Tournament of Losers

Derr (The High King's Golden Tongue) bolsters this romantic fantasy with a charismatic protagonist and an engagingly designed cod-medieval world, helping the story's clich%C3%A9d elements feel charmingly familiar rather than stale. Rath scrapes up funds through working at the docks or in brothels, paying his bills with just enough left over for the occasional ale at the pub with his friends. When a crime boss demands Rath pay the hefty debt Rath's father recently incurred, Rath realizes his only hope is to enter the Tournament of Charlet, often called the Tournament of Losers, in which commoners compete to marry the scions of noble houses. (The marriages need not be heterosexual; one appealing feature of Derr's setting is the casually depicted wide variety of genders and sexual preferences, and fighters of all kinds are admitted to the tournament.) Meanwhile, Rath begins developing a relationship with a nobleman he met at the pub, though he knows there's no future in such a match. Rath's kind heart and earthy pragmatism make him easy to root for, and while events unfold in thoroughly predictable ways, entertaining flourishes in both the tournament and the romance will sweep the reader along. (Feb.)