Featured Author: ALAN GORDON

This series is one of my top five favorites. I think the concept is brilliant: jesters, who are everywhere but unseen and in many courts and powerful houses, belong to a Jesters' Guild who are like a medieval CIA. It has humor and it blends a little Shakespeare a couple times.

Protagonist: Feste, aka Theophilos, in early 13th century EuropeTHIRTEENTH NIGHT (1999)

It's early in the 13th century, and hidden away in the Dolomites is a village that's home to the Guildhall, an academy for jesters, jugglers, magicians, etc. a School for Fools. One of the most expert of these is Theophilos, who 15 years ago and calling himself Feste, had played an important role in the life of a commercial town on the Adriaticleaving it in the hands of the Count of Orsino and his wife Viola, but aware that their powerful enemy Malvolio was ever lurking. Now a messenger has arrived with news that the Count has died in a fall from a cliff, and Theophilos, convinced that Malvolio is involved and encouraged by his mentor Father Gerald, decides to return to the town and see justice done. It doesn't take long for him to determine that Orsino's death was no accident and to become aware that Malvolio is still on the scene, working to destroy the Orsino family as well as his old enemy Feste.

JESTER LEAPS IN (2000)

Feste the Fool and his wife are off to Constantinople to ensure that the Crusade of 1202 sticks to its goal of capturing the Holy Land. The son of a deposed Byzantine emperor threatens to turn the Crusaders against the Eastern Christian Church in a bid to gain his throne, while certain trading interests want to divert the force to invade the Muslim empire in Egypt. Amid this, they must find out why six colleagues seem to have vanished and, if lucky, to stop an attack on Byzantium itself. Feste must resort to sleight of hand, disguise and other tricks in order to unmask the assassin who's been silencing agents trying to preserve peace in Constantinople before they themselves become victims.

A DEATH IN THE VENETIAN QUARTER (2002)

In 1203, the ships of the Fourth Crusade, instead of traveling to the Holy Land, show up outside the walls of Constantinople and besiege the city. Within the walls, the jester couple Feste and Aglaia, agents of the Fools’ Guild, are on a mission to avert catastrophe. With disaster looming, the death of one silk merchant in the city's Venetian Quarter seems insignificant. The merchant, however, was not what he appeared to be and, if Constantionple is to have any hope of surviving the armies massed outside its gates, Feste must quickly uncover what forces were at work when the merchant lost his life.

A WIDOW OF JERUSALEM (2003)

It's 1204 and jester Theophilos, his wife and their baby are fleeing to Innsbruck, Austria, from the disastrous Fourth Crusade and papal forces sent to destroy the Guild of Fools. At his wife's request, Theo tells her the story of how he and the Scarlet Dwarf, his superior in the guild, got caught up in political intrigue and murder in Tyre while Richard the Lionhearted was leading the Third Crusade to free Jerusalem from Saladin in 1191. In 1191, as Richard the Lionhearted leads the forces of the Third Crusade in an attempt to recapture Jerusalem from the army of Saladin, Theophilos and Scarlett the Dwarf, his superior in the Guild of Fools, are quietly manipulating events. Their mission leads them to Tyre, where various factions are vying for power, despite the fact that the crown is too often fatal. First, Conrad is killed by an assassin, then his successor, Henry of Champagne, topples off a balcony-with Scarlett in tow. As Theophilos flees both the devastation of the Fourth Crusade and then Papal forces sent against the Guild itself, he turns again to the mysterious deaths from years ago to finally uncover the hand that was behind it all.
AN ANTIC DISPOSITION (2004)

In 1204 A.D., the Fools' Guild is on the run from an enraged Pope Innocent III and the Papal troops he's dispatched to destroy them. Now, hidden in their secret enclave deep within the Black Forest, the fools, troubadours and novitiates, including the jester couple Theophilos and his wife, come together for their evening gathering to hear Father Gerald, their ancient leader, tell one of the greatest stories from the history of the Guild. It begins in Denmark, during a time of civil war when three men laid claim to the throne while a fourth watched and bided his time. Into the strategically crucial town of Slesvig, the Guild sends Terence of York, who is promptly dubbed Yorick by the Duke's young son, Amleth. The fools played an important part in the Danish civil war of 1157, serving as emissaries and spies while trying to keep bloodshed to a minimum. Yorick served in King Orvendil's court, where he also befriended the king's son, Prince Amleth, who grew up preferring a career as a fool rather than a monarch. What emerges is a riveting tale of ambition, subterfuge, betrayal and revenge. Bookeemonster note: This one is absolutely fantastic.

THE LARK'S LAMENT (2007)

It's the year 1204, and the guild is under attack from Pope Innocent III, its members in hiding. Theophilos is sent to negotiate with Folquet, a former guild member (and an old friend), who is now an abbot with connections to the pope. The hope is that Folquet will provide aid in keeping the guild alive. But Theophilos' mission grows more complicated when a monk is murdered, and Folquet makes him a deal: you find out whodunit, and I'll do what I can for the guild. But if you fail, I'll bury all of you.

THE MONEYLENDER OF TOULOUSE (2008)

Theophilos travels to the French city of Toulouse in the year 1204. His assignment: convince the bishop to retire so the guild can put in his place someone more sympathetic to the increasingly embattled organization. The complication: when Theophilos arrives on the scene, he discovers that the bishop has been having some trouble with a local moneylender, who soon turns up dead. Now, in order to save the guild, Theophilos must solve the murder.

About the Author:

Alan Gordon is an attorney with the Legal Aid Society. He lives with his family in Queens, New York.

Bookeemonster rating: 5 out of 5