Book Review:
The Falconer’s Apprentice
by Malve von Hassell
Blurb
”That bird should be destroyed!”
Andreas stared at Ethelbert in shock. Blood from an angry-looking gash on the young lord’s cheek dripped onto his embroidered tunic. Andreas clutched the handles of the basket containing the young peregrine. Perhaps this was a dream—
Andreas, an apprentice falconer at Castle Kragenberg, cannot bear the thought of killing the young female falcon and smuggles her out of the castle. Soon he realizes that his own time there has come to an end, and he stows away, with the bird, in the cart of an itinerant trader, Richard of Brugge. So begins a series of adventures that lead him from an obscure castle in northern Germany to the farthest reaches of Frederick von Hohenstaufen’s Holy Roman Empire, following a path dictated by the wily trader’s mysterious mission.
Andreas continues to improve his falconry skills, but he also learns to pay attention to what is happening around him as he travels through areas fraught with political unrest. Eventually, Richard confides in Andreas, and they conspire to free Enzio, the eldest of the emperor’s illegitimate sons, from imprisonment in Bologna.
The Falconer’s Apprentice is a story of adventure and intrigue set in the intense social and political unrest of the Holy Roman Empire in the thirteenth century.
My Review
I was offered this YA book by Henry from Odyssey Books and PR manager for Malve von Hassell, the author of The Falconer’s Apprentice. My review is freely given.
It is a lovely story about a young boy in medieval Germany who tries to save a young falcon. The writing is easy to read and incredibly informative. As the story plays in Europe during the thirteenth century, you are immersed in the living circumstances of the common people then. You get to know what it’s like for a poor orphan living on castle grounds, what it’s like to travel through Europe with a cart selling wares, and what the medicinal knowledge of the time is. Of course, there is a lot of information on how to train and keep falcons as well.
What I liked most about the story is the accuracy of the information given, both historically and regarding falcon-keeping. I prefer real world stories to be as real as you can get, and this book does not disappoint. The text is well edited; I haven’t spotted any typos or grammatical errors. I also liked how the writer, with minimal dialogue, can draw you into the story and make your root for young Andreas.
What I didn’t like is the minimal dialogue. The story is told in third POV and never goes deep. I like my stories to go deep into the mind of at least the main character, but maybe this is good for beginning readers. At times, I felt like it was more about the description of the world around Andreas than the character itself. That said, I wasn’t bored once. The scene descriptions were accurate and necessary, never superfluous. The writer doesn’t use ‘flowery’ wording to spruce up their writing.
The book touches on an attempted rape, but merely mentions what Andreas saw. It doesn’t go into any specific detail. It is what you would call ‘a clean’ story; perfectly save for young, teenage readers whom are okay with reading about the real world, not some fantasy world where these things never happen. It’s actually sad that in the last 700 years not much has changed with respect to female safety.
I’m only 70% into the book at the moment, but I can’t wait to finish it and find out where Andreas’s journey will lead him. I recommend this book to anyone (young or old) who wants to learn what it’s like to live in the Middle Ages in Europe or anyone wants to read an entertaining story for that matter. And, of course, I can recommend it to anyone thinking of keeping falcons.
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