Kingfountain Books In Order

Publication Order of Kingfountain Books

Kingfountain is a series of fantasy novels written by Jeff Wheeler which follow the exploits of a little boy who is taken hostage by his father’s enemy. The books started out as a trilogy but the author eventually saw fit to expand the story beyond the third novel.

+The Story
The Kingfountain series tells the story of Owen Kiskaddon, an innocent little boy who is forced to play his part in a war that will shape the future of his world.

Owen was pretty young when things between his father and King Severn went sour. King Severn’s reputation preceded him. He was a ruthless man, a usurper of the throne who did whatever it took to cement his rule.

A time came when his subjects finally rose up to oppose him. The Duke of Kiskaddon gambled that King Severn would fall and threw his lot in with the rebellion. He was wrong.

King Severn crushed the opposition before setting out to punish all those that had threatened his rule. The entire Kiskaddon clan should have perished in that particular campaign.

But Severn gave them an option. He commanded them to volunteer one of their children to the Kingfountain court where they would remain as a hostage, watched over, supervised and largely cared for until the Kiskaddon clan either made recompense or Severn found a reason to doubt their loyalty.

When readers first meet Owen in ‘The Queen’s Poisoner’, the first novel in the Kingfountain series, the boy is only eight-years-old. His parents have just abandoned him to King Severn’s clutches.

Owen learns early on that the future of his family lies squarely on his shoulders. He must assimilate into the Kingfountain court and prove himself a loyal servant of Severn. Otherwise, everyone he knows and loves will die.

The original Kingfountain trilogy focuses primarily on Owen’s adventures in King Severn’s palace. The first book emphasizes Owen’s innocence, the fact that he understands very little of the world and must learn to maneuver complex political and social obstacles to survive.

The little boy is aided in his efforts by Duke Howarth, a man who not only takes an interest in his growth but also makes it his business to give Owen the mental, political, and martial prowess he needs to survive.

There’s also Elysabeth, the Duke’s daughter, and Aknaretta, the Queen’s poisoner who everyone thought had died. Owen’s first outing is often criticized for being slow-paced and largely uneventful.

Because Owen is so young and so helpless, he spends the majority of the first novel simply finding his bearings. It isn’t until the events of the sequel roll around that the action picks up.

Owen is much older, a warrior of great skill, cunning, and renown. With his innocence having faded, Owen has a greater understanding of the stakes at hand. On the one hand, he has to prove himself to be a loyal, relevant, and necessary presence in King Severn’s Court.

On the other hand, Owen cannot afford to betray his principles. Even when their relationship grows and even after a significant amount of respect blooms between them, Owen never forgets that King Severn is, at heart, evil.

He spends a lot of time trying to find ways to oppose the King in an inconspicuous manner that does not put his family in danger.

While the Kingfountain series was originally meant to be a trilogy, Jeff Wheeler eventually saw fit to extend it beyond its intended run, launching into a new trilogy that focused on the new generation of heroes and villains in the Kingfountain universe.

The Kingfountain books have a tendency to deliver massive time jumps between each installment. Readers are given an opportunity to see their hero (Owen) grow from little boy to disgruntled teen to competent adult.

The novels have been commended for writing clean stories that are largely free of coarse language, gratuitous sex, and unnecessary violence. They’ve also been praised for the depth of political intrigue that is always at play.

There’s a good reason for that last part. While Owen, the hero, was inspired by the author’s own little boy, King Severn, the villain, was actually based on King Richard III.

In fact, the entire Kingfountain series was initially supposed to be historical fiction that took readers to a world in which Richard III came out victorious in the Battle of Bosworth Field.

However, Jeff Wheeler eventually concluded that the historical fiction arena was too restrictive for the stories he wanted to tell. He would also have to remove the elements of magic he wanted to insert.

So he decided to take the fantasy fiction route. However, many of the author’s ideas for the Kingfountain series were inspired by historical events like The Cousins’ War.

+The Author
Jeff Wheeler is an American Author who worked at Intel. A husband, father and devout churchgoer, Jeff’s passion for writing became so hard to bear that, in 2014, he retired and decided to become a full-time writer.

+The Queen’s Poisoner
Owen’s life as he knew it ended when he was eight. His father, the Duke of Kiskaddon, tried to help overthrow the ruthless King Severn. As penance, the Duke was commanded to surrender one of his sons.

At eight, Owen left the only home he had ever known to start a new life as the King’s hostage.

Owen is doing what he can to survive. But when new evidence against his father emerges, Owen must take extraordinary measures to prove his worth, lest he forfeits his life and that of his family.

+The Thief’s Daughter
Owen was just a child when he came to King Severn’s court as a hostage. But he has since won the favor of the ruthless tyrant. For Nine Years, Owen has honed his skills in politics and war, becoming a highly talented weapon for the court.

For a while, Owen thought he and Severn could continue to co-exist in harmony. But when an external threat—a pretender to the throne—arises, Owen realizes just how precarious his position is.

As Severn takes drastic steps to combat those who threaten his throne, Owen must act to keep the mad King’s plans from claiming the life of the girl he loves.