The King of Attolia

In the third book of Megan Whalen Turner's series, The King of Attolia, has a completely different feel to it than the other books. While the book certainly still surrounds the story of Eugenides, it also closely follows other characters. In fact, the majority of the book is told from a limited omniscient view of one of the guards.

Having married the Queen of Attolia, Eugenides now finds himself king of a land that pretty much despises him. They hate the idea of having an outsider for their king. Pranks in the palace on the king are many (and some are rather serious), but eventually Eugenides has to deal with assassination attempts as well. Somehow he needs to find a way to establish himself as king and prove he is more than capable of doing so.

The way that Eugenides does so is really great. As usual, there is a method to his madness that isn't revealed entirely until the end (of course, I'm not going to give away exactly what that is). Eugenides hates being king. He is homesick. But he loves Attolia and became king only to marry her. Throughout the book he demonstrates that love in a variety of ways.

This book made me laugh out loud several times. Eugenides is quite the character and can come up with the funniest things to say! I am looking forward to the fourth book.