Kelly writes in an admirably clear, direct manner. His prose abounds with vivid physical description that provides a strong sense of the medieval world in which the novel is set. Particularly rich in this regard are some of the earlier chapters, rich panoramas filled with people and buildings as seen through Joseph's eyes. Kelly's characters speak a formal, slightly old-fashioned language, but this serves primarily as a reminder that this is a different world.

The Trumpeter of Krakow is a delightfully symmetrical book. It begins with a prologue that graphically tells the story of the famous historical Trumpeter of Krakow," the young man who played the "Heynal" hymn hourly from the tower of the Church of Our Lady Mary during the Tartar invasion of 1241 and who broke off the song a few notes short of completion when struck by a fatal Tartar arrow. This prologue is...