The Reluctant King is the overall title of a trilogy of fantasy novels written by L. Sprague de Camp as part of his Novarian series, as well as the 1983 omnibus collection gathering the books together into one volume.

The tale continues through a pair of spectacularly disastrous quests in aid of his savior, the first taking them through the exotic lands of Mulvan, Komilakh and Shven and the second south to the ancient empire of Penembei.

Adroitly ducking this second crown, he endeavors to recover from Xylar his favorite wife Estrildis, with whom he hopes to retire to a life of quiet obscurity, only to have things once again go wrong...

The northern continent consists primarily of the steppe country of Shven, with the pirate isles of Algarth off its western coast and the land of Hroth to the north.

Novaria is a land with a single language and culture, divided politically into mutually-competing city states - reminiscent of Classical Greece and Renaissance Italy.

The twelve city-states into which Novaria is split are Solymbria, Boaktis, Tarxia, Zolon, Ir, Metouro, Govannion, Aussar, Xylar, Othomae, Kortoli and Vindium.

The jungles of Komilakh east of Mulvan are inhabited by beast men, and the far-off islands of Salimor in the Eastern Ocean comprise a monarchy mingling elements of Japan and the Philippines.

A simple life, with a respectable trade, a snug house, plenty to eat and drink, a loving family and congenial cronies will suffice me.When last seen, at the end of The Unbeheaded King, he has achieved precisely that (though not with the wife with whom he originally hoped to share his middle-class bliss).

Another feature of the books is their frequent use of folk tales integrated into the plot (Jorian is a storyteller) to painlessly convey something of the background and history of the invented world.