The Reluctant King
Encyclopedia
The Reluctant King is the overall title of a trilogy of fantasy
novels written by L. Sprague de Camp
as part of his Novarian series
, as well as the 1983 omnibus collection gathering the books together into one volume. The trilogy features de Camp's sword and sorcery
hero King Jorian of Xylar, and is composed of The Goblin Tower
(1968), The Clocks of Iraz
(1971) and The Unbeheaded King
(1983). The omnibus was first published in hardcover by Nelson Doubleday
in 1983 as an offering for its Science Fiction Book Club, and was reissued in paperback by Baen Books
in 1996.
When first seen, Jorian is the reluctant king of Xylar, another Novarian city-state. The Xylarians select their king every five years by executing the reigning monarch and tossing his head into a crowd; the man who catches it becomes the next king. Jorian, having been selected for the position five years before, is at the end of his term as ruler. He miraculously escapes his fate with the aid of the Mulvanian sorcerer Dr. Karadur.
The tale continues through a pair of spectacularly disastrous quest
s in aid of his savior, the first taking them through the exotic lands of Mulvan, Komilakh and Shven and the second south to the ancient empire of Penembei.
In the course of the later adventure Jorian is tapped to be ruler of Penembei, an office nearly as hazardous as king of Xylar. Adroitly ducking this second crown he endeavors to recover from Xylar his favorite wife Estrildis, with whom he hopes to retire to a life of quiet obscurity, only to have things once again go wrong...
to Earth
, a plane of existence related to ours in that ours constitutes its afterlife
. Culturally it bears resemblances to the eras of both Classical Greece
and Medieval Europe
. Mankind shares this world with other intelligent beings, like the serpent people of Beraoti, the beast-men of Komilakh, and the silvans of the mountain forests. The fauna is largely that of Earth's Ice Age
, while the vegetation is similar to that of present-day Earth.
Novaria's world is one in which the supernatural element is dominant. Magic works, though in a strictly logical fashion that often leaves its practitioners dissatisfied. Gods are real and strongly influence mortal affairs, communicating with their worshippers through dreams. Demons can, and often are, summoned from other planes of existence, which Novarians number in relation to their own (which to them is the Prime Plane).
Novaria itself is a broad isthmus joining two continental masses to the north and the south. The northern continent consists primarily of the steppe country of Shven, with the pirate isles of Algarth off its western coast and the land of Hroth to the north. The southern continent contains the empire of Penembei and the desert of Fedirun to the south of Novaria and the jungles of Mulvan and Komilakh to the southeast; other lands, notably Beraoti, lie further south.
Novaria is separated from the northern continent by the high Ellorna Mountains and from the southern by the great Logram Mountains. On its other sides it drains into the Western Ocean and the Inner Sea, which communicates with the Eastern Ocean via the smaller Sea of Sikhon. Across the Eastern Ocean are the archipelagos known as the Peppercorns, Salimor, and Gwoling, and an eastern continent on which is found the great empire of Kuromon and another nomad-inhabited steppe belt
.
Across the Western Ocean is the country of the cannibal Paaluan sea raiders; as these are also stated (in The Honorable Barbarian
) to be a threat in the Eastern Ocean, there is evidently a navigable sea passage around either the main Novarian continent or the eastern continent, or both.
Novaria is a land with a single language and culture, divided politically into mutually-competing city states - reminiscent of Classical Greece
and Renaissance Italy. The twelve city-states into which Novaria is split are Solymbria, Boaktis, Tarxia, Zolon, Ir, Metouro, Govannion, Aussar, Xylar, Othomae, Kortoli and Vindium.
The Twelve Cities are ruled under a wide variety of competing governmental systems, some of them unique. For instance, Solymbria is an archon
ate whose leader is selected by random drawing, Boaktis is a dictatorship, Tarxia is a theocracy
, Zolon is an island ruled by its navy
, Ir is under the control of a syndicate of plutocrats, Metouro is ruled by a secret society, Xylar chooses its kings by lot and beheads each after a five year term, Othomae divides civil and military power between a Grand Duke and a Grand Bastard, respectively the eldest legitimate and illegitimate sons of the previous Grand Duke, Kortoli is a traditional hereditary monarchy, and Vindium a republic of the classical variety. This allows the author to explore various pros and cons of different modes of governance as his hero tours the country.
As for other countries, Shven and Fedirun are home to nomads patterned after the Mongols
and Beduin, respectively, Mulvan is a caste-bound empire combining features of India
, China
and Persia, and Iraz, divided from Mulvan by Fedirun, is modeled on the Byzantine Empire
. The jungles of Komilakh east of Mulvan are inhabited by beast men, and the far-off islands of Salimor in the Eastern Ocean comprise a monarchy mingling elements of Japan
and the Philippines
. The distant empire of Kuromon is based on China
and Japan
.
says Jorian at the end of The Clocks of Iraz
. When last seen, at the end of The Unbeheaded King
, he has achieved precisely that (though not with the wife with whom he originally hoped to share his middle-class bliss).
Another singular feature of the books are their frequent use of folk tales
integrated into the plot (Jorian is a storyteller) to painlessly convey something of the background and history of the invented world. This device obviates the need for lengthy appendices, as in The Lord of the Rings
. While each book in the trilogy makes use of the device, its use is heaviest in The Goblin Tower
.
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
novels written by L. Sprague de Camp
L. Sprague de Camp
Lyon Sprague de Camp was an American author of science fiction and fantasy books, non-fiction and biography. In a writing career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and notable works of non-fiction, including biographies of other important fantasy authors...
as part of his Novarian series
Novarian series
The Novarian series is a sequence of fantasy stories by L. Sprague de Camp, published between 1968 and 1989. The series contains some of de Camp's most innovative works of fantasy, featuring explorations of various political systems, an inversion of the "rags to royalty" pattern characteristic of...
, as well as the 1983 omnibus collection gathering the books together into one volume. The trilogy features de Camp's sword and sorcery
Sword and sorcery
Sword and sorcery is a sub-genre of fantasy and historical fantasy, generally characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent conflicts. An element of romance is often present, as is an element of magic and the supernatural...
hero King Jorian of Xylar, and is composed of The Goblin Tower
The Goblin Tower
The Goblin Tower is a fantasy novel by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, the first book of both his Novarian series and the "Reluctant King" trilogy featuring King Jorian of Xylar. It was first published as a paperback by Pyramid Books in 1968 and later reprinted by Del Rey Books. The first...
(1968), The Clocks of Iraz
The Clocks of Iraz
The Clocks of Iraz is a fantasy novel by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, the second book of both his Novarian series and the "Reluctant King" trilogy featuring King Jorian of Xylar. It was first published as a paperback by Pyramid Books in 1971 and later reprinted by Del Rey Books...
(1971) and The Unbeheaded King
The Unbeheaded King
The Unbeheaded King is a fantasy novel by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, the fourth book of his Novarian series and the third in the "Reluctant King" trilogy featuring King Jorian of Xylar. It was first published as a hardcover by Ballantine Books in 1983 and later reprinted in paperback by...
(1983). The omnibus was first published in hardcover by Nelson Doubleday
Nelson Doubleday
Nelson Doubleday was a U.S. book publisher. He was the nephew of author Russell Doubleday, the son of Frank Nelson Doubleday and Neltje Blanchan, and the father of Nelson Doubleday Jr....
in 1983 as an offering for its Science Fiction Book Club, and was reissued in paperback by Baen Books
Baen Books
Baen Books is an American publishing company established in 1983 by long time science fiction publisher and editor Jim Baen. It is a science fiction and fantasy publishing house that emphasizes space opera, hard science fiction, military science fiction, and fantasy...
in 1996.
Plot summary
The trilogy follows the adventures of ex-king Jorian, a native of the village of Ardamai in the kingdom of Kortoli, one of the twelve city-states of Novaria. Jorian is a powerful and intelligent man who has trained extensively for a life of adventure, but hampered by garulousness and a weakness for drink and women.When first seen, Jorian is the reluctant king of Xylar, another Novarian city-state. The Xylarians select their king every five years by executing the reigning monarch and tossing his head into a crowd; the man who catches it becomes the next king. Jorian, having been selected for the position five years before, is at the end of his term as ruler. He miraculously escapes his fate with the aid of the Mulvanian sorcerer Dr. Karadur.
The tale continues through a pair of spectacularly disastrous quest
Quest
In mythology and literature, a quest, a journey towards a goal, serves as a plot device and as a symbol. Quests appear in the folklore of every nation and also figure prominently in non-national cultures. In literature, the objects of quests require great exertion on the part of the hero, and...
s in aid of his savior, the first taking them through the exotic lands of Mulvan, Komilakh and Shven and the second south to the ancient empire of Penembei.
In the course of the later adventure Jorian is tapped to be ruler of Penembei, an office nearly as hazardous as king of Xylar. Adroitly ducking this second crown he endeavors to recover from Xylar his favorite wife Estrildis, with whom he hopes to retire to a life of quiet obscurity, only to have things once again go wrong...
Setting
The world of which Novaria is part is a parallel worldParallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
to Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, a plane of existence related to ours in that ours constitutes its afterlife
Afterlife
The afterlife is the belief that a part of, or essence of, or soul of an individual, which carries with it and confers personal identity, survives the death of the body of this world and this lifetime, by natural or supernatural means, in contrast to the belief in eternal...
. Culturally it bears resemblances to the eras of both Classical Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
and Medieval Europe
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. Mankind shares this world with other intelligent beings, like the serpent people of Beraoti, the beast-men of Komilakh, and the silvans of the mountain forests. The fauna is largely that of Earth's Ice Age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
, while the vegetation is similar to that of present-day Earth.
Novaria's world is one in which the supernatural element is dominant. Magic works, though in a strictly logical fashion that often leaves its practitioners dissatisfied. Gods are real and strongly influence mortal affairs, communicating with their worshippers through dreams. Demons can, and often are, summoned from other planes of existence, which Novarians number in relation to their own (which to them is the Prime Plane).
Novaria itself is a broad isthmus joining two continental masses to the north and the south. The northern continent consists primarily of the steppe country of Shven, with the pirate isles of Algarth off its western coast and the land of Hroth to the north. The southern continent contains the empire of Penembei and the desert of Fedirun to the south of Novaria and the jungles of Mulvan and Komilakh to the southeast; other lands, notably Beraoti, lie further south.
Novaria is separated from the northern continent by the high Ellorna Mountains and from the southern by the great Logram Mountains. On its other sides it drains into the Western Ocean and the Inner Sea, which communicates with the Eastern Ocean via the smaller Sea of Sikhon. Across the Eastern Ocean are the archipelagos known as the Peppercorns, Salimor, and Gwoling, and an eastern continent on which is found the great empire of Kuromon and another nomad-inhabited steppe belt
Steppe belt
A steppe belt is a contiguous phytogeographic region of predominantly grassland , which has common characteristics in soil, climate, vegetation and fauna.A forest-steppe belt is a region of forest steppe....
.
Across the Western Ocean is the country of the cannibal Paaluan sea raiders; as these are also stated (in The Honorable Barbarian
The Honorable Barbarian
The Honorable Barbarian is a fantasy novel written by L. Sprague de Camp, the fifth and final book of his Novarian series. It is a sequel both to the "Reluctant King" trilogy and to the Novarian sequence's only short story, "The Emperor's Fan"...
) to be a threat in the Eastern Ocean, there is evidently a navigable sea passage around either the main Novarian continent or the eastern continent, or both.
Novaria is a land with a single language and culture, divided politically into mutually-competing city states - reminiscent of Classical Greece
Classical Greece
Classical Greece was a 200 year period in Greek culture lasting from the 5th through 4th centuries BC. This classical period had a powerful influence on the Roman Empire and greatly influenced the foundation of Western civilizations. Much of modern Western politics, artistic thought, such as...
and Renaissance Italy. The twelve city-states into which Novaria is split are Solymbria, Boaktis, Tarxia, Zolon, Ir, Metouro, Govannion, Aussar, Xylar, Othomae, Kortoli and Vindium.
The Twelve Cities are ruled under a wide variety of competing governmental systems, some of them unique. For instance, Solymbria is an archon
Archon
Archon is a Greek word that means "ruler" or "lord", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem ἀρχ-, meaning "to rule", derived from the same root as monarch, hierarchy, and anarchy.- Ancient Greece :In ancient Greece the...
ate whose leader is selected by random drawing, Boaktis is a dictatorship, Tarxia is a theocracy
Theocracy
Theocracy is a form of organization in which the official policy is to be governed by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided, or simply pursuant to the doctrine of a particular religious sect or religion....
, Zolon is an island ruled by its navy
Thalassocracy
The term thalassocracy refers to a state with primarily maritime realms—an empire at sea, such as Athens or the Phoenician network of merchant cities...
, Ir is under the control of a syndicate of plutocrats, Metouro is ruled by a secret society, Xylar chooses its kings by lot and beheads each after a five year term, Othomae divides civil and military power between a Grand Duke and a Grand Bastard, respectively the eldest legitimate and illegitimate sons of the previous Grand Duke, Kortoli is a traditional hereditary monarchy, and Vindium a republic of the classical variety. This allows the author to explore various pros and cons of different modes of governance as his hero tours the country.
As for other countries, Shven and Fedirun are home to nomads patterned after the Mongols
Mongols
Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...
and Beduin, respectively, Mulvan is a caste-bound empire combining features of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Persia, and Iraz, divided from Mulvan by Fedirun, is modeled on the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
. The jungles of Komilakh east of Mulvan are inhabited by beast men, and the far-off islands of Salimor in the Eastern Ocean comprise a monarchy mingling elements of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. The distant empire of Kuromon is based on China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Innovative features
The trilogy is one of de Camp's most innovative works of fantasy, and not only in its use of politics. It inverts the "rags to royalty" pattern characteristic of much heroic fantasy by featuring a protagonist fleeing an unwanted crown, and flatly refusing two new offers of a crown made in later episodes:"I've had my taste of kinging it. Wilst 'twas fun in a way, I have no wish to go back to it. Many lust for the wealth, power and glory that kingship entails, but I harbor no such lordly ambitions. A simple life, with a respectable trade. a snug house, plenty to eat and drink, a loving family and congenial cronies will suffice me."
says Jorian at the end of The Clocks of Iraz
The Clocks of Iraz
The Clocks of Iraz is a fantasy novel by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, the second book of both his Novarian series and the "Reluctant King" trilogy featuring King Jorian of Xylar. It was first published as a paperback by Pyramid Books in 1971 and later reprinted by Del Rey Books...
. When last seen, at the end of The Unbeheaded King
The Unbeheaded King
The Unbeheaded King is a fantasy novel by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, the fourth book of his Novarian series and the third in the "Reluctant King" trilogy featuring King Jorian of Xylar. It was first published as a hardcover by Ballantine Books in 1983 and later reprinted in paperback by...
, he has achieved precisely that (though not with the wife with whom he originally hoped to share his middle-class bliss).
Another singular feature of the books are their frequent use of folk tales
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
integrated into the plot (Jorian is a storyteller) to painlessly convey something of the background and history of the invented world. This device obviates the need for lengthy appendices, as in The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
. While each book in the trilogy makes use of the device, its use is heaviest in The Goblin Tower
The Goblin Tower
The Goblin Tower is a fantasy novel by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, the first book of both his Novarian series and the "Reluctant King" trilogy featuring King Jorian of Xylar. It was first published as a paperback by Pyramid Books in 1968 and later reprinted by Del Rey Books. The first...
.