John Rast went to the Ren Faire looking for a fight. Well, a simulated fight with blunt swords and safety equipment. But when his final opponent turns into a living, fire-breathing dragon, John finds himself in the fight of his life. And that’s when destiny comes to call.
John is spirited away to the well-hidden base of Knight Watch, the organization that stands between humanity and the real nasties the rest of the world doesn’t know about. John and his reluctant team-mates have to figure out who, or what, is pulling the strings before all of Knight Watch falls prey to a well-concealed puppet master.
He’s just plain John Rast at home, but at the Renaissance Faire he’s Sir John Rast, and now he’s a dragon-killing knight, recruited into the secret Knight Watch, training to fight for real. Is it a dream come true, or a particularly vivid nightmare?
This is a strange mixture. I found parts set in the Knight Watch HQ, and the various fantasy realms, to be novel, imaginative, and fun. But the parts in the real world left a slightly bad taste in my mouth. Rast works better as a confused and often terrified knight than as an emotionally immature nerd. Fortunately, there wasn’t much in the real world, so I enjoyed most of the ride.