Max and the Midknights

About the Max and the Midknights series

Max wants nothing more than to become a knight, but Max is a girl in a medieval kingdom where that isn't supposed to be an option -- so when her wandering minstrel uncle is kidnapped by the villainous King Gastley, Max sets off to rescue him with a ragtag crew of misfit friends: a wannabe wizard, a boy afraid of basically everything, and a girl obsessed with the undead. What starts as a rescue mission turns into a proper knightly quest, complete with monsters, magic, and a kingdom worth saving.

Lincoln Peirce, best known for the comic-strip energy of Big Nate, brings the same illustrated, joke-dense storytelling style to a medieval fantasy adventure instead of a middle-school comedy. The result splits the difference between Big Nate's visual humor and genuine fantasy-quest stakes -- dragons, castles, and a girl determined to prove she belongs in a suit of armor -- aimed at readers who want illustrated-novel comedy with more world and adventure than school hallways can offer.

Three books tell one complete quest story, following Max and her Midknights crew from their first rescue mission through escalating confrontations with King Gastley's court.

How to read this series

Read the three novels in publication order: Max and the Midknights, Battle of the Bodkins, The Tower of Time. It's a continuous story with an ongoing cast and escalating plot, so reading in sequence is recommended.

No prior Lincoln Peirce reading is required -- this is a separate fantasy-adventure series from Big Nate, sharing only the author's illustrated, comic-heavy storytelling style.