The King's Fifth

The King's Fifth

First edition
Author	Scott O'Dell [1]
Language	English
Genre	Children's novel
Publisher	Houghton Mifflin
Publication date	September 1966
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Hardcover, Paperback)
Pages	272 pp (hardcover)
ISBN	0-395-06963-7 (hardcover), ISBN   0-440-94538-0 (paperback)
OCLC	301963

The King's Fifth (1966) is a children's historical novel by Scott O'Dell It describes, from the point of view of a teenage Spanish Conquistador, how the European search for gold in the New World of the Americas affected people's lives and minds. ^[2] The title refers to the one fifth share of spoils expected by the Spanish Crown.

Plot

The story takes place in a time when the Spanish adventurers, known as Conquistadors, colonised the New World of the Americas, in search of the mythical gold treasures of the dethroned Native Americans.

Characters:

• Estéban de Sandoval: a teenage mapmaker to the expedition to Cibola to find the gold.
• Zia Troyano: a younger teenage Native American guide.
• Captain Blas de Mendoza (very loosely based on Antonio de Mendoza) - an aristocrat in search of gold.
• Father Francisco: a priest to the expedition who joined as a missionary and an explorer.
• Roa and Zuñiga: part of a trio of musicians who are Mendoza's cronies.

Influence

While the book is sometimes cited as the inspiration for the cartoon TV series The Mysterious Cities of Gold , ^[3] that show's creator, Jean Chalopin, has stated that only the names of its primary characters were drawn from the book. ^[4]

The book is also a slight influence in the Choose Your Own Adventure Time Machine's 1987 book Quest for the Cities of Gold, as the reader meets Esteban at different points.^{[ citation needed ]}

Awards and nominations

• Newbery Honor Book, 1967 ^{[5] [6] [7]}
• Federal Republic of Germany Jugendbuchpreis, 1970 ^[8]

References

1. "Scott O'Dell, 91; 'Writer of Books That Children Read'". Los Angeles Times. October 18, 1989.
2. "THE KING'S FIFTH by Scott O'Dell". Kirkus Reviews.
3. "Buried Treasure - Mysterious Cities of Gold". Anime News Network. February 10, 2024.
4. https://web.archive.org/web/20050209053305/http://www.japimpact.com/interview/chalopin.php%7Cquote="In fact, we used almost nothing from the book, except for the names of three characters: Mendoza, Zia, and Esteban—because our characters have nothing in common with Scott O'Dell's work. In fact, "The Mysterious Cities of Gold" is a work of pure imagination resulting from the joint creative effort between the Japanese team at MK Prod, Studio Pierrot, and DIC—that is, Bernard and I."
5. "STREAMS TO THE RIVER, RIVER TO THE..." Los Angeles Times. July 20, 1986.
6. Cullinan, Bernice E.; Person, Diane Goetz (January 1, 2005). The Continuum Encyclopedia of Children's Literature. A&C Black. ISBN   9780826417787 – via Google Books.
7. Payment, Simone (December 15, 2005). Scott O'Dell. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. ISBN   9781404206519 – via Google Books.
8. "The King's Fifth - reviews and awards". Archived from the original on October 6, 2008.