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.

It's the characterizations that make Jones' novel work so well...The anti-heroes stand out superbly, notably Chancellor Baralis, Archbishop Tavalisk and Maybor. And unlike the sharp black and whiteness of Tolkienesque's moral system these figures aren't truly evil, just corrupt human beings in the tradition of Richard III or Henry VII...The language is more bawdy than in classical fantasy novels too, which enhances the book's Medieval feel. Sex, indecent assault and flatulence are never far away.
SFX Magazine

The Baker's Boy is the first book of what promises to be an excellent fantasy series......This is well written, in your face adult fantasy, full of imagination and medieval realism.
Patrick Heffernan, The Plot Thickens

...the next major new writer to become a force in the fantasy genre.
Walter R. Malcom

J. V. Jones is about to become one of the great fantasy success stories of the '90s.
Mysterious Galaxy Books

Jones stamps it all with a distinctive touch compounded largely of sadism and food, a combination that reaches its apex in a deliciously hedonistic and depraved archbishop. There's so much going on that the action barely starts in this novel, and an ominous prophecy promises much more to come.
Locus

The Baker's Boy has most of the qualities of a highly successful popular fantasy epic - it's a fat volume with a substantial cast and a vivid, colorful, landscape. But between its sense of sly wit and its focus on character rather than concept, it's a remarkably readable epic.
TSR Dragon Magazine

One of the best books of the year, and the debut of a great new author. Impatiently awaiting the next book!
John B. DeBlanc

J. V. Jones and The Baker's Boy are quite a find .... A deliciously intricate tale.
Katherine Kurtz