Lord Valentine's Castle by Robert Silverberg

It had been a very, very long time since I read any Silverberg. I remembered that I liked what I had read, so when this turned up on the freebie table, I grabbed it.

Fantasy quest, with a few rather nice twists. It opens with our hero, Valentine, sitting on a hillside above a great city where he is accosted by an enterprising young herdsman. We only gradually learn that he remembers nothing of his past beyond his name. They get to the city and Valentine is taken up by a troup of jugglers. They teach him the trade, for which he has a great aptitude.

There is no big mystery. Quite early on there are hints that maybe Valentine is not what he seems - if anyone could only figure out what he seems to be. Sure enough, he is really the Ruler of the World deposed and stuffed into another body to get him out of the way while the usurper takes his.

And they are off on tour to juggle before all and sundry - and incidentally to restore the rightful Lord Valentine to the throne.

Lots of time and pages of stuff that is not particularly plot related, but interesting. Strange flora and fauna and interesting aliens and lots and lots of quirky characters. They do get Valentine restored, but the series goes on. Book Two was rubberbanded with the first one. Apparently, Silverberg picks up one of the quirky characters mentioned above and Book Two is his.

I really enjoyed this, except for reading it on paper, but it seemed silly to waste a free book by buying another copy of it to make it easier to read.