Westmark is a fantasy novel by Lloyd Alexander that received an American Book Award. It is the first book of the Westmark trilogy, followed by The Kestrel and The Beggar Queen. Showing influences from the French existentialist writers whose works Alexander translated early in his career, the series is far darker and more adult than Alexander's previous works such as The Chronicles of Prydain. Although often classified as fantasy, there is no magi...
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Westmark is a fantasy novel by Lloyd Alexander that received an American Book Award. It is the first book of the Westmark trilogy, followed by The Kestrel and The Beggar Queen. Showing influences from the French existentialist writers whose works Alexander translated early in his career, the series is far darker and more adult than Alexander's previous works such as The Chronicles of Prydain. Although often classified as fantasy, there is no magic, nor any sign of any sort of religious belief, in Westmark, or the succeeding volumes. It is set in a fictional country, however.
Set in the fictional kingdom of Westmark in a time period approximately equivalent to the 18th century, it tells a story of political upheaval and revolution strikingly similar to the history of the French Revolution, as seen through the eyes of a young printer's apprentice who goes on the run after his master is murdered. Westmark leads directly into the second volume of the trilogy, The Kestrel.
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