Servant of the Crown

Heir to the Crown #1

by Paul J. Bennett

An old warrior, too stubborn to die.
A royal heir, hidden since birth.
Can they save a realm on the brink of war?

Tragedy tears Gerald's world apart and only his unwavering loyalty to the Baron of Bodden saves him. After serving as a soldier for years, a single act of self-sacrifice thrusts his future into the world of politics.

Cut off from all he knows, he becomes no more than a pawn to those in command. Banished with little more than the clothes on his back, he seeks a new purpose, for what is a warrior who has nothing left to fight for?

A fateful meeting with another lost soul unmasks a shocking secret, compelling him to take up the mantle of guardian. Bandits, the Black Hand, and even the king, he battles them all for the future of the realm.

Memories of the past, secrets that shape the future; his adventure is only the beginning.

Servant of the Crown is the first book in the epic Heir to the Crown medieval fantasy series. If you like gripping fight scenes, compelling characters, and a captivating story, then you will love Paul J Bennett's tale of a warrior who refuses to retreat.

Pick up your copy of Servant of the Crown, and discover the realm of Merceria today!

Other books in the series:
Sword of the Crown
Mercerian Tales: Stories of the Past
Heart of the Crown

Coming soon:
Shadow of the Crown (Winter 2018)
Fate of the Crown (Summer 2019)
Burden of the Crown (Autumn 2019)
Bearer of the Crown (Winter 2019)

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Ebooks, High Fantasy, Historical, Epic Fantasy

292 pages, ebook

First published October 20, 2017

About the author

Paul J Bennett (b. 1961) emigrated from England to Canada in 1967. His father served in the British Royal Navy, and his mother worked for the BBC in London. As a young man, Paul followed in his father’s footsteps, joining the Canadian Armed Forces in 1983. He is married to Carol Bennett and has three daughters who are all creative in their own right.

Paul’s interest in writing started in his teen years when he discovered the roleplaying game, Dungeons & Dragons (D & D). What attracted him to this new hobby was the creativity it required; the need to create realms, worlds and adventures that pulled the gamers into his stories.

In his 30’s, Paul started to dabble in designing his own roleplaying system, using the Peninsular War in Portugal as his backdrop. His regular gaming group were willing victims, er, participants in helping to playtest this new system. A few years later, he added additional settings to his game, including Science Fiction, Post-Apocalyptic, World War II, and the all-important Fantasy Realm where his stories take place.

The beginnings of his first book ‘Servant to the Crown’ originated over five years ago when he began a new fantasy campaign. For the world that the Kingdom of Merceria is in, he ran his adventures like a TV show, with seasons that each had twelve episodes, and an overarching plot. When the campaign ended, he knew all the characters, what they had to accomplish, what needed to happen to move the plot along, and it was this that inspired to sit down to write his first novel.

Paul now has four series based in his fantasy world of Eiddenwerthe and is looking forward to sharing many more books with his readers over the coming years.

Reviews

[Terence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gerald is an old soldier who finds himself banished from the army, scapegoated, and nearly executed if not for the influence of his lifelong friend the Baron of Bodden. Instead he's sent away to work at a royal estate that rarely sees visitors. Gerald meets a young girl with an enormous secret and treats her largely like a daughter. This relationship changes life for him forever.

Servant of the Crown is a touching story about friendship, loyalty, and politics. I kind of wish I knew that before I picked it up because I was expecting a story about warfare. This isn't the kind of book I would have chosen to read if I knew what to expect. The story is light on battles, but has a lot of heart.

Gerald and Anna's relationship is a happy tear inducing drama. They're both alone. Each is without a family and they become that for one another. Gerald gets to help raise Anna like the daughter that he lost and Anna gets a father figure with the utmost integrity. I felt bad for Gerald overall, but it seems Anna got a better deal having Royal power along with Gerald as her father figure.

Servant of the Crown is a nice story.

2.5 out of 5 stars

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Peter Foltin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book should not be thought of as a novel. It is better conceptualized as a series of vignettes about Gerald, a commoner, and Anna, a secret princess with whom he develops a father-daughter relationship. This is because the book itself has no overarching plot to create a coherent narrative. This is, in a nutshell, the most glaring and unforgivable problem with this book. But it’s far from the only one.


The book is told linearly, apart from a sloppily executed in medias res, and spends about a third of a book telling us the backstory of Gerald. His entire family is murdered by Norlander raiders and he pledges allegiance to the local Baron to get his revenge on all Norlanders. This semblance of character motivation is completely ignored when he is sent to be a groundskeeper on a royal estate. It mostly fades into the background once he meets Anna.


The truth is, Gerald’s backstory takes up far too much time and space in this book. The author’s endnote says the book isn’t really about Gerald, but about Anna -- well, then, we shouldn’t be spending the book’s first one hundred pages without her. The tales of daring-do and gruesome description of the corpses of Gerald’s wife and child make promises to the reader that are simply not kept. 


Instead of continuing on as a grimdark sort of fantasy adventure, the book serves up a series of light, slice-of-life chapters of Gerald as a groundskeeper. There are strong Downton Abbey vibes in this section of the novel. Anna is introduced in a massively drawn-out cringe manner, and her status as a royal heir remains hidden for an implausibly-long period of time. You see, Anna’s existence as a princess is not common knowledge in the kingdom. In fact, it’s a secret. Though the servants all knew. They didn’t bother to tell Gerald, though. Why not? Reasons, that’s why not.


Oh, speaking of cringe, Bennet directly lifts from A Game of Thrones. Gerald, having conveniently been given a book on the royal family, deduces that Anna is not the king’s daughter exactly the same way Old Honest Ned figured it out. Yikes. Is this important to the plot of the book going forward? No, it basically never comes up again. It only serves to explain why Anna was on the Royal Estate. Eventually, the fact that Anna being a secret, unknown princess is completely forgotten.


That happens a lot in this book, too. Things are set up a certain way, then forgotten. Gerald vowed to take revenge on all Norlanders? Forgotten. His PTSD-like dreams of his dead daughter? Forgotten. The servants at the estate are mean and cold to both Gerald and Anna? Forgotten, now Anna’s super beloved by all. Anna can’t go into the village because she’s the secret princess? Fuck that, she’s going to the capital city. 


The next sixty percent of the book are more vignettes, where most things that could seemingly threaten Gerald or Anna are dealt with in a matter of a couple of paragraphs. They also introduce magic and magical creatures. Ah, I hear you saying, surely this will be integral to the plot! No, stupid, I already told you in the first paragraph -- there is no plot. Wait, hold on. I feel bad. Sorry I called you stupid, that’s uncalled for.


Anyway, there’s Elves and Dwarves and Lizard People, one of each is dutifully shown, but they’re only there because this is a fantasy book. There is a royal mage and he can heal any wound with seemingly no cost, but the King doesn’t let him heal his soldiers for… reasons? Look, there’s magic, ok? Checking that box is more important than making it relevant.


Well, after almost 300 pages of no-to-low stakes episodes in a barely-magical late medieval England (filled with eye-rolling anachronisms), we’re getting to the end of the book. Something has to happen, right? Yeah, so, something does. I guess. Turns out the king and his marshal are bad guys. I mean, we were told this throughout the book, but finally they actually did something really bad. And the King hints that Anna will have to marry the marshal. The one we were told was bad a lot but it took 300 pages for him to actually do something bad. So Anna decides to run away.


Well, alright, I guess that’s something! If you squint really hard, there’s a kind of arc there, sort of. Maybe. Haha, no, psych! Here comes a lady knight, telling Anna the shocking* news that the Kingdom’s been invaded on two fronts! Anna says she can’t leave, she has to protect her people! You know, the people ten seconds ago she was going to abandon to the whims of her psycho tyrant dad and shitty family!


As you can tell, this ending is really baffling to me. Which, in a way, is fitting, since so is most of the book. The book can’t decide if it’s wholesome or gritty, the characters lack depth, potential plot points are discarded to reveal that they were merely conveniences, and there is no overarching story.


It’s a very amateur effort written by someone who hadn’t put a lot of thought into how to write a long-form narrative. Of course, that’s OK -- writing is a craft and the best way to learn is to do. But this book, once finished, should have sat in a drawer while the author moved on to another project with all of that experience under his belt, not be published and hawked for real money.


I picked up the book originally because Bennett is prolific. He’s putting stuff out at a tremendous clip and I genuinely respect that. The optimist in me thinks his later stuff must be better; the pessimist fears that he’s prolific precisely because his books lack depth and narrative. Debut works can be shaky, and I know to be somewhat forgiving. But, I doubt that I’ll stick with the Heir to the Crown series.


* Among a book filled with cringe-inducing continuity problems, this one is actually the worst. You see, in one of the earlier chapters, Anna created a network of couriers that act as her spies. She literally has a spy network, and this invasion comes as a complete shock to her. She was planning to flee to one of the kingdoms that invaded! I mean, come on!

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, and didn't want to put it down. The "father/daughter" relationship between Gerold and Anna is a beautiful story on its own. All of the characters are wonderfully brought to life with writing that paints a detailed picture. Having finished this first book, I would like very much to see the King and his cronies die slowly and painfully, and cannot wait for "Sword of the Crown". I'm also a fan of Kathrine Kurtz' Deryni series, and this doesn't have nearly as much magic, but does share the coming of age of a brilliant young person, as well as the eternal struggle of good versus evil. I strongly recommend this series.

[Aly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book to me was like a medieval fantasy. I enjoyed the story and the characters. Being that this is book 1, I can't wait to see what else is in store for this series. *This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.*

[Tony Duxbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this sword & sorcery novel because it was light on the magic and the characters were the protagonists of the action. A slow paced and almost gentle tale one man's decency. Gerald Matheson has seen enough tragedy in his life. He's been a farmer and soldier, but when seriously wounded his fighting days are over. Due to his loyalty and character, his Lord finds him an easy billet as a groundskeeper on a royal estate. There he expected to end his days in peace. That was before he befriends a young girl. Affection grows between them and Anne comes to replace his dead daughter in his heart. It is some time before Gerald realises that Anne is a royal. Unfortunately, an illegitimate one, exiled out of sight. Set against a background of a Kingdom sliding into decadence with a tyrant king, the child grows and starts to be exposed to dangers from the outside world. Gerald vows to protect her. A great story of friendship and loyalty. Loved the characters: Gerald is a simple and decent man, but no fool. Anne is intelligent and inquisitive. They make a great team. First in a series, I would recommend this book to any fantasy fan.

[Wytzia Raspe · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a captivating novel! A sergeant, a veteran in his end 30ties who served his king for 20 years and has lost his family in the wars with a neighbouring country, is invalided during an uprising in the capital and blamed for the disaster and the great loss of lives his commanding officer caused.

Saved by his former commander and friend from execution as a scapegoat, he is banished to a far away and forgotten royal palace to work there as the groundsman. Trying to bring the gardens back from being a jungle he meets a lonely young girl of around 6. The two of them become friends and he gets to know her secret. But can he protect her?

It is a lovely book. You can feel the love of the limping lonely man for this equally lonely girl. The village near the castle and the castle itself are populated by a whole rainbow of people. The world is a fantasy world but resembles a 13/14th century Medieval society. There are only a few hints to non-human persons or magic but it is mostly a pseudo England with rebels (Scots?) invading it.

I really enjoyed reading it. It is part of a series and book 2 is about a warrior maiden mentioned in this book but I think the three books will bring the saga to a close or so I hope. Looking forward to read the other novels in this series.

[M.L. Dunker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well this is awkward. The book has a beautiful cover and the blurb sounded like it was right in my favorite genre. And no. The book reads like an outline of an epic quest fantasy adventure tale and not the story itself. The author is a D&D player and I felt as if he rolled the dice to fill the page - a battle against the King's men here, a raid with the Norlanders and reprisals there, and violence against women/memories of violence against women whenever the story is lagging.

I see that there are a dozen books in this series and thousands of reviews. I'm obviously in the minority here. But that's the great thing about books, I can read to the final page and know I will never touch another book in this series and someone else will buy a copy in print and Kindle just so it will always be available for a re-read.

All of the books in the series have gorgeous covers.

[Anne Kinslow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anne Kinslow.
I wasn't too sure if I would like this kind of book but thought I would give it a go anyway. I was so wrong!
This book was so well written and the characters within were so realistic. I loved the the story as it unravelled.The characters, Gerald & Anna's lives were full of just about every emotion anyone could ever experience in life. It doesn't end here as book two is due to come out in sometime this month. Highly recommend this series.

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a story of healing, friendship and loyalty. A fast paced read and a wonderful beginning for fantasy series. Another new author discovery in 2019.

[Steff Mother of Sphynx · Rating 3 out of 5]

This took me a lot longer than expected, granted I did pop it down for a time while I finished another book. At the beginning I thought it was going to go in a different direction (some bad things happened to our main character and there was every chance this would turn into a revenge story, cue malicious hand rubbing!), but no, Gerald the mc took an early retirement of sorts and became a gardener, what followed was predominantly a cozy read peppered with the odd fight scene! The writing was a little clunky, sometimes repetitive and I definitely would have put some events in a different order to improve the flow (mind you, the action is meticulously described, you’ll never miss a single sword thrust!), but overall a good first book and I will definitely be trying some other books by this author (he’s wrote so many!) in the future to see how he has improved.

[Fiona Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing story, fully developed and the world building is truly amazing. the story has all that a great story should, a beginning, a middle and an end. The story centres around Gerald Matheson a young lad at the beginning of the story and a older, well rounded character by the end. In between he has many adventures and learns that loyalty to the right people is always the best trait you can develop. I highly recommend this book and am impatiently waiting the next book in the series.

Audible book review
I totally loved listening to this book. Highly recommended.

[Romana]

When giving a very quick rundown of this book to my coworker (a grumpy old ex-soldier who unexpectedly ends up being the protector and surrogate father to a very feisty princess), she said:
"Oh… so basically Geralt and Ciri."

Well… this book’s grumpy old man is also called Gerald, but his charge is the (bastard?) Lady Anna.
We follow them through all kinds of shenanigans and little adventures, and see Anna grow into a young lady.

All in all, this book — as a standalone — had long stretches of charming slice-of-life moments and was a joy to read.
I had a bit of a hard time at the start because it jumps around a bit, but once Gerald is settled into his role, the book flowed very nicely.

My only complaint is that I've probably been reading a bit too much grimly realistic stuff lately, because I continuously waited for the fact that the book hints at Anna being a bastard — and that Gerald was specifically banished more than once from court — to have real consequences. These consequences either never happened or were very mild and barely an inconvenience.

I’m aware this is only the first introduction to a relatively long series, so we’ll see!

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book - simple, a quick read, and a decent story line.

The story itself is good - not excellent, but good. There is a little too much "magic" (where things turn out right even though they really should turn out wrong), but I still enjoyed it. The dialog between the characters is quite believable and enjoyable. Character development is a good (again, not excellent, but still good). Strange things happen - and (for the most part) have a reasonable explanation. When the narrator is speaking, however, the wording comes across as somewhat... young. I'm accustomed to having narrators be omniscient, and so this was a little off-putting.

I will be getting the second book and am looking forward to it.

[Elijah Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

An old, injured and unfairly disgraced soldier strikes up a friendship with a young royal after being sent away to a disused royal estate. He mentors her acting as a father figure, and the relationship helps him overcome past emotional wounds.

Ultimately this was a good story, and I will continue the series for now. I have started to care about Gerald and Anna. However, I felt that this novel could have been expanded upon, it was quite short. I want more details on the land of Merceria and its neighbors, and the species inhabiting them. The two main characters were well fleshed out, but what of the surrounding cast? The battle scenes were short and simple. Same for the politicking.

This book felt more like a prequel than a fully fleshed out series debut.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really wish I could give this more than just five stars. This is hands down one of the best medieval-type fantasy stories I have ever read. I didn't want it to end! The author is an expert at immersing the reader into every moment of the story, whether that be a fast-paced skirmish, or just simply a servant's life on a royal estate. I was able to experience the ups and downs of Gerald's life, and am really looking forward to the next book!

[Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this author/series via a thumbnail of a YouTube short. I saw the stack of books being displayed by a man who looked like a nice human.

I rarely watch shorts but something made me click that video and I'm glad I did! This book was really good.

It was nice to read a traditional fantasy again, where the baddies are baddies and the goodies are goodies. Not a challenging book, but sometimes that's nice too. It was easy to read and I felt nourished and uplifted by the lovely relationship between the main character and the princess.

Brill!

[Kendra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received from the author via Voracious Readers Only in exchange for a review.

Bit of a slow, confusing start for me, but once it got rolling it was a sweet, interesting read. Loved the emotional growth between the main characters, and the author did a terrific job of not making the main girl annoying and flaky. Loved the maturity, yet innocence involved in the characters growth. Also enjoyed the soldier not dismissing girls and women as being unable to fight.

Diving into the next book and rest of the series, and looking forward to filling out backstories and moving the overall story along.

Crossposted to GoodReads and Amazon.

[Richard Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book

This book is about a grizzly sergeant in the King’s army being sent to an estate where the illegitimate child of the queen lived. The sergeant and the princess become like father and daughter and the sergeant tries to steer the princess in the right ways.

[WhatShouldIRead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absorbing historical fiction story. I very much enjoyed the sense of place, character personalities and the situations they all found themselves in and how they reacted to them. I recommend this book for a great escape to another time period.

[Hank Stram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pleasant read. Not quite young adult but a principal character is a child. Not quite cozy fantasy as there is violence but somewhat simplistic and too many things keep working out for the main characters. Never the less... it's a pleasant read. would continue the series at <$15

[A.R. Turner · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book disappointed me on two levels. My dad bought it for me as a gift as well as a copy for himself. The idea was we could read it together and talk about it. However, I wasn't able to finish it. I barely got 10% of the way through before I gave up.

For me, and apparently I'm in the vast minority, the writing style itself was in serious need of an editor. It was chock-full of cliches and odd pacing, with sentences that, to me, were an effort to read through. I hate saying this, but it was just written badly.

Quite early in the book (it would have to be quite early, as I didn't get far) Gerald's family are introduced. I remember thinking to myself, "This family is going to get brutally murdered at some point in the book." Chekov's Loving Family. As it turned out, it happened within about three pages of them being introduced. But here's the thing. They get killed for some reason while Gerald is off in the woods trying to chase a lost pig. There is greater depth of storytelling, both in narrative description and in page count, of this adventure trying to find a lost pig in the woods then there is of Gerald's family being murdered and his subsequent 'Nooooo' to the heavens, then his hunting the killers down and taking revenge on them. All of this happens within a couple of pages.

I couldn't get any further because it was such an effort to try and get into. It was stuffed full of cliches and backed up with choppy writing, and so I gave up pretty early in. I was disappointed both because I was looking forward to a new fantasy series to get stuck in to, and because, after telling my dad that I'd DNF'd it, we would no longer be able to have fun and interesting chats about the books, their themes, our favourite passages etc.

[ErinTurnsPages · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book, I couldn’t put it down once I had the right headspace to read it. (Sometimes you have to be in the right mood for certain genres) I cannot wait until I have the ability to buy the second book. The relationship between Gerald and Anna was splendid especially with Gerald’s history. I stopped multiple times to laugh or praise a scene or character. I loved Anna’s personality and beliefs. Her courage and determination. Just so much praise.
Also, I've already bought the second book.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review via Voracious Readers Only.

[Boyd · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit one dimensional at times. Character development uneven and thin, some introduced and left hanging. Still looking for where this series is headed. Started off very intriguing and the it just wandered on. Numerous new ideas introduced then not fulfilled or explored. I had not paid full digital price for a Kindle book in a long time until I purchased this one for $5.99. I will be going back to my practice of a $.99 to $1.99 limit unless it is a well established series and an author with a proven track record.

[Colby · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good seed.

I've gotten a little worn out by the dark fantasy novels lately. This one has its tragedy but overall the story of Gerald is about a man who has a great work ethic and always makes the best of his situation with loyalty and honesty being the heart of what he's made of. Thanks Paul.

[Albert Franklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I clicked on this book by mistake thinking it was something else but sort fell right into it. I cant explain, maybe because I'm older now that I loved this sort of slice of life type fantasy story. It drags a bit toward the end but I have to say I definitely will check out the next book to see what he does with the story.

[Frank Geimer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, what a good story! It moves a little slow at times but it's very well written and thought out. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and will bet that you will too.

[Kevin Potter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here we have an interesting and well written, if flawed, book.

Greg Patmore's narration is quite good. He has a good assortment of character voices and is good with inflections. The only things keeping him from a 5-star performance are the lack of tempo variations and the fact that his voices don't change as characters age. (Anna, for example, has the same choice at age six as she does at age thirteen)

Now, the story, such as it is.

First and foremost, I really feel that this should be a prequel rather than book one. We spend a lot of time with Gerald and get to know him very well. But unfortunately, he is NOT the protagonist.

Based on the events depicted in the story and how it ends, it's really Anna and Beverly's story. I have so many unanswered questions, largely because there is almost nothing herein about Beverly's journey. On account of that, her role in the end feels almost like Deus Ex Machina.

That being said, I really love Gerald as a character. He reminds me a lot of Eddard Stark. He's this super idealistic and honorbound warrior who really struggles to figure out how the world really works. And every time we turn around, someone is double crossing him and he only just makes it out with his head still attached to his shoulders.

That being said, the comparisons to A Game of Thrones pretty much end there. Here we have a world that, while brutal, is not nearly so dark and gritty as that in GoT.

There is an argument to be made for things working out just a little too conveniently, but I don't feel it goes far enough to break my belief or immersion in the world.

There is a problem though. Unfortunately, this is not, in the strict sense, a story. It is an episodic narrative. We get to see lots of little vignettes, but the only thing connecting most of them is that we're following the same character(s) throughout.

There is no overarching plot. There is no continual building of tension. And there was no defined beginning, middle, or end. All three of those points came only arbitrarily as there was nothing connecting them that required them to be where they were.

Similarly, this book does a lot of jumping through time without talking about what happened in the interim and it was very distracting.

And I have to wonder, what was the point of the 8-chapter flashback to Gerald's past?

Yes, it helped to get to know him better, but all the pertinent points of his past were addressed later. And I can't help feeling that certain elements from his past could have made a great secret for Anna to delve into that could have been used to build both of their characters even more.

Now, the point of view.

In fairness, this is largely a style choice and personal preference. But it's a pet peeve of mine.

The omniscient narration of this book was detrimental to my ability to connect with the characters. Throughout the entire book, there was an unnecessary distance from the characters because we weren't really inside any character's head. We were told their feelings and motivations (bouncing between characters with no warning at times, which was quite jarring), but at no point did we actually see the inner workings of any character's mind.

Now, before you go thinking in just ragging on this book, I'm really not. It was very skillfully written and I can see the soul of a born storyteller behind it. It just needs a little work to turn into something incredible.

Finally, as I've touched on already, the ending was less than satisfying. It felt like an arbitrary, "let's just stop here."

All that being said, I do recommend this book to anyone looking for authentic or semi-authentic feeling medieval fantasy that is perhaps a little less dark (and adult) than Game of Thrones.

And I am continuing the series. With a little work, this author could be amazing and I'm really hoping to see him step it up in the next book.

[Dianna-Lynn (Dee-Dee) Lundgren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This debut novel by this author blew me away! It is the first in the "Heir to the Crown" series currently spanning five full-length novels and two novellas.
The novel draws you immediately into the action. Even if you have no knowledge of warfare, you feel as if you are physically there, viewing the action as though on the battlefield yourself! This is written from the point of view of Sergeant Gerald Matheson, a loyal soldier. We get to see in-depth into military campaigns, strategies and actual warfare in which he's involved. I learnt so much about warfare and battles by reading this novel.
It is remarkably well written. It is a wonderfully crafted world, with scenes laid out in such vivid detail that you actually become immersed in the environment and invested in the characters' well-being. At one point, I got up to get a glass of water and realized that I had tears running down my face after I'd read a particularly tragic scene.
I came across this treasure quite by accident, in a free giveaway. I am SO GLAD I discovered it by taking the chance on an unknown author.
It reminds of Robert Jordan and "The Wheel of Time" series as it has similar elements; magic, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, a young, untried protege seeking her destiny and villains...just up my alley.
There is so much action, pathos and atmosphere in this first installment of the series that I am not even missing cable TV to watch Game of Thrones last season! This series has all that and more...well ok, so far at least, it doesn't have dragons, a huge ice wall or the walking dead. I am stoked to be digging into the rest of the novels in this series as I bet they will be just as phenomenal as this first one.
I think my best-loved quote from the book is this one: "...you can never tell whether to trust them or not, or so they say." "so who says?" quizzed Anna. Gerald was taken aback by the question. "Well, you know, they! No one knows who they are." He paused for a moment. "Well, I guess I answered your question, there isn't a 'they' is there?"
A shout out to the author; as a fellow Canadian, I have to add the following comment: I am very grateful to the author that he chose to retain Canadian spellings throughout the novel. I can imagine that there is quite a lot of pressure on individuals, particularly self-published authors, to use American spellings and take on other popularised speech for the simple reason that they are such a large consumer base and the US as a whole seems to influence behaviours in so many other countries. As an entirely separate country from the USA, I am personally thankful that he chose to retain his (British) Canadian identity. Too often, the little guy bows down to the pressure of the bigger, so glad to see that is not the case here. Bravo to YOU, I applaud your choice! It makes me proud to be a fellow Canadian since I also value our unique individuality.
A note on timing to read start to finish; my Kindle App on my iPad said at the start that it would take approx 9hrs 50mins, and that was close, it took me 9.5hrs all told. As I said previously, it IS a full-length novel.

[Michael Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series, starting with the prequel, “Battle at the River”, is my first exposure to Mr. Bennett’s writing - I’m very happy I decided to try it. Judging from some reviews from 2017 or so, it appeared that perhaps those readers didn’t realize the author’s intent. Having started this reading in 2020, I noted that this story covers a lengthy time line. It contains a prequel, then a pair of books followed by a volume containing additional information, then repeating for three more pairs with a separating volume each, for a total of four cycles so far.

The series is entertaining, but it does unwind a bit slowly to establish the important early history between the first two characters we meet. The prequel introduces Lord Richard Fitzwilliam, Baron of Bodden, a completely down-to-earth and fair-minded master strategist, and Sergeant Gerald Matheson, unshakably loyal to the Baron, who had taken him in as a stable boy after his family was killed in an outlaw attack, and later accepted him into the army. Gerald was a firm believer in constant training and strict discipline to keep his troops ready for battle. The men learned to completely trust one another, which made them a great team in combat. This relationship saves Gerald from complete devastation after being severely wounded in a local skirmish, when an inexperienced royal leader botched the conduct of the mission. Gerald, a commoner, was held responsible, because ‘it couldn’t possibly be the fault of a royal’. The Baron asked Gerald to trust him as the Sergeant was cashiered out of the service with little means of support. The Baron arranged for Gerald to be hired as a groundskeeper for an estate in an outlying district, with undisclosed secret plans for his later services.

In this first book, Gerald accepts his lot and tackles the work with his characteristic positive attitude. He meets Anna, a lonely six-year-old girl, later identified as the King’s illegitimate daughter, who has been exiled to the boondocks to keep her out of the Queen’s sight. The fellow exiles become allies and we watch as a strong, loyal father-daughter type of relationship develops as Anna come of age, with Gerald teaching her to take care of herself. The story has a few flat spots in following the daily routine, but there are frequent battles with raiders, so the people have to be constantly on guard, with daily training. New characters are added as the story progresses and we’re given hints as to what lies ahead.

I read for escape and entertainment; I’m not put off by a bit of stretching the imagination. I thoroughly enjoyed the author’s adept mix of medieval life and fantasy as he presented a heart-warming coming of age story in which Anna and Gerald earned their respect for each other. He was straight-arrow and steadfast in his principles. She learned to cope with duty in the friction between classes, developed a sense of honor in the struggle between good and evil, and gained bravery through training in defending their homes against attack. The story is well-written, with strong characters and vivid descriptions, to keep the reader involved. I am eager to read the rest of the series.

[Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from voracious readers in exchange for a review.

I didn't know what to expect going into this. Servant of the Crown starts off as what seems like a war novel about Gerald Matheson during his life as a youth in a village headed by a Duke. Gerald is noticed for his bravery at 13 when he kills an invading soldier, largely by accident. What follows are some brutal campaigns in which Gerald is injured and shipped off to an estate in the middle of nowhere to be forgotten.

At the estate he meets the queen's illegitimate daughter Anna and the two become friends, with Anna reminding Gerald of his late family whom he lost more than 20 years before.

The story meanders a little but I was thoroughly sucked in by their adventures. Anna is a brave and unique princess who is shaped by the kind people around her and her unusual circumstances lead her to be more relatable and human. Compared to other royals she is a bit wild and unruly and has a few struggles when being taught she is royal and cannot behave like she does. I loved her interactions with Gerald and her dog Tempus. Anna forms a great bond also with the villagers who do not treat her differently.

Gerald himself is very fatherly buy is developed enough to be his own character too. He has a lot of experience as a soldier and is an honourable and trustworthy man. At the same time he can get up to mischief with Anna. I think it was really great to show how innovative Anna is when it comes to Gerald's situation when he first comes to the estate - with a lifelong injury. And Anna uses her stature for good.

Some criticisms I have are perhaps that the troubles in the book are too conveniently solved and as well as mentioning that there are other races of humanoids in the book, you never see them in the story except Anna and Gerald meet all of them. The majority of the book is taking place in 2 or 3 locations, which gets a bit boring by the end of it. The hint of heading off to a new realm really excited me. Then suddenly it became the epilogue, which was really more like the opening to the 2nd book. There wasn't any kind of resolution to be had in an epilogue and you could just title it the final chapter or something.

There were some sentences that didn't really make sense that I hope are not in the market copy.
1. A Visitor's Coming: 'your secrets safe with me'- secret's
2. The Slums: 'but at least one of them one was down' - just reads so awkwardly.

Overall I would think of this as sort of a historical (low) fantasy slice of life story. There was some diversity, great ideas and the story does lead somewhere in the end. It took me a very long time to read but it was worth it and I may eventually continue on with the series.