One For the Morning Glory
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One For the Morning Glory is a fantasy novel by John Barnes, published 1996. It is a fairy tale where the characters know that they are in a fairy tale.
[edit] Plot
There is a saying in the land that someone who drinks the Wine of the Gods before he is ready is only half a man thereafter. Amatus, the prince, manages to swig down a significant amount of the Wine of the Gods, and his entire left half vanishes. The normally gentle king Boniface, his father, orders the executions of the four people responsible for this travesty, collectively known as the prince's companions, and then begins the long and arduous process of interviewing for four new companions.
A year and a day later, four strangers arrive in the kingdom. This is a magical time, and noted by all as being very auspicious. The strangers are hired on by the King to be the new companions to his son.
The rest of the tale deals with Amatus's growth into manhood, kingship, and love. It is filled with adventure, laughter, tragedy, unexpected reunions and royal pomp.
[edit] Vocabulary
The novel is written with playful malapropisms: Barnes takes unusual English words and uses them with utterly different meanings. Characters wear swashes, in which they keep their fencing escrees and dueling pismires; and meet in small drinking establishments known as taborets and stupors. Many of the place names, such as the Isought Gap, are philosophical references.
