The Letter for the King

The Letter for the King - a classic comes to Netflix.

Looking at Goodreads, I read 'The Letter for the King' back in May 2018. My review of the book probably damned it with faint praise:

The Letter for the King (Tonke Dragt) 

This is a Danish Young Adult classic. A young squire is called to adventure the night that he should be completing his vigil to become a knight. It’s a simple story, told well, one that I would have appreciated more when I was younger.

I appreciated it enough that I bought the sequel and noted that it may be a good story for the kids to engage with, especially the 9-year old.

I was interested when Netflix announced that they had acquired the rights, as it's one of those stories that I suspect could easily upset people if not done well. I'm in the position that this isn't one of my childhood classics that's being potentially trampled over (unlike pretty much every adaption of Susan Cooper's 'Dark is Rising' Sequence or Ursula K Le Guin's Earthsea books) so I was more intrigued.

It is done well, with good production values. It feels 'young adult'. The protagonist, Tiuri, is more of an outsider than he is in the novel. He's also less of a hero and lacks confidence at the start. They've pushed the diversity side (both racially and sexually) much further than the book (unsurprising as it was first published in 1962) and the story has a mix of moods. The dark streak remains with the feel that Tiuri has everything to lose by doing the right thing. There is a nasty political element. There's a touch of comedy with the other squires ('novices') who end up pursuing him. Magic is significantly increased and I don't recall the driving meta-plot of the prophecy from the book.

So, it has had layers and complexity added, and the story has been significantly developed. Yet, at the heart the story remains the same; a young squire hears a knock on the door of the chapel where he is carrying out his vigil before he becomes a knight. If he breaks the vigil, he may lose his chance to become a knight. If he ignores the call for help, he ignores the values he is supposed to display. Honour and duty demand that he acts, setting a tension up in the plot.

The kids and Jill enjoyed this; we watched it as a family. There will be another series.

16 April 2020