Review: Dog boy discovers he has the power to unseat tyrants
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 19, 2014
Author Vaughn Heppner takes a departure of sorts to tackle the story of Cord, a young man of dubious background who labors in relative obscurity in a somewhat backwoods castle. It's a coming of age novel Medieval-style. The crazy-wild Welsh are right on the border in less civilized portions of jolly old England, and the fortunes of Pelinore Castle under a somewhat brutish baron are about to change. Cord, the chief dog boy, wants to become the castle's forester and marry the pretty miller's daughter. Unfortunately, things don't go as planned. Cord has no idea the baron's most trusted knight hates him with deep-seated passion and will go to serious lengths to make his life hell. Through the tale, Heppner mixes in quite a bit of history and day-to-day details that enable the reader to understand the primitive conditions people of the era lived. He describes the smells (few bathed), the closeness of living in the drafty damp castle, the food and the economic structure. He analyzes the politics of the time by describing feudal structure and the hierarchy of system. Truly Cord doesn't stand a chance. His life goes downhill almost immediately. But rather than flee, as he is advised repeatedly, he sticks it out and fights the system for what's right. The book has the classic Heppner elements: strong hero and the battle for personal freedom. I'm more accustomed to his books on space warfare, but this one kept me reading nonstop.