The Coward

A BBC TWO BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICK After a car accident Jarred discovers he'll never walk again. Confined to a 'giant roller-skate', he finds himself with neither money nor job, a shoplifting habit, an addiction to painkillers and strangers treating him like he's an idiot. Worse still, he's forced to live back home with his estranged father. Trying to piece himself together, Jarred comes to realise that things don't have to stay broken after all. The Coward is about hurt and forgiveness, how the world treats disabled people, and how we write and rewrite the stories we tell ourselves about our lives - and try to find a happy ending.

Kell Kressia is a legend, a celebrity, a hero. Aged just seventeen, he set out on an epic quest with a band of wizened fighters to slay the Ice Lich and save the world. He returned victorious, but alone. Ten years have passed and Kell lives a quiet life, while stories of his heroism are told in taverns all across the land. But now a new terror has arisen in the north – something has taken up residence in the Lich’s abandoned castle beyond the Frozen Circle, and the ice is beginning to creep south once more. For the second time, Kell is called upon to take up his famous sword, Slayer, and battle the forces of darkness. But he has a terrible secret. Kell was never a hero – he was just lucky. Everyone puts their faith in Kell the Legend, but he’s just a coward who has no intention of risking his life for anyone... File Under: Fantasy [ Holding Out for a Hero | When the Going Gets Tough... | Band Together | Till Death ]

A BBC TWO BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICK After a car accident Jarred discovers he'll never walk again. Confined to a 'giant roller-skate', he finds himself with neither money nor job, a shoplifting habit, an addiction to painkillers and strangers treating him like he's an idiot. Worse still, he's forced to live back home with his estranged father. Trying to piece himself together, Jarred comes to realise that things don't have to stay broken after all. The Coward is about hurt and forgiveness, how the world treats disabled people, and how we write and rewrite the stories we tell ourselves about our lives - and try to find a happy ending.

Kell Kressia is a legend, a celebrity, a hero. Aged just seventeen, he set out on an epic quest with a band of wizened fighters to slay the Ice Lich and save the world. He returned victorious, but alone. Ten years have passed and Kell lives a quiet life, while stories of his heroism are told in taverns all across the land. But now anew terror has arisen in the north – something has taken up residence in the Lich’s abandoned castle beyond the Frozen Circle, and the ice is beginning to creep south once more. For the second time, Kell is called upon to take up his famous sword, Slayer, and battle the forces of darkness. But he has a terrible secret. Kell was never a hero – he was just lucky. Everyone puts their faith in Kell the Legend, but he’s just a coward who has no intention of risking his life for anyone... File Under:Fantasy[ Holding Out for a Hero | When the Going Gets Tough...| Band Together | Till Death ]