BLOW OUT THE CANDLE WHEN YOU LEAVE

This second book in Pettway’s Misplaced Mercenaries series sees a diamond-in-the-rough imposter king defend his city from political intrigue and military incursion.

Carrying on from the events of A Good Running Away (2019), ex-mercenary Keane has been accepted as king of Greenshade. He has married the princess—now Queen Megan—and rules as best he can over a Great Council of devious, squabbling noblemen. Keane’s sister in arms, the fearsome ex-mercenary Sarah, acts as his bodyguard while also receiving magical instruction from Finnagel, the city’s resident sorcerer. Keane and Sarah have landed on their feet, but they are not yet out of the woods. When Keane arrived at Treaty Hill, he was impersonating Prince Despin Swifthart of Tyrrane. That nation has now discovered the deception. With armed reprisal imminent, Keane sends Sarah and Finnagel on a diplomatic mission to shore up Greenshade’s treaties with the neighboring kingdoms. In their absence, Keane is left vulnerable. Megan is pregnant. More so than ever before, Keane feels a genuine allegiance to his adopted kingdom. But the enemy is at the gate, and Greenshade’s allies have turned in favor of Tyrrane. Worse, there are forces within the capital of Treaty Hill working to betray the city. Can Keane outmaneuver the backstabbers and keep his wife, unborn child, and kingdom safe? While the book is something of a bridging installment in the series (Sarah’s mission in particular does not further the plot in any great way), the developing storylines afford plenty of opportunities for character development and exploration of a diverse world. Separating Keane and Sarah allows each to shine. Megan emerges as a second strong female character while Sarah’s new companions, Cassius and the troll Grohann, are well realized. Pettway’s prose has a lightness of touch often missing in epic fantasy. The dialogue is frequently vulgar but inventively so, disavowing realism with an eye instead to humor. The chapters are short, often ending in quips, and the novel as a whole moves quickly and confidently. Overall there is much here to like.

A puckish, free-wheeling take on the sword-and-sorcery genre.