Free Lance
3 primary works
Book 1
It's a routine job for a freelance knight: a wealthy merchant needs protection on the journey back to his remote home town laden with goods. But on the last night he is woken by the terrified merchant insisting that a dragon said to guard a fabulous hoard in the region has attacked and killed his favourite horse. Free Lance finds the remains of the horse and decides wolves are responsible - dragons aren't real, are they?
On entering town, the merchant immediately tells everyone of the attack, and as evening falls, Free Lance witnesses a strange procession of townsfolk taking a beautiful but frightened girl dressed up as a princess out into the wilderness. He follows and realises that they are offering the girl as a sacrifice to appease the 'dragon'.
Determined to rescue the damsel, little does Free Lance realise the danger he will face in this cracking, wonderfully-illustrated story.
Book 3
Free Lance has had a good season, and has earned the right to compete in a major tournment for the first time in a long while. Soon all the money is on him to win. But the Duke makes him an offer he cant refuse - to lose to his own man. Just to complicate things, the Duke's niece begs Free Lance to defeat her uncle's henchman to save her from a brutal marriage - Free Lance always had a soft spot for a damsel in distress. Caught between a rock and a hard place, has our hero bitten off more than he can chew?
Full of drama and humour, this swashbuckling fantasy adventure by two of the leading exponents of the genre, sees the return of an action hero who is both charismatic and mysterious, and told in a laconic, Marlowesque first person narrative. Certain to be enjoyed by all readers of THE EDGE CHRONICLES and Terry Pratchett, and those aspiring to read them.
Part of a unique range of books aimed at 11+s that through integration of text and illustration are also accessible to those with reading abilities of as young as 8, produced in consultation with literacy consultant Wendy Cooling.
Book 6
