The book is the first instalment in a series of four books, which form the first part of the grander whole. Books 2 and 3 have been released already, the 4th one is due in May 2018, if I'm not mistaken. Now and then, a short story will appear in the anthology of the festival Les Imaginales. In the (near?) future, an anthology with all those short-stories combined might see the light of day.

There are two story-lines to follow, somehow connected through a strange artifact (a wooden box with 5 locks, containing several gems and other valuables) that causes more and more questions to arise and mysteries to solve. You therefore have to remain focused while reading. There is, sadly, no list of names to explain who's who. Maybe because many characters don't play such a significant role or don't play a role any longer in the other books.

The story-lines:
1) The year 1339, in which our main character, le Bâtard de Kosigan (official name: Pierre Cordwaïn de Kosigan), plays a key role, solo and with his gang. As he was conceived outside of the royal bloodline, he's not a proper heir to the throne and is thus exiled, tries to earn a living as a mercenary. What else should a bastard otherwise do? Oh yes, seduce beautiful women, not fear any sort of conspiracy if it makes good money, ...
2) The year 1899, in which Michaël Konnigan (real name: Kergaël de Kosigan, the heir of Pierre Cordwaïn de Kosigan), a professor in Medieval Archaeology, investigates several finds and sites and reports about it to his sponsors (so to speak), be they museum director or a journalist for Times. In addition, he appeals to the services of other friends who are proficient in languages, scientific research, ... Mind you, there's no trace of anything Fantasy here. It's 1899, the world has become far more serious. But it puzzles his mind that in his finds, he stumbles upon writings (referring to those fantastic creatures, the elven language, ...) that were never uncovered, never mentioned in other historical works. Did it all really exist? Is it all made up?

The story with our illegitimate child revolves around him seeking his way through life, earning money wherever and whenever he can. As a mercenary, of course. He's known for it large and wide and many political leaders will appeal to his services to see their desires realised. Even if they officially don't like him or his lifestyle. What do you mean, hypocrisy?

The County of Champagne is at some point, because of the passing away of the count, in need of a male heir to the throne, someone thus to marry the half-elf daughter. A tournament, held in Troyes, must solve that problem. Of course, our bastard sees this as a perfect opportunity to earn some money for himself and his gang. There, he encounters some of his worst enemies, which he will have to fight, in group or in a duel. Both parties have tricks up their sleeves to influence the tournament's progress (bribery or viler solutions). Knights from the Kingdom of France and the Duchy of Burgundy (Bourgogne) take up their swords and spears. Each sees advantages when forming an alliance with the Duchy of Champagne. While they're not exactly fights to the death, one is allowed to severely hurt one's opponent(s).

Our bastard manages to survive the tournament and other challenges (it wouldn't be a good story if he didn't, right?), also thanks to his magical healing powers (of which he doesn't know their source, but wishes to know, so he asks the countess of Champagne for clarity and explanation... which apparently she can't provide, not only because her and the power of all Elves are waning) and cunning tactics. His loyal gang-members do get into the spotlights, but only when they've accomplished or have to accomplish a small mission.

Political games, conspiracies, intrigues, ... It's all there. And all very alluring, somehow. Mr Cerutti used historical elements (persons, locations, buildings, ...) and created his own story set in a fictional Middle-Age France. The book includes a little map of this version of France with its various counties, duchies, kingdoms, ...

All the books in this series are said to be stand-alone, but you better read them in the correct order, or you might/may/will miss certain iinks. As an entry into this series, I can honestly say that I really enjoyed 'L'Ombre du Pouvoir' (translated: The Dark Side of Power). Mr Cerutti has a fluent pen, manages to grab and hold your attention, creating a nice balance between action and political intrigue. Suspense is the keyword here, as little is revealed. You are obligated to read on if you want to find out more.

The story with the bastard has sort of a closed ending (and a totally unexpected one at that! - he's a bastard, indeed), the one with Michaël/Kergaël (the bastard's heir) hasn't, I find. The mystery of the box (with the specific contents) and his other findings has not been explained (enough). I hope book 2, [b:Le Fou prend le Roi|26106270|Le Fou prend le Roi|Fabien Cerutti|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1439672713s/26106270.jpg|45244891] (roughly translated: The Fool Takes the King), will provide the answers I seek.

For comparison reasons, I'd say this is proper food for fans of, for example, [a:Bernard Cornwell|12542|Bernard Cornwell|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1504578807p2/12542.jpg] and maybe even [a:Joe Abercrombie|276660|Joe Abercrombie|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1421267339p2/276660.jpg] (his The First Law world), although Abercrombie's books contain more gore, of course. ( )

French fantasy.

There's the fun POV with the titular Bastard of Kosigan* mercenary protagonist getting up to his ears in the politicking around the marriage of the half-elven heiress of Champagne in 14th century alternate France (with elves, dwarves...), and the completely uninteresting POV of his descendant in 19th century still-alternate but more familiar France, where they have apparently forgotten all about having had elves, dwarves and so on.
The useless and boring descendant took half the book for no greater use than to hint at some grand plan his ancestor had that still remains hazy at the end of book one so I probably won't be continuing unless further books fall into my hands via the library or something.

*If it sounds familiar to Neverwinter Nights (2001, not the MMORPG) players of community-made adventures who played "The Bastard of Kosigan", yes that's the same guy. ( )