Medallion

5 min read

The prince sprang up, but the large gloved hand of the king grasped his shoulder and forced him down again.
Gris leaned forward, speaking low and directly at Trave. “You cannot rule a country until you can rule yourself. Speak no more until you know whereof you speak.”

At first glance, Medallion by Dawn L. Watkins looks like another run-of-the-mill middle-grade fantasy story. Toss a fiery adolescent prince, an old benevolent king, and a sneering bad guy into a pot with a couple of made-up creatures and a looming war—and hey presto, it’s a book.

But Medallion goes much deeper than that. You’ll go on a grand trip through an immersive world, full of realistic characters, moving themes, and truly epic scenes. I’ll get into it all in this review.

Plot

Prince Trave lives in the royal city of Ganet, waiting for the day when he can take his rightful place on Gadalla’s throne still held by his uncle Panii. One day, a foreigner arrives in Ganet and tells Trave of a medallion that will prove his right to the crown.

With the help of his new friend, Trave embarks on a quest to find the medallion. But as the journey grows ever more dangerous, the prince realizes that often things are not as they seem, even the advantage of being a king.

from paperback back cover

Though simple and short, this plot is full of memorable moments. Vivid descriptions and accompanying illustrations make the story come alive. Watkins also skillfully revisits some of the same locations and scenarios twice, contrasting Trave’s reactions to them each time. It brings everything full circle in a satisfying way.

Characters

Trave, the hot-headed prince of Gadalla, thinks it’s high time his uncle relinquished the throne. He’s been preparing all his (admittedly short) life for the position. If only the current king would see Trave’s potential, the boy could rule with justice and strength, putting down the Dark Alliance that threatens to swallow up the country. But he has a long road ahead of him. A medallion isn’t the only thing he has to gain.

He was, without competition, my favorite character, not least because he’s nearly a copy-and-paste version of the protagonist of my current novel. His growth over the course of the book was heartwarming to see. Overall, he’s an excellent character.

Most of this book’s characters are interesting, though some felt flat and underdeveloped. For example, the main villain is a prototypical sneering, absurdly cruel, evilly grinning king who cares nothing for his troops. This causes them to mutiny once, but it’s a wonder they didn’t do that years earlier. No one, not even a witless henchman, wants to work for someone like that.

And on the other hand, the good king—Gris—is wise and level-headed, always knowing the right path to take, and always putting others first. However, he also functions as a primary antagonist for most of the book, which keeps him from being boring. Additionally, his near-perfectness is a major factor in Trave’s internal journey.

But the rest of the characters, while not exceptionally nuanced, are developed enough to be interesting.

Theme & Content Warnings

The book centers around a three-fold theme—To learn what is true. To believe the truth. To act on that belief. This is the journey Trave goes through during his quest, and he progressively comes to accept and embrace each part. He has to learn that being a king is about more than ordering people around, and how often the greatest victories are the greatest sacrifices.

While this book is labeled as Christian fantasy, it leaves out an important part of that subgenre—Christianity. It clearly has a Christian worldview, but there is no mention or representation of God. You could say the king who mentors Trave represents Christ, but even if that was the intention, it’s about the same level of symbolism as The Lord of the Rings.

This is not a critique, necessarily—mentioning God in stories is an oft-debated topic among Christian writers, and there are valid points on both sides. But calling it Christian fantasy and then not even having any inkling of religion feels a tad misleading.

There’s only one content warning, but it’s a gruesome one. An antagonist has the skin of his face melted off by a torch, revealing a hideous, gnarled visage underneath. Various sentences hint that the skin was only a mask, and the face underneath was his true face, like he was some kind of alien. But this is never fully addressed.

Overall

What’s this? A rabbit trail? Well…we’d better investigate it before closing this post.

After stumbling across this book on an author’s blog, I read the blurb and couldn’t believe my eyes. Not only is the protagonist a near clone of my own; one of the world’s creatures is called a skreel, a word I made up for a co-authored novel years ago. And upon buying the book, I glance over the map inside to find, lo-and-behold, a kingdom name that was used in the same co-authored story.

The moral of the story? Dawn L. Watkins obviously traveled forward in time, plagiarized my books, and then returned to the past. It’s the only reasonable explanation.

But anyway. Back to the review.

Medallion is a good book. It’s clean (other than the face-melting episode), places a powerful theme as its centerpiece, and is overall well-written. Other than some uninteresting villains, my only complaint is how short it is. For the fantasy genre, this length is usually just the opening. There are numerous aspects of the world I would have liked to explore more.

If you’re looking for a middle-grade, or even young adult, fantasy adventure, I highly recommend Medallion.

If you liked this book, you may also enjoy Andrew and the Firedrake by Douglas Wilson.

Thanks for reading!