Legend of the Wandering King

2. Genre: Children and Young Adult Fantasy/Historical Fiction (Grade 7).

3. Characters: The main character is the venerable Prince Walid ibn Hujr of Kinda, an ancient Arabian village. He’s a great poet, brave soldier and revered intellectual. His father, the wise King Hujr, dies near the beginning of the story, but his wise words live vibrantly throughout. Renowned poet Al-Nabiga al-Dubyani, whose final vote determines that Walid is not the best poet in Kinda, has a brief but important role in the story as well. Hammad ibn al-Haddad takes the title “greatest poet,” and consequently Walid’s soul. Hakim is Walid’s rawi or poetry transmitter, and Amir is Hammad’s rawi and son. Walid meets the beautiful Bedouin Zahra bint al-Harit, and falls in long awaited love with her. There are quite a few other characters not mentioned here, mainly bandits, thieves and Bedouins Walid meets along the way.

4. Plot: Before he dies, King Hujr gives his son some great advice: “We are all responsible for our actions, both for good and for evil. And life always returns to you what you give it…life makes us pay a price.” This is the story of Walid—an intelligent young prince whose envious and vengeful spirit turns his life into a living hell. One day, he asks his father’s permission to leave the kingdom for a poetry competition, where Arabia’s best poet is crowned each year. The King instructs his son to organize and be victorious in a similar competition locally, before potentially making a fool of himself in another land. Arranging the competition and ultimately losing to Hammad ibn al-Haddad, a poor carpet weaver, two years in a row, Walid decides to exploit the third competition by amending its prize. He is told explicitly that what’s missing from his poetry is “heart,” but young Walid decides to go forth and punish the champion for a third victory. The Prince determines that along with gold, the winner will secure the position as historian for the palace, and will make for him a carpet containing the entire history of the human race. Both are elaborate jobs that Walid deviously hopes will take Hammad a lifetime.

Although he desperately misses his beautiful wife and young sons, Hammad spends all his days and nights in the palace working feverishly to arrange the scrolls, meanwhile learning more than he ever could have imagined. Surprisingly haste in finishing the archive in a meager four years, Hammad starts on the carpet that will eventually blind and kill him. The carpet weaver’s untimely and agonizing death helps Walid realize the immensity of this divine, supernatural artifact that not only contains the history of the human race, but can only be seen by those worthy of its splendor. Word spreads quickly and thieves steal the carpet. Walid becomes obsessed with its retrieval, leaving poetry, his palace and life, as he knew it behind.

Running into thieves, bandits and Bedouins on his journey, Walid covers a lot of territory in search of this carpet, confronted with his past many times over. He stumbles across Hammad’s sons during his search, forcing him to either hide his identity or risk being killed. Little by little, he discovers the complexities of his prior decisions and proceeds to make them right as the situations present themselves. Not only does Walid eventually fall in love with Zahra, a Bedouin, and develop the “heart” that he’s missing, he recovers the carpet with a clearer conscience and deeper appreciation for Hammad-- wonderful poet, amazing artist and loving father. The story is set in ancient Arabia, but many of the themes are timeless.

5. Touchy Areas: This book is based on a true story. The deaths are pretty tasteful, but murder and torture (mainly psychological) are major topics throughout the story. Setting absorbs part of the justification, but they are touchy subjects nonetheless.

6. Related Titles: The Changeling Prince (1998) by Vivian Vande Velde, The Dragon Guard (2003) by Emily Drake, Dream Weaver (2003) by Penina Keen Sprinka, and The Wishing Moon (2004) by Michael O. Tunnel.

7. Music: That Cool Refreshing Drink by V Shape Mind; Movies: Sky High (2005), Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (1985).

8. Evaluation: I loved this book! Many of life’s most important lessons are touched upon concisely, making this book a must-read for adolescents. I remained captivated and developed a love-hate attachment to Walid, who learns from his mistakes and wins my heart. If you want a meaningful, easy read, this is it! This book is a perfect 10!

9. Reviewed By: Dana Radford, University of Toledo, danerbeans@hotmail.com