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.
Shadow Throne is a Medieval war book. Gunpowder makes a brief appearance. However, most of the battles are fought with swords, daggers and clubs. Jaron goes about doing things that seem patently stupid, yet they all work out in the end. The story-telling hides some of the aspects of the plan from the readers, letting us discover things just as the other characters are discovering them. However, even these plans often have some bits that require a bit of dumb luck. I didn't see how they could get out of some of the pickles they get in. However, once things are explained afterwards, it all makes sense. The romantic interests also take a number of turns. We are lead to believe things are set up for a courtly marriage, before all things turn around and everyone can marry for love rather than politics.
