The Reluctant King

The Reluctant King is an omnibus of the novels The Goblin Tower, The Clocks of Iraz and The Unbeheaded King.

To rise from commoner to king would seem a remarkable stroke of luck. But King Jorian of Xylar had reason to dispute that. For in Xylar a new king was chosen every five years – by decapitating the old one and throwing his head to a waiting crowd.

Jorian had reached the end of his reign, yet he faced death with courage and rather unseemly good humor. He neither broke down at the weeping of his favorite wife nor begged for help from spectators. Because, clearly, the only help for King Jorian now lay with his spiritual advisor.

Of course things would have been different if the crowd had realized that Jorian's spiritual advisor was, in truth, a wizard. Or if Jorian himself had known that his bargain with the magician – escape from Xylar in return for help stealing a collection of sorcerous manuscripts – would lead him to adventures every bit as perilous as the fall of an executioner's blade!

So beings THE RELUCTANT KING: a trio of full-length novels – The Goblin Tower, The Clocks of Iraz and The Unbeheaded King – in one capitvating volume.