The King's Jackal

Davis, Richard Harding, 1864-1916Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.1

Word count: 162K words
Chapters: 17

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The King's Jackal by Richard Harding DavisAuthor: Davis, Richard Harding, 1864-1916,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jan 1, 1996

Editor's review

The King's Jackal is a compact, fast-paced adventure novella by Richard Harding Davis, built around political intrigue and the maneuverings of its characters in a fictional kingdom. Davis worked as a journalist in the thick of international events, and his narrative here keeps that reporter's briskness and eye for scene: settings shift quickly, dialogue does most of the work, and loyalties turn more than once within a short span. For Chinese readers, it works best as a sample of late-nineteenth-century Anglo-American popular adventure fiction rather than a work of deep psychological portraiture. This electronic edition comes from Project Gutenberg as a public-domain English original—well suited to chapter-by-chapter reading on a commute or in short sittings, and to English learners practising extensive reading through its clear sentences and tight plotting. Watch how the author plays the power contrast between the "king" and the "jackal," and how the adventure genre's familiar themes of loyalty and betrayal are handled.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy late-nineteenth-century Anglo-American adventure fiction
English learners who want to practise extensive reading with a short original text
Those interested in political intrigue set in a fictional kingdom
Public-domain readers looking for light commute reading

Not a good fit for

Serious-literary readers expecting deep psychological portraiture
Readers who are not comfortable with English and need a Chinese translation
Fantasy readers who prefer long epics or elaborate world-building

Reading tips

Read chapter by chapter and sum up the main conflict in one sentence after each.
Mark unfamiliar words without looking them up, then review them after the passage to keep the plot flowing.
After finishing, compare the fictional kingdom with the late-nineteenth-century international politics behind it and consider its real-world shadows.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book in Chinese or English?

This is an English public-domain eBook released by Project Gutenberg; the text is in English with no Chinese translation. It suits readers with some English reading ability who are willing to read the original.

Is it long? Can it be read in short spare moments?

It is a novella with brisk plotting, suited to reading in sections on a commute or before bed. One or two chapters at a time is advisable to keep track of the characters and the threads of intrigue.

Do I need to know the author's background first?

No. You can start the story directly. If you want a fuller sense of his journalistic style, a brief look at Davis's work as a war correspondent helps, but it is not necessary for understanding the book.

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About the author

Davis, Richard Harding, 1864-1916 Author

Richard Harding Davis (1864–1916) was an American writer and war correspondent, with 49 works held in this collection. Public information is limited, yet the range of his writing can be seen from the titles listed here: he wrote both war reportage and fiction and character sketches. Notes of a War Correspondent records a reporter's firsthand experiences in the field, Real Soldiers of Fortune tells of adventurous soldiers, while Gallegher and Other Stories and Van Bibber and Others show his skill in the short story, with a light touch and a gift for portraying city life and a variety of characters. His works are often classed as inspirational coming-of-age reading and have circulated among young readers, combining the immediacy of journalism with the readability of fiction; they have influenced later war reporting and popular narrative.