THE ARCHER, THE PRINCESS AND THE DRAGON KING

Three young heroes find themselves in a world descending into chaos in this high fantasy novella.

The Dark Days have returned. Ten-year-old Matthew is an orphaned prince in exile, looked after by his tutor and wizard, Eldarus, and his new pet dragon, Utredius. The boy’s ultimate goal is to take back his dead father’s kingdom from a conquering emperor, but rumored happenings suggest that other, more imminent trials may be in store. A white wolf with red eyes has been born, and a phoenix has appeared out of the desert. Even worse, the Vampire King who has slept since time immemorial has reawakened to unleash a plague on the land. “All hope depends on you, Matthew,” Eldarus tells him. “Not just to rule your people, but perhaps to also lead the battles that will eventually destroy the Vampire King.” It’s a lot for a 10-year-old to handle. Matthew gets separated from Eldarus when the Vampire King sends a minion to kill the boy and steal his dragon, but he soon finds himself in the company of a capable new friend, the Cloudwalker Sun Wukong, who has mastered the ability to fly. Matthew isn’t the only young person whose life has been thrown into turmoil by recent events. Eighteen-year-old Princess Cybele is the one who brought the phoenix into being by shooting fire from the palm of her hand. Twelve-year-old Tristan comes from a clan renowned for its archers, and he is destined to be Cybele’s steward and protector. The white wolf with red eyes happens to be his pet. Can these young protagonists and their animal companions rise to the occasion to keep the world from being overrun by darkness? Just how the prophecies will unfold is anyone’s guess.

In this series opener, Hammer’s prose evokes the romantic diction and mythological complexity of the high fantasy genre, sometimes to an eye-rolling extent: “If the prophecies are to be believed, the Snow Wolf will be born this night,” Tristan’s father tells him. “Frostgale’s mate was the king of all sabre-wolves, and so the prophecies state that he shall sire the Snow Wolf. You know the story, boy. Do I have to tell it again?” There isn’t much here that can be considered original thinking, and some of it even comes across as a tad bit lazy. The Vampire King’s name? Drahkuhl. The emperor’s? Caesar. That said, the author gets things started with an admirable economy. It’s a 93-page novella, and readers will meet most of the major players by Page 6. It’s unclear how many more installments Hammer has planned—one suspects it’s quite a few—but so far the pacing is brisk and the world, if not completely unique, is quite fun. Matthew and Eldarus travel on a ship with a crew of pirate ghosts. Drahkuhl stalks ancient ruins and subsists on the blood of sheep. This story may not prove to be a crossover hit like some of the books that inspired it, but readers who love the fantasy genre will find much here to enjoy.

A derivative but skillfully executed and engaging fantasy.