Book Review: Doctors, Assassins, and Other Tyrants by Katharine Campbell

Doctors, Assassins, and Other Tyrants by Katharine Campbell

In this sequel to Love, Treachery, and Other Terrors, Prince Augustine lives a good life. He's really a step-prince since his mother Damara was a lady-in-waiting to Princess Fausta of Kalathea. Damara married King Florian of Kaltehafen when Augustine was seven. He grew up thinking his father was a noble knight who had died in the Kalathean army. He dreams of being just that sort of upstanding nobleman, fighting for the innocent and for just causes. Unfortunately, his mother has been lying to him. His true father is Prince Justin, Fausta's older brother. Justin was a cruel and selfish man, leaving behind many ruined towns and countries and also many abandoned children. When Augustine is kidnapped by highwaymen, he doesn't know why, though they are taking him halfway across the world to get a good bounty. The brigands are tight-lipped about their client and the client's purposes. Fortunately, the royal family are not the only ones who want to save him. He's also pursued by his childhood sweetheart Lina. She's the daughter of the town doctor with plenty of her own medical knowledge. She was teased a lot as a red-headed child, something Augustine could identify with (being a step-child and having a belligerent cousin). He often intervened for her and they share romantic feelings.

The medieval setting provides plenty of opportunities for a long and interesting chase. They travel on foot, horseback, or cart, so the characters have plenty of time to interact and reveal more about their characters and their histories. There's a sprinkling of magic in the story, making for some odder obstacles to overcome and for the occasional shortcut around difficulties, like mortal wounds. The fantasy elements are not too overwhelming; they are there to help the story move forward, not a central part like in the first book. The world is an interesting place to meander through for the reader as well as the characters.

Augustine is a typical young man who wants to be the best he can be, which in a medieval fantasy is a heroic warrior-knight. He's optimistic and forthright, resulting in occasional problems for him. He also has the aforementioned denial of his origin to overcome, so he is a dynamic character. Lina is a typical young woman who is intelligent and independent. She does her best for others even under trying circumstances. Her natural generosity doesn't get her in as many pickles as Augustine gets into. The minor characters have enough time to get beyond their two-dimensional roles as Kidnappers, Obstacles to Overcome, and The Guy I Could Have Been. The kidnappers have a lot more depth than I was expecting, making them much more human and less like plot devices. The cast is engaging.

The writing style is light and entertaining. Wry comments about other characters are mostly put into the thoughts of the main characters. No one is particularly nasty to anyone else, most everyone is motivated by some good they want to achieve or some wrong they want to correct (though the later people veer into evil). The medieval fantasy setting has none of the bleakness of dystopias or post-apocalyptic landscapes or a lot of other contemporary medieval fantasies (like The Witcher or A Game of Thrones). The first novel had a lighter touch, probably to offset its much darker main villains. This book is still very enjoyable.

Recommended.