Drake Maijstral is an impoverished aristocrat turned
Allowed Burglar in the Khosali Empire, a mannered society ruled - or
at least with standards set - by faintly canine aliens.
This omnibus edition of three of the Drake Majistral books is a real find.
All three of these books are classics. Here's my review of ROCK OF
AGES, the third and best:
Drake has bested Duke Joseph Bob of Tejas in a duel, scared off a
challenge from Capt. Milo Hay, and put off yet another challenge by
Prince Hunac of Yucatan. He's planning the media spin for all this
with Duchess Roberta Altunin, his second and inamorata:
"Excellent. Then you must tell the media of your plans for a religious
retreat."
"I will. I'm a hereditary prince-bishop after all - I'll spend the whole
night praying for peace."
"I keep forgetting you're a bishop. You're not very ecclesiastical."
Maijstral composed his face into an expression of piety. "I prefer to
keep my devotions private, thank you."
"Well, I'm a hereditary abbess, so I suppose I should not criticize."
"Really? Which order?"
"The Reformed Traditional Hospice Order of the Blessed Spatula."
"Oh. The Spatulates. . . I wondered why they worshipped a bit of
kitchen equipment."
"They take it out of the vault once a year and make a holy omelette
with it . . . The ceremony is quite moving."
"I'm sure."
"My piece was a bit leathery when I tasted it, though."
-- and on and on, skipping lightly from one silly episode to another,
never losing momentum or control. I lost count of the number of
times I laughed out loud. Other reviewers compare the Maijstral books
to Wodehouse or Panshin's Anthony Villiers books. I liked this one
more than the Panshins; I found it comparable to Wodehouse at his
best - high praise indeed.
Happy reading--
Peter D. Tillman
