Near the end of the Western Roman Empire, a slave saves a scroll from his master’s house when the Visigoths sack Rome. Centuries later, Saxon Wulfram works as a scribe at Marmoutier Abbey, where his beloved mentor (and old friend of the emperor) Abbot Alcuin encourages his talents as a linguist and historian. Just before the old abbot’s mysterious death, he gives Wulfram—who has a photographic memory—an ancient scroll to puzzle over. Wulfram quickly realizes it is a "palimpsest"—its ink was scraped off, and the papyrus re-used, leaving behind the ghostly imprint of the previous text.
The scheming Brother Armon, who wishes to be the abbot, purges Alcuin’s library of material he finds offensive. That includes the old scroll, but Wulfram has memorized its secret contents. This knowledge soon propels the young pagan on an adventure that brings him on a dangerous quest to secure an ancient relic—and make a life for himself.
In KING’S QUARRY, Lee Hardies constructs a swift, efficient story that will appeal to fans of historical adventures. The subplots that involve scheming figures in Charlemagne’s court and throughout his empire tie back to the main narrative in satisfying ways, and the cast of characters assembled around Wulfram is a plausible group of eccentrics whose company is enjoyable as they track down their emperor’s prize. There’s plenty of sword-swinging action, as well as a real sense of wonder at the ancient places visited and their history.
Hardies does approach historical figures fairly casually. Charlemagne, for example, is depicted as a gruff grandfatherly type who quickly gets past his reactionary attitudes and is happy to treat common folks (and pagans) as equals. The fact that his characters speak in a modern parlance and rhythm is a relief, since it’s so easy to go wrong when trying to approximate how people may have spoken Frankish in the 800s. On the other hand, this does sometimes make it easy to forget the story supposedly takes place more than 1,200 years ago.
In the end, KING’S QUARRY is an enjoyable adventure tale that doesn’t worry much about verisimilitude, favoring character and action over historical accuracy.
Written by Lee Hardies, KING'S QUARRY works well because of its smart pace, warm emotional core, and light approach.
~ Jeff Somers for IndieReader