The Knight of the Red Beard

by Sasha Miller and Andre Norton

Book Overview

Having rebuilt the NordornLand from rubble, Ashen and Gaurin rule justly and fairly over a reinvigorated land. Beloved by their kingdom, they now turn their attention to the next generation of Nordorn... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0765307480
• ISBN13: 9780765307484
• Release Date: September 2008
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 364 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.7" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

The Bespelled Prince

The Knight of the Red Beard (2008) is the fifth fantasy novel in the Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan Cycle, following Dragon Blade. In the previous volume, the Great Signet rings were used to destroy the slime-troll. Gaurin stabbed the Mother Ice Dragon with the Dragon Blade, but did her no harm. Then Ashen broke the Dragon Blade and the Mother Ice Dragon died. Both had damaged their right hands by using the Blade. In this novel, Mikkel is the youngest child of the NordornKing and the NordornQueen. He is eleven years old and the youngest in the family. His chances of becoming king are very slim. Elin is the next oldest sister and the NordornPrincess. She has ambitions to inherit the whole of NordornLand. But first she wants to inherit Iselin from Granddam Ysa. Bjaudin is the older brother and the NordornPrince. He is the heir to the throne of NordornLand. Zazar is a Wysen-wyf. She has formerly been the Wysen-wyf of the Bog, but Nayla had become her replacement after Zazar moved to the Castle of Fire and Ice. Zazar had raised Ashen from a child and is now Wysen-wyf for the king and queen. Ysa is the former Dowager Queen of Rendel. Now she is a duchess within NordornLand. Ysa likes to make trouble for other people. Askepott is a Wysen-wyf among the Wykenigs, a northern seagoing tribe. In this story, Mikkel is trying to study in his rooms, but Elin and Bjaudin are arguing. He had retreated from the outer room and is sprawled on the bed. He had even stuffed cotton in his ears and covered them with his hands, but he can still hear the argument. Luckily, Rols -- a senior house servant -- comes to tell him that four Sea Rover ships are entering the harbor. Rols also informs the argumentative pair in the outer room. Mikkel hurries down the steps to see the new ship arriving from the shipyard. The Ice Princess is truly a magnificent sight. Later, Mikkel goes hunting with his friend Tjorvi. Tjorvi invites him to stowaway on the newly arrived GorGull. This is a common practice among Sea Rovers and the boys will be teased, but included within the crew. Of course, there is the problem of Yngvar -- Tjorvi's older brother -- who is charged with keeping his brother out of trouble. The boys play on the GorGull and prepare a hiding place. Then they sneak out and row themselves to the ship. They are not discovered until the cook comes down to get fixings for breakfast. When they encounter a Wykenig ship, the boys are send down to a sails locker while the sailors prepare for battle. But the Wykenig ship rams the GorGull and it starts to sink. The captain comes to get the boys, puts them in his dinghy and tells them to row to the nearby shore. Unfortunately, the Wykenigs intercept the dinghy and take Mikkel and his warkat Talkin aboard their boat. Tjorvi is dumped out of the dinghy into the sea. The Wykenigs also capture the captain of the GorGull and eight sailors, but are driven away by the Ice Princess. Tjorvi is rescued by sailors

exciting well written fantasy

Having resolved their adversarial relationship the NordornQueen Ashen and NordornKing Gaurin ruled pragmatically yet with fairness for years over a prosperous kingdom. However, before their respective ages becomes issue, the NordornLand monarchs must look at the next generation to insure the heir Dependable and conscientious Bjaudin succeeds them to the throne. After seeking adventure by stowing away on a Sea-Rover, Bjaudin's eleven-year-old younger brother Mikkel is made prisoner by the ferocious Wykenigs; especially interested in the captive is abusive Gunnora who has a past with her detainee's family. His thirteen years old sister Elin, coveting the throne, turns to her scheming malevolent grandmother Ysa as her mentor-ally causing havoc for her parents. Meanwhile, the age of peace and prosperity seems to have ended as a new threat to the NordornLand surfaces; the other grandmother, Zazar uses magic to attempt to free Mikkel and to eliminate the danger. This is an exciting well written Oak, Yew, Ash and Rowan Cycle fantasy that will leave fans of the saga enjoying the "final" entry, but annoyed that closure to the major dangling plot threads from the previous four books failed to occur. Instead new subplots lead to the conclusion more novels are coming. Still this is an entertaining story as the focus is on the children of Ashen and Gaurin and to a degree their stereotypical diametrically opposite grandmothers. Harriet Klausner