Review: The Runaway King by Jennifer A. Nielsen (@nielsenwriter @Scholastic)

It’s no big secret that I loved the first book of Jennifer Nielsen’s Ascendance Trilogy, The False Prince. So I was thrilled to finally get my hands on the sequel, The Runaway King. But would it be able to stand up to its predecessor? After all, one of my favorite things about The False Prince was the amazing twist ending, and I wasn’t sure if a sequel could hold up without a similar lightning-strike moment. Then again, if the characters and the story and the writing were still strong, did it need a twist? Maybe not.

Warning – this review will contain spoilers from The False Prince. Proceed at your own risk.

The Plot (from Goodreads)

Just weeks after Jaron has taken the throne, an assassination attempt forces him into a deadly situation. Rumors of a coming war are winding their way between the castle walls, and Jaron feels the pressure quietly mounting within Carthya. Soon, it becomes clear that deserting the kingdom may be his only hope of saving it. But the further Jaron is forced to run from his identity, the more he wonders if it is possible to go too far. Will he ever be able to return home again? Or will he have to sacrifice his own life in order to save his kingdom?

My Thoughts

The Runaway King picks up almost immediately after The False Prince ends, which is both a good and a bad thing. Good because it plunges you straight into the action (and there is quite a bit of action in this one!); bad because if you’re like me and haven’t read TFP in nearly a year, it can be a little confusing to hit the ground running without time to catch your bearings. I might have had to go brush up on the last couple chapters of TFP before continuing on. But that’s okay. You know why? Because the last couple chapters of TFP are awesome.

All the big players from TFP are back in some capacity, as friends and conspirators and spies and villains. Jaron is still the same dangerously cocky youth pulled from the streets, but with a big exception: he is now the king. And the fate of his kingdom rests on his shoulders.

As in TFP, Jaron’s narration is the main driver of the story. If he was a girl, I’d say he’s sassy. Actually, who cares. He’s sassy. He is a swaggering, secretive, sassy boy with a savior complex and trust issues. He comes brimming with strengths and shortcomings, and a lot of the time, he is his own worst enemy. His convoluted plan probably does not need to be nearly as convoluted as it is, but since he’s determined not to show his hand to anyone — even those that could help him — he sets himself up for difficulty. It can be frustrating, especially as other characters are telling him this is a fault and he’s refusing to listen — but at the same time, it’s incredibly true to the character. Everything he does makes sense to him, and that’s the most I can ask from any character in any story.

The supporting characters came and went throughout the story. Probably one of the most important was Imogen, his friend from TFP. Her moments are some of my favorites, as she is smart and strong, yet isn’t afraid to use her perceived weakness as a female to her advantage. Her friendship with Jaron isn’t fair and isn’t balanced, and really, he doesn’t deserve her. Yet she’s there anyway, and he appreciates her for it, in his own way.

The action is plentiful, and there’s never that long of a break between tussles and sword fights. Jennifer Nielsen’s depiction of the action is vivid and allowed me to play the fights out in my head like a movie, which isn’t easy. I did find a couple of the scenes toward the end a bit far-fetched, but I’m willing to suspend my disbelief a bit. The things Jaron does are not impossible — I don’t think — just improbable. I can deal with improbable.

There’s only one character motivation head-scratcher moment, and it’s toward the end. A character switches sides, and it seemed a little too easy. It wasn’t nearly as large a twist as the first book in the series, but it was still unexpected, and I’m not sure it was foreshadowed sufficiently. It’s a fine line to walk, revealing enough details to make the twist believable, without tipping your hand. I feel like this book was almost there, but not quite.

However, those minor complaints aside, I still very much enjoyed this story. It’s the kind of book and series I imagine would get kids — boys and girls alike — excited about reading. It’s clever and funny and has enough action and heart to interest a wide variety of readers, with a fabulously well-developed protagonist and intelligent plotting. Whenever the conclusion to The Ascendance Trilogy hits shelves, you can bet I’ll be at the front of the line.

Feature & Follow (June 22) – Book I’d “Unread”

Welcome to the Feature & Follow Hop, hosted by Parajunkee’s View and Alison Can Read!

If you’re new to my blog, welcome! I’d love it if you could follow via one of the options in my sidebar (LinkyFollowers, Networked Blogs, email or RSS). Be sure to let me know your follow method in the comments so I can return the favor!

I’ve also got a snazzy button you can grab. If you wanted to put it on your blog, that’d be groovy.

Today’s question is:

If you could “unread” a book, which one would it be? Is it because you want to start over and experience it again for the first time? Or because it was THAT bad?

Okay, this question was oddly hard for me. I started to approach it from the “book that was so bad I’d want to unread it” angle, but honestly, I’m pretty picky in what I read. I don’t read a lot of bad books. And those I do read are not so bad that I completely regret the time I spent reading them. Normally, even when I don’t like a book, I’m still glad that I read it to know I didn’t like it.

So I’m going to come at it from the angle of awesome. What book was just so amazing that I wish I could re-read it again, for the first time? (BTW: The obvious answer here is Harry Potter, but I’m going to try to think outside the box).

I tried to think of a book that I not only thoroughly enjoyed the first time through, but that contained an element that simply could not be experienced the same way in a re-read. A book that managed to knock my socks off and make me yell or jump or stay up way past my bedtime because I needed to finish.

And this is a pretty recent release, but it meets all of the above qualifications. In spades.

The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen is the first book of the Ascendance Trilogy. It’s a mid-grade fantasy about a group of boys reluctantly training to impersonate a prince. And it’s phenomenal.

I was happily enjoying this book the first time I read it, and then all of a sudden it blew my mind. And while I wanted to re-read it again immediately after finishing, the experience wouldn’t have been the same as that first time.

[VAGUE SPOILERS FROM RANDOM OLD MOVIES TO FOLLOW]

 

 

 

It’s like knowing that Malcolm was dead the whole time.

It’s like knowing why Andy wanted the rock hammer and the poster.

It’s like knowing who Keyser Söze is.

It’s like knowing what’s in the box???

It’s like knowing he never left the bank.

It’s like knowing that he is Tyler Durden.

 

 

 

[END VAGUE SPOILERS]

It’s just not the same the second time.

For my full (glowing) review of The False Prince, go here.

Thanks for stopping by, and I’m excited to see what you picked as your “unread” book (either so I can have the awesome first-time reading experience, or so I can avoid it like the plague, depending on how you approached the question).

(Bonus points if you can name all those movies)

Top Ten Tuesday (June 12): Beach Reads

Welcome to another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by the fabulous folks over at The Broke and the Bookish!

In celebration of summer and sun and flip-flops, this week’s topic is:

Top Ten Books I’d Recommend As Good Beach Reads

Of course, I live in a completely land-locked state, so I’m going to have to think of these as pool reads instead of beach reads, but the concept is the same. Minus the sand and the salt.

Also, please forgive me for being a bit dense, but I’ve never understood the concept of “beach reads.” I will personally just take whatever book I’m currently reading to the beach and continue reading it. My reading environment plays a very small role in my reading selection.

So, that said, I tried to think of books that I enjoyed, and that I wouldn’t be embarrassed to be seen reading in public, in a bathing suit. Because being in a bathing suit in public…that’s enough. I also tried to pick books that wouldn’t evoke any serious freak-outs, like ugly-crying. You could possibly do a dignified single-tear-trickle with a couple of these, but that’s not so bad in public.

I’m kind of all over the place with this list, genre-wise. We’re going to assume that’s okay.

 

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Gifted by Liz Long

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

Hourglass by Myra McEntire

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

The Selection by Kiera Cass

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Do you have books you designate as “beach reads?” And what does that mean? Please help me clear up this mystery.


Top Ten Tuesday (May 29): Recent Books I Hope Are Still Read in 30 Years

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme brought to us by the fine folks over at The Broke and the Bookish, so we can all make bookish lists to our hearts’ content.

The topic for this week is:

Top Ten Books Written In The Past 10 Years That I Hope People Are Still Reading In 30 Years

Ooh, this one is hard. Most of the books on my shelf are either really old or really new. And most of the really new stuff, even books I really enjoyed, I don’t see standing the test of time. Many contemporary titles make a lot of references to the technology and culture of today, and may seem too dated to the teens and adults of 2042. So most of what I’ve come up with either deals with the past or the future, or fantasy worlds. Those seem a lot more likely to age well than books that are firmly grounded in the present.

I’m going to stick to fiction, since that’s what I review on this blog, although of course there have been some wonderful non-fiction titles that have come out in the last 10 years.

Also, I know this may be cheating, but I’m going to include a few series where the first book may have come out more than 10 years ago, but the series continued into the past 10 years. My apologies for playing fast and loose with the rules.

What kills me is I have a few books on my shelf right now that I suspect would make this list if I had read them yet. But alas, I haven’t had time. C’est la vie.

That said, here’s what I’ve come up with.

10. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I hesitated to put this one on the list, because I kind of hope that our obsession with “reality” entertainment will have faded in 30 years, thus making the book less relevant. But it is still a moving look at the effects of war on society, and while I’d like to think that war will also be irrelevant in 30 years, something tells me that’s just a dream.

9. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Such an interesting and unique way to tell a story. And I assume the vintage photography will only be cooler 30 years from now.

8. Ender’s Shadow series by Orson Scott Card. 

This follow-up series to the Ender’s Game series (which has already proven it can withstand the test of time) is exciting and thought-provoking science fiction. The first book was released in 2000, but the series is still continuing, and the most recent book, Shadows in Flight, was just released this year.

7. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. 

A beautiful story set during one of the darkest times in our history. I hope it moves future readers as much as it moved me.

6 The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen.

An enchanting and marvelous medieval tale that will appeal to young readers of all ages. I wouldn’t be surprised if this starts showing up as required reading in schools.

5. The Help by Kathryn Stockett

This book is in turns amusing, heartwarming, disturbing, and inspiring. It’s a simultaneously entertaining and thought-provoking look at racism and discrimination in our not-too-distant past. In 30-years, hopefully readers will be much more removed from racism, but it will be good for them to appreciate where we came from.

 4. The Maze Runner by James Dashner

I’d imagine that even 30 years from now, there will be a market for pulse-pounding, adrenaline-pumping speculative fiction. 

3. The Tawny Man trilogy by Robin Hobb

This one’s a big cheat. I’m assuming that if you’re going to read Tawny Man, you’ve already read the Farseer trilogy (first book published 1996) and the Liveship Traders trilogy (first book published 1999). But even if all anyone in the future read was this series, they’d still be treated to an amazing fantasy adventure.

2. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

The first book in this series, Outlander, came out more than 20 years ago, but this series is actually still going on, so I think it counts. The most recent book, An Echo in the Bone, was released in 2009, and the next in the series, Written in My Own Heart’s Blood, will be released in early 2013. This is a beautiful historical romance with a touch of time travel thrown in. It’s already lasted 20 years – why not 30 more?

1. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

Again, the first Harry Potter may have been released in 1999, but the series continued through 2009 and introduced so many people — young and old alike — to the wonders of reading through magic and fantasy. I have no doubt that The Boy Who Lived will age well.

Review: The False Price by Jennifer A. Nielsen (@nielsenwriter @Scholastic)

Received from Scholastic for review.

The False Prince is the first book in a new mid-grade medieval fantasy trilogy from Jennifer A. Nielsen. I received it in my big box of awesome from Scholastic, and am so glad it was in there. This book is seriously fantastic.

The Plot

The False Prince is the story of Sage, a 14-year-old orphan struggling to survive in the fictional kingdom of Carthya. At the opening of the book, Sage is purchased by Conner, a wealthy nobleman. Conner also purchases three other boys similar in age and appearance to Sage. The boys aren’t sure of the reason for Conner rounding up orphans, but they know it’s probably not good.

Soon, Conner reveals his plot: he intends to groom them to impersonate Prince Jaron, lost prince of Carthya, so that one of them can take over the throne and save the kingdom. They will have two weeks to transform into Jaron. One of the will be selected for a future of luxury and power. The other three, Conner implies, will not have much of a future at all.

Through the two weeks leading up to Conner’s selection, Sage and the other boys struggle to learn all the skills and knowledge befitting a prince, from swordplay and horseback riding to reading, table manners, and the history of Carthya. Their competition is fueled by the knowledge that not being chosen by Conner will result in a fate worse than any they faced in their previous lives as orphans.

My Thoughts

This book was so much fun to read. It was a refreshing change of pace from many of the other books I’ve been reading lately. The False Prince is a witty and engrossing story that doesn’t have a ton of action or adventure, but has plenty of intrigue fueled by engaging characters.

Sage narrates the book in the first person, but he only ever lets us know as much as he wants us to know. So there were several surprises throughout the course of the narrative, when Sage finally decided to clue us into a past action or motivation.

I loved the characters in this book. Nearly all of them were nuanced, with no clear-cut bad guys or good guys (at least until the end). Even Conner, with his devious and treacherous plot, keeps you guessing as to his true motivations. And while Sage starts out disliking his fellow princes-in-training, he eventually forms a tenuous friendship with them as we understand that they, too, are just 14-year-old boys that are in over their heads.

As for Sage himself, he was clever, witty, and reckless. He was frustrating at times, but what 14-year-old boy isn’t? It was exciting to see the story unfold through his eyes. And although Sage is indisputably the hero of this story, he has definite weaknesses and flaws, which is kind of refreshing. Too often I think male protagonists are just good at everything, and it gets annoying. Sage can indeed be annoying, but it’s not because he’s The Awesomest Ever. It’s because he’s a kid, and kids can be kind of annoying. But he was also likable and charismatic, and I was completely rooting for him.

And the story…I just loved it. It’s a fairly simple story that takes place almost entirely in the same setting (Conner’s estate). But the challenges the boys face, the constant threat of what Conner will do with the boys who are not chosen, and the slow revealing of the nature of the royal court of Carthya, made this book hard to put down.

Actually, it was impossible to put down. I thought I was going to put it down and go bed, and then a huge twist completely woke me up. So I wound up reading the entire thing in one day.

Although this is the first book in a trilogy, the ending wraps up the events in this book neatly. So you won’t find yourself frustrated with a cliffhanger ending. I kind of hate when a book ends on a cliffhanger, then I have to wait months (or more) to find out what happens. This one is open to sequels, but doesn’t need a sequel for you to feel satisfied.

I’d recommend this book to anyone, be they young teens or adults, male or female. It’s easy to read, totally engrossing, and left me feeling utterly content and happy at the end. Needless to say, I am eagerly awaiting the sequel!

Content Guide: Contains violence