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This book, by Dave Duncan, is excellent (so excellent in fact that I read it 5 times in one day-Bookworm). It is of the
fantasy genre and takes place in Eurania a mystical continent containing many countries (the main ones in this book being
Altain and Chivial). The Gilded Chain is in the King's Blades series. The main characters of this story are- Durendal, Lord
Roland and the Inquisitor Kromman. The story begins on a place called Starkmoor where boys of 14 are trained for 5 years
to become master swordsmen. At the end of this period, they are bound, this conjuration (magic spell done on an octogram)
involves a sword (the Blade's <swordsman's> sword) being driven through the man's heart, the Blade is thereafter
forces to defend the ward (usually the King) to the death or until (if bound to the King) they are released. Each boy
starts out as the Brat, scorned by the others and obliged to take part in the binding ceremony. Durendal is taken
before Grand Master (Durendal is then Second) along with Harvest (Prime). Harvest is going to be bound to a man named Tab
Nillway, the Marquis of Nutting, however during the conjuration the sword driven through his heart kills him and Durendal
is bound instead. Durendal is the best swordsman of his time and immediately lives up to it by winning the King's Cup, a
fencing competition. Meanwhile Lord Roland, Chancellor to the aging King, in seemingly a completely different world,
is being arrested for treason. Durendal's ward is killed two years later and he is bound to the new King, Ambrose
the fourth. He is sent to a distant land, Altain with his own Blade and a sinister Inquisitor to uncover a deadly
secret. With bone-chilling action, fascinating plot twists and a re-readability, this book is fantastic, rivalling
even such classics to be as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.-Bookworm
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