| The Baker's Boy |
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By J.V. Jones | ISBN 0-446-67097-9 |
| Trade Paper from Warner Aspect | Copyright © 1995 J.V. Jones |
"The Baker's Boy" is a rousing tale of adventure, fantasy, intrigue and food. It is jam-packed with back-stabbing, nail-biting and much illicit baking. There are villains, heroes, heroines and several dead crustaceans. (For the vegetarians amongst us, all but one died peacefully in their sleep!)
The tale begins with a glimpse of a truly despicable villain at work. Baralis, as you will come to know him, is a man who will do anything to succeed. A master of potions and poisons, he drugs the queen's wine and rapes her in the dark of night. A child is born from the terrible ill-fated union: a monster, obsessed, close to madness, destined to rule over half a continent. Kylock is his name, and when you hear of him next a murderer he will be.
Jack is the baker's boy. Always an outsider, his foreign mother branded a whore. He is born at exactly the same instant as Kylock. The two are joined by an invisible thread, their fates pull against each other, and their battle when it comes, will decide the fate of the world.
There are characters and memorable meals aplenty. A gluttonous archbishop stuffs himself with sweetmeats, whilst a nobleman's daughter is pelted with crab apples and rotting vegetables in the pit. A young pickpocket refuses to eat his greens, whilst a knight on a quest is offered nettle tea by a flower-arranging crime lord. The banquet never ends!
I invite you to me join in the adventure of "The Baker's Boy". Settle down by your fireside with a glass of wine (this is not a Perrier book!) and be prepared to be transported to a world where greed and ambition reign. Remember, eat lightly before hand, "The Baker's Boy" is a many course feast.
Many Thanks for your time.
