The Knight’s Ransom by Jeff Wheeler is the first book in the First Argentines series. The book is 433 pages long. The First Argentines series is currently made up of three books with a fourth to come. The whole series is a prequel to the six-book series the Kingfountain series. The book Knight’s Ransom is relatively new as it was only published on January 26, 2021.

The book follows Marshall Barton nicknamed Ransom, by his childhood friend and main female character Claire de Murrow. The book starts in a civil war over succession for the throne. It starts with young Ransom being abducted by the original king, and to make his noble father stay loyal an attempted hanging of Ransom takes place. However, ultimately the king doesn’t hang him. The story is then mainly about Ransom’s journey through knighthood as he looks to find who he is and what he wants. We see him growing up as it has multiple time skips allowing us to see Ransom get into his teens and twenties. One of the more enjoyable parts is the diary entries by Claire de Murrow as it talks about what’s happening to her and what her point of view is of the events that are happening.

This is a book I would highly recommend to people who like a fantasy about swords and magic as while as books set in the medieval era. The Knight’s Ransom has character development and has some mystery such as when Ransom hears rushing water in his ears. This book doesn’t always show a plain black and white picture allowing the reader to decide what is right. The book has fights and war, where blood is spilled and there is the point where characters drink alcohol. However, I did quite enjoy this book as it gets you intrigued into what’s going to happen.

-Luke G.