If I recall, Sachar’s masterpiece Holes is better than this. But this is still fun!

The Magician of Tiger Castle by Louis Sachar follows Anatole, the court magician of the kingdom of Esquaveta. This tiny country (somewhere south of France) is facing possible war with their neighbors, the kingdom of Oxatania. To avoid this, the king arranges for his daughter Princess Tullia to marry Prince Dalrympl. But Tullia falls for a court scribe instead, which could lead to disaster for both nations. So Anatole is tasked with concocting a potion to change her mind. However, this puts Anatole in an impossible position: Tullia is one of the only remaining members of court who likes and believes in him, and he feels terrible for betraying her. But the threat of war is too intense, so he has to do something. So through spells and deception, Anatole sets out to save the kingdom, the princess, and possibly even the scribe, even if it costs Anatole himself everything.

This was described to me as the Princess Bride but if Miracle Max were the main character. I don’t think I fully agree, but it’s not a wrong description, either. Anatole definitely is similar to Max, in that he’s a court magician dealing with a noble he hates, and a lot of the general tone of this book isn’t unlike the Princess Bride. However, to me, the plot of this more resembles the tv show Galavant (though I’m quite certain that my friend Katherine and I are the only two fans of that show; I’ve never met anyone else who’s seen it). But either way, this is lighthearted fantasy fun, in a typical medieval European setting with kings and knights and all the drama that goes with them.

Anatole is a fun character. He’s clever and witty but also kind of wacky and pretty bad with interpersonal relationships. It’s amusing to see him try to befriend Pito, the scribe, only really doing so once they discover a shared love of chess. Anatole’s narration is quite fun too, constantly breaking the fourth wall and generally being very conversational. It’s not a narration style that’ll be everyone’s preference, but I think it suited the story.

The other characters are good too. Dalrympl is, of course, a tyrannical jerk typical of this genre, and while he’s pretty one-dimensional, he doesn’t need to be complex to be an effective villain. After all, the real heart of the story is not him, or the destruction he’s aiming for; it’s in Anatole, Tullia, and Pito avoiding danger. And the three of them are an entertaining group. I liked watching Tullia and Pito’s relationship develop over the course of the story. It’s a charming bond they end up having, even better than where they started out.

I think that, at times, the plot feels as if it meanders a bit, but maybe it’s just that it’s unpredictable. After all, who would have guessed that the three heroes have to pretend to be monks for a while in their attempt to escape Dalrympl’s grasp? I certainly didn’t, which left me wondering what the point of this development was. Still, I think the plot felt a little random at times. (Also, and this is less important, but sometimes there were too many line breaks, so I found it hard to determine which character was speaking. Again, this is minor, but still a critique I had to mention.)

In the end, though, while The Magician of Tiger Castle is far from the best fantasy I’ve ever read, it’s also far from the worst. It’s got a good sense of humor in pretty much all elements, and the characters and their banter is excellent. It’s an odd little book (barely 300 pages) with a lot of wit and charm, if not the most complex or sensical plot. I had a good time with it, and it’s nice to see Louis Sachar, previously known only for (wonderful, in my opinion) children’s books, trying something new. If you like lighthearted fantasy romps, give this one a try!

The Magician of Tiger Castle is available now!