This is a wonderful first book in a new series by one of my favorite authors! Jeff Wheeler is the author of the best-selling Legends of Muirwood and Covenant of Muirwood series among others. In The Queen’s Poisoner, the first book of the Kingfountain series, we meet Owen Kiskaddon, a quiet, shy, eight-year-old boy. The youngest of nine children, he was stillborn at birth but miraculously survived. In a recent battle, his father, Duke Kiskaddon of Tatton Hall, has committed treason in an act that was meant to result in the end of the reign of the King of Ceredigion, Severn Argentine. So strong was the duke’s conviction that he committed his treasonous act even while his eldest son, Jorganon, was a hostage to the king. By all accounts, the king is believed to be a corrupt and cruel ruler who only gained his throne by killing his own older brother and his brother’s sons.
In Ceredigion, it is widely believed that the Fountain bestows magical gifts and fortune as well as judgment and punishment. Since the king’s only son had died a year before and his wife was allegedly poisoned to death, Duke Kiskaddon assumed that the Fountain did not favor the king. The duke believed the king was destined to fall in the battle, especially after the duke’s own refusal to send his army (the aforementioned treachery) to support the king. Unfortunately, for Owen and Jorganon, the duke was wrong. For his father’s treasonous deed, Jorganon was sent over a waterfall, the standard method of execution in the realm. And to ensure his parents’ fealty to King Argentine, Owen is sent to Kingfountain to be the king’s new hostage.
At Kingfountain, Owen lives in fear that his parents will do something else to anger the king and he will be killed for it at any moment, or that if he steps out of line his parents and seven remaining siblings will suffer for it. Owen’s days are bleak, made bearable only by the king’s kind niece, Elyse, and a matronly cook and her husband. Then he meets the Queen’s Poisoner. Ankarette is a mysterious woman, thought to be dead, who secretly lives at the castle. She has an agenda all her own, and seeing to Owen’s safety is a big part of it. To secure that safety, she devises a plan to convince the king that Owen has a magical gift—that he is Fountain-blessed—which would make him a valuable asset to the king. Intrigue ensues in spades from this point on.
The characters, including the secondary ones, are well-rounded and realistic, all with their own distinguishing traits. You’ll know just what I mean when you meet Elysabeth Victoria Mortimer, Ratcliffe, and Mancini, just to name a few. There is still a bit of unsolved mystery in my mind regarding Ankarette. Perhaps as the series continues, more will be revealed.
This is a page-turning tale of mystery and intrigue told in Jeff Wheeler’s usual style, marked by fully dimensional characters, expert world-building, and subtle symbolism. For example, Owen’s penchant for building complicated structures with tiles (I pictured them like dominoes), and Ankarette’s lessons in the game of Wizr (possibly similar to chess) both illuminate important traits of the characters. One of my favorite things about Jeff’s writing style is the elegant way he can conjure his stories’ vivid settings to my mind with only a few well-chosen words. And trust me, you won’t mind that the main character is only eight years old. While his emotional reactions are appropriate for his age and true to his seemingly fragile nature, he’s a clever boy thrust into dire circumstances, and perhaps not so fragile after all. So Owen’s perspective never feels juvenile nor does it seem unrealistic. Jeff deftly strikes a balance between the two, and I imagine that was no easy feat. Then again, perhaps it was for this author.
I eagerly await the release of The Thief’s Daughter, the second installment of the Kingfountain series!
My rating: 5 stars!
