A Practical Guide to Conquering the World

May 4, 2020
Parker overlays a military fantasy with a comedy of mistaken identity in this fun, standalone return to the Roman Empire–inspired world of Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City. Notker, a jobbing actor and playwright, is known around the City for his uncanny impersonations of notable bigwigs. When venerated war hero Lysimachus is killed by an enemy trebuchet, a trio of influential conspirators coerce Notker into impersonating him to keep public morale up amid an ongoing siege. As it happens, Lysimachus was bedding Notker’s old flame and fellow thespian, Hodda, who is also roped into the ruse. As the pair becomes increasingly tangled in a web of lies, the unknowing Senate appoints Lysimachus as Emperor, expecting him to lead the war against ruthless King Ogus and his hordes of warriors. Parker front-loads this entertaining yarn with his best jokes and set pieces, leaving the final act to settle into by-the-numbers battle strategy. Still, with Notker possessing all the charm, wit, and resourcefulness of a Shakespearean fool, readers are ensured a good time and a barrel of laughs to boot.

November 8, 2021
Book learning, wit, and unwarranted optimism play for laughs in Parker’s fast-paced Siege trilogy finale (after How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It). Felix, a member of the Robur race, has a cushy government job as a translator for the ruthlessly bureaucratic Echmen empire—until the Robur are wiped out in an attack, and Felix becomes a stateless “non-person.” The only one still willing to take him in is the Hus ambassador, who, though he finds Felix annoying and useless, owes Felix for saving his princess’s life. The unwaveringly sunny Felix is grateful to have his days free, gleefully spending them in the enormous Echmen library. After the merciless Echmen kill the Hus king and enslave his people, Felix vows to use the vast knowledge he’s gained from books to help the princess free her people. It won’t be easy; he must unite the Hus with their enemy, the Dejauzi, and prepare both nomadic tribes for battle with the hyperorganized Echmen empire. Along the way, Felix performs some daring grifts and inadvertently invents a religion. Parker fills his well-designed fantasy world with vastly differing cultures and languages that are just as fun to read about as Felix’s audacious schemes. Readers will be delighted.

November 24, 2021
Felix is a remarkably talented Robur translator whose main priority is surviving. So when his position in the Enchen imperial palace is thrown into dangerous territory, he is grateful to become translator for the princess of the Hus people, a mountainous group often looked down on by the Enchen royals. But when the Enchen attempt to enslave the Hus through a series of carefully plotted political machinations, Felix reaches the end of his patience. It's time to establish a lasting, empire-wide peace, one that corrects the injustices of the past--and maybe one that ensures the rise of the Hus people, with Felix at their head. This entertaining novel about scheming and storytelling is perfect for fans of Tyrion Lannister: Felix is an intelligent man with a tragic backstory, an aptitude for good luck, and a rich appreciation for irony. While Parker's tongue-in-cheek narration can get ahead of itself, sometimes lapsing into contemporary references or losing itself in digression, it's charming overall. Readers will appreciate the novel's references to real historical events and empires, its detailed world building, and most of all, Felix's dry wit.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.