|  |
| |
Given the little blurb on the back cover of this book, and Walter Velez's cover art, the reader could be forgiven for anticipating that The Crystal Crown is a comedy. Certainly the premise of the plot (unwilling lad made into king, forced to deal suddenly with pressures of kingship, etc) supports this possibility. That the book is rather more serious than cover-based impressions would indicate (although it does have humourous moments) is to its, and its author's, credit.
As you may have gathered, the plot is quite simple. The protagonist, Liras-ven, suddenly and unexpectedly inherits the throne of the Kingdom of Averidan. Without going into too many details, suffice it to say that he is faced with a national crisis involving an evil wizard, and some decidedly untrustworthy allies. Furthermore, he faces personal dilemmas over his use of the crystal crown (a powerful magical artifact) and over his relationship with his wife.
It seems to me that, all too often, the protagonist in this sort of story turns out to be, for lack of a better epithet, a wimp, but there is a somewhat refreshing lack of such characterization in The Crystal Crown. True, Liras-ven does attempt at first to weasel out of being king, and he does appear tremendously naive at times, but he is strong enough to eventually realize that he can neither avoid his role, nor play it out in a half-hearted fashion. There is a certain loss of innocence inherent in these realizations, but it is clear that, for Liras-ven, that loss is unavoidable.
The Crystal Crown is one of a series of novels by B.W. Clough about the Kingdom of Averidan, and I regret that I have not been able to find any of the others, for the subject of this review shows much promise. It will never go down as one of the Great Works of Fantasy(tm), nor should it, but it will provide a pleasant diversion for someone looking for a simple, enjoyable, read in the fantasy genre.
Reviewed by Patrick Conway on March 13, 1997. Posted in rec.arts.sf.written and rec.arts.books on March 13, 1997. Image from Sewdoll's Fantasy Clipart.
Back to
the Book Review page.