A Comedy of Terrors

COMEDY:   Segorian Anderson has a unique job.  He is the Royal Idiot of Peladon.  Whenever something goes wrong because some idiot messed up, Segorian dons the appropriate costume (servant, clothier, warrior, etc.), accepts the blame, gets exiled-for-life, then sneaks back in through the rear gate and waits until another idiot is needed to do it all again.  It’s a pretty easy gig (that earns him the admiration of Queen Sonea) until the dragon shows up.  If that weren’t bad enough, the dragon says a demon is coming to devour everyone in the kingdom!  Now it’s up to Segorian to try to accomplish something only an idiot would attempt and find a way to save Peladon.  Don’t tell his mother.  She’d be rooting for the dragon.

What a delightfully witty novel, written in a tongue-in-cheek style that keeps one laughing over Segorian’s endless antics.  Segorian is not your typical romantic hero.  Bumbling, yet loveable, he is clueless about almost everything – horses, swords, and especially women.  In fact, Segorian is confused for most of the book, and since the story is told from his point of view, so is the reader.  Folks looking for a meaningful love story won’t find it here, but those who persist to the end will discover a surprisingly clever wrap-up that shows the Idiot’s journey in a whole new perspective.  

Leslie Stokes