Forward the Mage
by Eric Flint
An adventurous and high-flying fantasy novel, this is the thrilling tale of the swashbuckling Benvenuti Sfondrati-Piccolomini, who arrives in the city of Goimir intent on lending his talents to the King--but instead has a series of madcap misadventures en route to his involvement in an epic quest that pairs him with Gwendolyn Greyboar, a female revolutionary whose beauty is matched only by her ferocity--and in whom the fate of the kingdom rests.