The False Prince is the tale of an orphan boy, Sage. He is often getting in to trouble at the orphanage and has mastered arts of escaping and pilfering. One day, a rich aristocrat (Conner) comes to purchase him for his purposes. Conner has a plan of molding him to be the lost prince Jaron. The prince was supposedly killed by pirates four years ago, but attempts to find the body have all failed, so there is still the possibility, however remote, that Jaron still exists. We later learn that the entire royal family (King, Queen and Jaron's older brother) have all died in castle and that there will need to be a new ruler appointed. Jaron would be the only royal in place - if he were found. Conner's plan is to train an orphan boy to pass as Jaron to serve as his puppet king. To this means, Conner has purchased 4 boys and began to train them. He is ruthless and even has one boy killed in front of the others to show the only way out is to win the "contest" to be the "puppet prince". Sage will have none of this, and tries to sneak out on his own. He ends up being returned and suffering punishment. He remains honorable, and keeps his word to others - even when it ends up being less beneficial to himself. He truly likes to help others, even as he has no respect for those that abuse their authority. The book takes a few unexpected turns and follows a path to a satisfying conclusion that is neither telegraphed in advanced nor too far out in left field. Through the process we see the true richness and complexity of Sage's character.
In the False Prince, Jaron is pretending to be a street thief, even though he is the rightful heir to the throne. In this sequel, he is royal, but goes back to the street in order to help stave of a war with his kingdom. He grows as a person, realizing that while there are people just trying to take advantage of his position, there are many people are truly his friends He also starts to realize his romantic interests and how they play with the political needs of a king. The storytelling is great. It remains very suspenseful, with the turns just plausible enough to be believable. It is a book that is difficult to put down. The world is developed just well enough to serve the purpose of the story. The world appears medieval in character, with swords and knives as the primary weapons. We also get a general feel of the geography. (There are some cliffs and water down by the pirates.) The details are just enough to serve as a backdrop for the fast-moving plot and the development of character. The author also does a brilliant job of letting the evil characters bring about their own destruction, while enabling the "good guys" to remain noble.
