Title: Mimus

Author: Lilli Thal (translated by John Brownjohn)

Genre: Fantasy, medieval history

Rating: A

Blurb: Who is the fool and who is the fooled?

Prince Florin and his father, King Philip, attend a banquet in the court of their former enemy, expecting peace at last for their war-torn kingdom. What greets them is a devastating betrayal. The king is humiliated and imprisoned, but Florin's fate is far stranger.

Forced to live in a stable, at the mercy of Mimus, the wily court jester, Florin is close to despair...until he uncovers clues to a secret plot. There may be hope, but can he entrust his life to the whim of a manipulative fool?

An intense medieval adventure story, highly acclaimed for its almost unbearable suspense.

Opinion: If I'm reading fantasy, I'm the one that goes more for dragons and magic and swashbuckling adventures. I have little to no interest in books labeled 'fantasy' but having not a hint of magic in them. That was what I'd thought when I randomly plucked this book off the shelf.

Having nothing else to read, I settled down to try this novel.

It's only when I really start to get into the novel then I realize that I really am enjoying it, magic or not. The characters started to become more and more alive - I felt as if I was there with Prince Florin himself, sharing his shame and his humiliation and his despair at his seemingly hopeless predicament. I winced when he was forced to perform jester tricks (he was, after all, apprenticed against his will to Mimus, the court jester, and was given the pet name of Little Mimus) in front of the people who betrayed his kingdom. I read about how he was forced to conform to his new role, unwilling as he was, and the way his quick, sharp mind sought for ways of escape. I read about how he thought his end was inevitable - until he found a shred of hope.

Prince Florin - or little Mimus, during his time as a jester apprentice - is a very lively character indeed. I was enthralled by him even before the book was finished. I hate the thought of confinement and the stifling of freedom, which was why I sympathized with Florin throughout his captivity. I cheered for him when the rescue mission went off smoothly and he was able to go home.

I was particularly intrigued with his relationship with Mimus, the court jester. At first read, I disliked the jester - he spoke of flippant things in a quick, loose tongue, and was highly irritating and annoying. As the novel progresses, however, I saw little sides to him that seemed to flash past - the way he was comforting Florin when the boy was having a particularly bad nightmare (making up an excuse for it afterwards, of course, complaining that the boy was being too noisy during the nightmare and that was the only reason why Mimus was stroking his brow anyway), his quickness to speak up to aid Florin when the boy bumbled in his act before the king, the way he helped Florin save his father...

By the end of the novel, I couldn't help but like Mimus as much as I did Florin. I found the old fool affectionate when he chose to be, and he did, after all, take care of Florin. The character interaction in the novel is excellent, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. :) I even found myself rereading it!