Every Inch a King [Hardcover]

Harry Turtledove (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 11, 2005

Otto of Schlepsig is risking his neck as an acrobat in a third-rate circus in the middle of nowhere when news arrives that the land of Shqiperi has invited Prince Halim Eddin to become its new king. Otto doesn t know the prince from Adam, but he does happen to look just like him a coincidence that inspires Otto with a mad plan to assume Halim s identity and rule in his stead. True, Shqiperi is an uncivilized backwater, but even in uncivilized backwaters kings live better than acrobats. Plus, kingship in Shqiperi comes with a harem. Rank, as they say, has its privileges.

With his friend Max, a sword-swallowing giant whose chronic cough makes every performance a potential tonsillectomy, Otto embarks on a rollicking journey filled with feats of derring-do, wondrous magic, and beautiful maidens well, beautiful women. And that s before he enters a royal world that is truly fantastical.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fantastical historian Turtledove (Settling Accounts: The Grapple) puts a merry spin on the true tale of circus clown Otto Witte, who enjoyed a brief and glorious reign over Albania in 1913 thanks to a case of mistaken identity and the help of sword-swallower Max Schlepsig. Here, Turtledove reimagines Albania as Shqiperi, Otto Witte as Otto of Schlepsig, Max Schlepsig as Max of Witte, and disguises various other people and places in more (Ottoman Empire: Hassocki Empire) and less (Macedonia: Fyrom) obvious ways, while the seas are populated with serpents, and turn-of-the-20th-century technology is replaced by wizards. Masquerading as Prince Halim Eddin, Otto bullies and bluffs his way with Max across the continent in fine style. They enjoy the many pleasures of the Shqiperi palace, plundering its harem and treasury before making good their escape. Fictionalized reality requires top-notch style to balance the lack of suspense, and while Turtledove provides credible wordplay and commentary, he's no Terry Pratchett. Nonetheless, this stand-alone novel is a fun romp through an undeservedly obscure moment in history. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

Turtledove is a master at weaving details of ordinary life into a much bigger canvas to produce a world that so easily could have been our own. --Tulsa World, on Blood and Iron

Turtledove manages the difficult feat of telling a story that is consistently funny and wistful, exciting, tragic and swashbuckling at the same time. The characters are intensely human and the setting marvelously Ruritanian, down to the smallest impeccable detail conveyed with a master's economical brushstroke. --S. M. Stirling

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 314 pages
• Publisher: ISFiC Press; First Edition edition (November 11, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0975915614
• ISBN-13: 978-0975915615
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,854,750 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Harry Turtledove is the award-winning author of the alternate-history works The Man with the Iron Heart; The Guns of the South; How Few Remain (winner of the Sidewise Award for Best Novel); the Worldwar saga: In the Balance, Tilting the Balance, Upsetting the Balance, and Striking the Balance; the Colonization books: Second Contact, Down to Earth, and Aftershocks; the Great War epics: American Front, Walk in Hell, and Breakthroughs; the American Empire novels: Blood & Iron, The Center Cannot Hold, and Victorious Opposition; and the Settling Accounts series: Return Engagement, Drive to the East, The Grapple, and In at the Death. Turtledove is married to fellow novelist Laura Frankos. They have three daughters: Alison, Rachel, and Rebecca.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truth is Stranger (and funnier) than Fiction, June 20, 2006

By 

Marshall Lord (Whitehaven, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Every Inch a King (Hardcover)

One of the funniest books I've read for a long time.
As with his "Derlavi" and "Dettina" series, Turtledove has taken real events, moved them to a world with magic instead of technology, and changed the names and compass points. But where the "Derlavi" series which began with "Darkness Descending" was a very dark account of World War Two, and the "Dettina" series which began with "Sentry Peak" was an account of the American Civil war with a mixture of military history and whimsy, this story about a circus clown who managed to get himself crowned King of Albania is farce from beginning to end.

Because the outrageous events described in this book have been discreetly omitted from serious history books about the founding of the nation of Albania, I had not previously heard of them. However, it was not all that hard to recognise the background of the book as a pretty accurate account of the situation in the Balkans just before World War One, and it didn't take long to look them up. To my astonishment, I discovered that apart from the references to magic, dragons, etc the plot of the book appears to be essentially accurate.

When Albania broke away from the Ottoman Empire in 1913, they offered the throne to Halim Etti, a nephew of the Ottoman sultan. His photograph was published abroad, and a German clown called Otto Witte noticed that he closely resembled Etti. Witte arranged to have a telegram sent from Istanbul to the head of the Albanian army announcing the arrival of the prince. Then he set off for Albania with a sword-swallower called Max Schlepsig - some sources say Hoffman - playing the role of his aide-de-camp. The pair of imposters arrived in "borrowed" theatre costume uniforms and were saluted by the port authorities. They proceeded to Tirane, where Witte was crowned on 13 August and enjoyed the next five days by setting up a harem and declaring war on Montenegro.

I won't say any more about what really happened to avoid spoiling the book, but this is an absolute gem.

As with Turtledove's Dettina series, one of the most entertaining exercises for the reader is working out what the names mean - mostly country names in this case. Some are very easy and some quite hard. I won't give them all away, but two middle-difficulty examples to give an idea is that Macedonia is referred to as "Fyrom" and America as "Vespucciland."

Explanation: When Macedonia broke away from Yugoslavia they had to call themselves the "Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia" or FYROM to avoid upsetting the Greeks. And of course the eponymous explorer whose gave his name to the New World continents was Amerigo Vespucci ...

If you enjoy humorous fantasy stories like those of Piers Anthony, or if you have enjoyed any of Turtledove's other more whimsical pieces, you will love this book.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most difficult art:, March 24, 2006

By 

S. M Stirling "Steve" (Santa Fe, NM United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Every Inch a King (Hardcover)

Being consistently funny is about the most difficult of literary feats. Turtledove manages it here without (visibly) breaking a sweat. The lowest response-meter anywhere in this one was a broad grin!

Best of all, it's based closely on real history; most of this stuff (the magic aside) actually happened.

I heartily recommend this book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great fantasy on a smaller scale based on an alleged true event, March 30, 2007

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Every Inch a King (Paperback)

One night after a stellar performance given by Dooger and Clark's Traveling Emporium, circus performance Otto of Schlepsig reads in the paper that the temporary ruler of Shqiperi wants the Hassockian Empire to send Prince Hallim Eddin to be their new king. Accompanying the article is a picture of the prince who could be Otto's identical twin. Not one to miss such an opportunity, Otto and his friend Jim the sword swallower head for Shqiperi.

On the trek they have to first fight off a sea serpent and a vampire which they ultimately do. When they arrive, Otto, masquerading as the prince, orders Essad Pasha to introduce him to the army. He also wants the treasury and his harem moved to his palace after he is crowned king. He shows Essad Pasha in various ways that he will not be a puppet ruler and earns respect for that. Otto shares everything with Jim but his friend worries that they will be found out and if they don't come up with a plan of escape if circumstances warrant, they will be killed.

EVERY INCH A KING is a delightful, straight forward fairy tale that will definitely enchant the audience. The main character is an anti-hero scammer and con artist, who doesn't have a mean bone in his body and would be a good ruler given the chance. Readers will adore him and hope he doesn't get himself killed. Fans of Harry Turtledove's epic alternate histories should know he is a great fantasist of smaller scale alleged events as well.

Harriet Klausner