PRINCE OF FOOLS

A half-human, half-elf teen sets out to make his fortune as a court jester, but proves he is anything but the prince of fools in this high-action fantasy. After his father dies, 17-year-old Sebastian reluctantly follows in his footsteps to become a jester even though he lacks “the gift.” Sebastian memorizes his father’s jokes, dons his three-pronged hat and sets course for distant Keladon to “seek employment at the court of King Septimus.” His only traveling companion is Max, a skeptical, talking buffalope who pulls the caravan and doles out sarcastic commentary on everything, especially Sebastian’s pathetic talents as a jester. When they encounter Cornelius, a good-natured diminutive soldier of fortune on his way to join Septimus’s elite bodyguards, the travelers band together. Crossing the lawless land, they battle murderous Brigands, decimate attacking lupers, rescue Septimus’s kidnapped niece Princess Kerin and return her to Keladon, where they become involved in a plot to kill her. Sebastian, Max and Cornelius prove their worth and emerge unusual but engaging heroes in this first of promised further adventures of Sebastian Darke. (Fantasy. 12-17)