The Pitchfork of Destiny

Charming Tales #3

by Jack Heckel

Life in the Kingdom of Royaume has been happily ever for King William Pickett and his fiancee, Lady Rapunzel. But when Volthraxus, the Great Dragon of the North, returns looking for the love of his life, the Great Wyrm of the South, it becomes clear that some fairy tales never end.

After Volthraxus discovers his love was slain by the newly crowned king, he seeks his revenge by kidnapping Rapunzel. Once again, Will teams up with Edward Charming, the only man in all the kingdom with the skill, ego, and dashing good looks to fight a dragon. Our heroes fates depend on finding a weapon re-forged in dragon blood the Pitchfork of Destiny.

But as the two set off after the dragon, Charming s bride, Lady Elizabeth, falls into the clutches of a mysterious sorcerer known as the Dracomancer, who has his own plans for Royaume."

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction

400 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 5, 2016

About the author

Jack Heckel's life is an open book, actually, the book you are in all hope holding right now (and if you are not holding it, he would like to tell you it can be purchased from any of your finest purveyors of the written word). Beyond that, Jack aspires to be either a witty, urbane, world-traveller who lives on his vintage yacht, The Clever Double Entendre, or a geographically illiterate professor of literature who spends his non-writing time restoring an 18th century lighthouse off a remote part of the Vermont coastline. Whatever you want to believe of him, he is without doubt the author of the premier volume of the Charming novels, Once Upon a Rhyme. So, no matter what rumors you might hear about Jack, particularly those spread by either litigious dwarves or litigious dwarfs, ignore them, because he is currently working on a sequel. Because more than anything, Jack lives for his readers.

Despite whatever Jack may claim, in reality, Jack Heckel is the pen name for John Peck and Harry Heckel.

Reviews

[Boundless Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Pitchfork of Destiny is a charming tale of fantastical dragons. First, I would like to let you know; I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Along with this book, I was pleasantly surprised with book one, A Fairy Tale Ending. Which is a good thing because when I was a few chapters into this one, I decided to stop and go back to read the first book. Though it is NOT necessary to read both, I highly recommend it. Although the characters were well developed in book 2, reading them in order gave me a better insight into the hearts of the characters. 

Book two picks up right where book one leaves off. Volthraxus is searching for his love; once he learns what happened, the action begins. Readers will be intrigued from the beginning, and the twists will keep them surprised until the end.

This is a perfect bedtime story to read with your kids, if you still do that when they are at this reading level; personally, I don’t think they are ever too old to read with. My fifth graders still loves it so I will keep it up as long as I am allowed. This is a family friendly book that in spite of its length, will keep the interest of children as well as adults. Kudo’s to Heckel for being able to do this. This is one book I am OK with donating to my child’s teacher for the classroom, or maybe even a classroom read aloud.

Both books are definitely 5 Boundless Star books for me. I absolutely loved it!...Beth 


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[Bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

First I had to reread a fairytale Ending since I haven't read it since 2016 so i needed to refresh my memory and was pleasantly surprised I still enjoyed the story as much as I did the first time. Finished rereading I cracked open this one right away. (Because I have a terrible habit of putting sequels off and then never getting around to them until like the fourth book and I really should've read the second one by now.)
I wasn't intrigued in the beginning A par the course it seems, since I wasn't really into the first book at first either, but it was a quick read and once I settled in, not a chore to get through.
We have our returning heroes. Charming, Will, Elizabeth and Rapunzel. Not to mention Gwen and Tom put in an appearance. We also get new characters in Volthraxus, Beo and the Dracomancer.
Overall this was an interesting continuation of Fairytale Ending; and fairly well done in my humble opinion. Sometimes I like to find out what happens after the end of the story, I find myself wondering did the characters really have their happily ever afters and all that. But not everyone can pull off a good story. This one wasn't half bad, and I didn't feel as though the characters have transplanted personalities. Charming for example is still just as concerned with fashion as ever. and apparently it is a thing because even Volthraxus had a say about his fashion choices when they met in "battle." But even though they were still the same fundamental characters, they were changed by their circumstances and were still capable of growing. Will is a more take charge person, but he learns that he can still be a better king than he was, especially when he found out the people though he'd abandoned them, and he almost lost his throne to the Dracomancer
It was interesting to have the two villains of the story both with different goals and motivations. Although when you think about it can you really classify either ones as villians? Volthraxus is basically on a revenge quest but at least he confines it to one person and isn't going around razing the country to the ground. And in the end he doesn't kill Will and they come to a mutual respect of each other. And Delbert otherwise known as the Dracomancer, could be seena s more of a cautionary tale of being taken in by Charlatans and the frauds, And even though he came really close to taking over the kingdom, he was more of a politician than a villian. But then again. Politicians can be straight up evil so... Moving on He was doing it all out of love! *cough* for Gwen *cough* I liked Volthraxus he was a very cool dragon. I loved his preoccupation with his titles and then the fact he just rolled with it. Also that he had a personality and character.
Overall I did enjoy reading this story and may look into others by Jack Heckle.
Recommended? Sure especially if you've read the first one. ( I don't think you have to have read the first one to get into this one because it's a fairly self-contained story but I think it's more enjoyable once you get the background info on everyone by reading the first. )
Buy/Borrow? Borrow first.

[Martha Heckel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Sequel

Fulfilling on every level: conclusion, Reilly guest appearance, love stories, humor, absurd bad guys! A great sequel to a witty duo of novels! Fairy tales have never been this embracing, real, and full of woman power. A splendid read. I highly recommend it.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these books. They are witty and whimsical and wise. And funny. They are so funny!