Graham, Mitchell. The fifth ring

Graham, Mitchell. The fifth ring. EOS/HarperCollins, 2003 [0-06-050651-2]
This book was recommended by one of my readers and I am so glad he did. Matthew is living his life in his peaceful town up until he wins the fencing contest. After the contest he acquires a magical ring although he initially doesn't know it has powers. Far away from his peaceful town the evil ruler has acquired a set of the same rings and begins to harness their power so he can take over his neighboring countries. Because of his power with the rings, the evil ruler gets the Orlocks to help him. He senses their is another ring and sends the Orlocks to find it. Matthew starts to learn to use the powers of the ring to defend himself. Eventually there is a large battle and the evil king and his relatives try to battle against Matthew with his ring. This 516 page book is a great high fantasy/adventure book which runs in the vein of Tolkien books but what is nice, it is a complete story in one book. I understand there is a second book but I am not sure I will get it (from comments I have heard) and also, I just like how this book stands on its own.