A Fine Impersonation by K. G. McAbee

Reviewed by Megan Powell

K. G. McAbee's novel starts out with an old idea: a commoner (in this case an actor) is convinced to impersonate the prince, who was packed off and forgotten by his sister the Queen, who has suddenly found herself in need of an heir. Said prince has been presumed dead for several years, after he wandered away from his keepers and was apparently eaten by the local wildlife. In short order the alleged Prince Melos finds himself betrothed to the power behind the throne, Commander Ravyn Malakar, and the target of assassins and women intent on social climbing.

This is a fun, fast-paced novel. McAbee uses first person narrative to good effect. There are some belated revelations which might feel horribly contrived under other circumstances; but instead, the book reads as though the narrator is simply toying with us when it suits his mood. By the time this narrative is being written, he knows how everything turned out, and why, but he's playing to the audience as any actor would.

McAbee has created a varied and entertaining cast of characters. The unwilling conspirator Adrian and actress Leandra Leah are particularly delightful. McAbee takes the opportunity to invert gender roles: Ravyn Malakar is a famous and exceptionally competent warrior; she is meant to be the prince's bodyguard, not the mother of his children. But McAbee doesn't belabor the point. In Byssinia, there is a Queen and a female commander of the army, and neither fact requires explanation or elaboration.

McAbee has written other works set in the same universe as A Fine Impersonation. While the major threads of the novel are resolved, some issues are left open-ended. Hopefully this will not annoy the reader (after all, unless the finale includes the heat death of the universe or the equally unsatisfying "...and they lived happily ever after," any book is open-ended), but whet the appetite for more of McAbee's fantasies.

A Fine Impersonation by K. G. McAbee Abby the Troll Publications ISBN 0-9702839-0-3

Summer 2002 update: This book is now available from NovelBooks, Inc.

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