links to other reviews about her book. This is a must read for the New Year.

Sandra Stiles