The King's Fifth

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.

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

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]