As the title might suggest, Richard Davis’s Assassin Royale is a fantasy tale centered on an assassin named Killian Lord, who serves King Ember Starfire.

Ember sends Lord to investigate an independent duchy that’s been taken over by a rogue knight, Maximilian Durandal, who attacked the elderly royals living in the duchy. A servant who escaped described a blue-green light and Durandal wielding a magical-looking weapon.

Lord isn’t just an able assassin; he’s also crafty, and after an unfortunate encounter with some bandits, he manages to smartly infiltrate the knight’s household, becoming his squire. There, he learns that Durandal wanted the estate to mine some magical shards, which he seems to be compiling to create a weapon—one that could endanger the entire kingdom. Lord also finds a love interest in Vivian, who is Durandal’s paramour.

Davis is an adept storyteller, extremely skilled at describing action and perilous scenes and interspersing heart-stopping moments with humor. For example, to escape a murderous crowd of miners, Lord climbs the estate’s walls. “That didn’t mean he suddenly loved heights. He didn’t have plans to shack up with them…But he could tolerate them.” A likeable main character, Lord offers entertaining asides throughout; for example, describing his beloved horse, he reflects: “It was a sad fact of life: As short as an assassin’s life could be, an assassin’s horse’s life could be even shorter.”

Because the main character’s last name is Lord and there are many characters with the title of Lord, the narrative can be confusing initially. But after a few chapters, most readers will adjust. Additionally, although the novel is set in a medieval-type fantasy world, it occasionally includes more modern language, which can be jarring.

Regardless of such issues, fans of sweeping fantasy sagas filled with evil sorcerers and good wizards, duels and ladies with shapely figures, should enjoy this wild ride.

Also available as an ebook.