Len's Reviews > Sebastian Darke

Apart from having a hero who is half elf, half human, a couple of talking animals, and a dwarfling sword-master there is not a great deal of world building going on in this YA fantasy novel. The story's setting is mock medieval European. A land of rival city states either ruled by monarchs or by rogues - it may be difficult to tell them apart. There is the unruly land of Brigandia, a thieves' world similar in status to the old Alsatia in early London, which plays a brief but important part in the tale of Sebastian Darke, Prince of Fools and unemployed court jester, and Princess Kerin of Keladon.

Sebastian's problem as a court jester is that he is not funny. He has learned all of his late father's joke books and scripts by heart. The words are there, the talent is somewhere else. The author brings that across very well by limiting Sebastian to really old jokes and some drunken sarcasm. Mr. Caveney misses the opportunity to put in a remark attributed to a variety of people - I prefer that of the Queen of Tonga, Queen Salote, during Queen Elizabeth II's coronation procession - when Sebastian and Kerin are travelling in a wagon pulled by Max, the talking and flatulent buffalope. If only it had happened. Max breaks wind very noisily. Sebastian, highly embarrassed, turns to the princess and says, "I'm really sorry about that." Princess Kerin replies, "That's quite all right. I thought it was the buffalope." Never mind, the plot jogs along very nicely without it.

The whole story of an evil uncle usurping the royal throne and the commoner boy coming to the rescue of the beautiful princess could have been from a Violet Needham novel, if it were not for the humour and the rugged fight scenes. Sebastian proves himself to be no mean hand with a sword himself. The story is not outstanding but it is lively. It has an interesting love story, plenty of action - including a princess who can smite her enemies as lustily as any gnarled warrior - and some good jokes. All splendid ingredients to make a sequel sound appealing.