Book Review: "The Chosen Prince" by Diane Stanley

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

Alexos is first in line for the throne, but when an incident leads to disappointing his father, he does the unthinkable. Years later he has kept it a secret and attempts to fill the shoes of his father. With the help of his friends, he hopes to defeat an invading King.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Alexos is rather unsure of himself and wants more than anything to please his father. Although he also longs to fit in with other boys. He loves his little brother dearly.

Teo is spoiled and has lived a life unlike his older brother. But he is rather sweet and adores Alexos.

Leander is a fellow student of Alexos who is rather outgoing and confident.

Aria is a young girl who is in the second half of the story. She is close to Teo.

Peles is a country boy that ends up competing in the same race as Alexos.

PACING

The pacing is slower for the most part. Although there was one scene that was quite fast paced, where Peles has to help Alexos escape while an invasion is going on. Unfortunately, portions of the book are slowed down by long bouts of exposition by Alexos, Teo and even Aria.

STRUCTURE

The story takes place in two parts, when Alexos is younger and still a prince and when he is older. There is a seven year gap, perhaps to imply that both brothers grew up apart from each other. I am not sure why it was necessary.

ALEXOS AND HIS FATHER-SPOILERS

Alexos struggles to please his father in the beginning of the book. He has a hard time standing up for himself. But they barely have any scenes together. We get one more scene with the two of them in the second part of the story, when Alexos is much older and more confident in himself.

But their relationship seems to have been transformed from bad to worse. And we didn't get to see it gradually transform. Instead it came as a complete surprise to me when Alexos was sarcastic and bold. I wondered where this came from.

But then his father is killed, and we get told about it. Alexos reaction is surprising, he starts sobbing for the man he never knew and the relationship he never got to repair. But I never felt he attempted to repair the relationship so the loss felt hollow to me.

ALL GROWN UP?

After healing Alexos suddenly shows wisdom and maturity when he meets a woman who disrespects him. But this feels unearned. When did he gain this wisdom and from who did he gain it from? It's as though he aged five years instead of a few months.

ALEXO'S FRIENDS

After Teo's disappearance, Alexos has to gradually heal and work to make himself stronger. I assumed that he became friends with the boys during this time as we got a quick scene showing them together, explaining they wanted to help.

So when they go off to find Peles, suddenly they are all the best of friends. I wish I had got to see it develop. Although only Leander is given any real attention. And I still knew nothing about him except for what I was told by Alexos, that he was likable and easygoing. There is one or two scenes where they are sarcastic to each other but it feels forced.

Also, when Alexos sees his father he says he has friends, and his father is surprised. But we never got to see these friendships form, so it all falls flat.

SINS OF THE PAST

While traveling to see Peles, Leander and Alexos discuss the past. Alexos said he was upset at being mistreated and Leander apoligizes. The problem with this bit of exposition as that the reader never got to see any of this mistreatment and has to imagine this relationship is evolving into something new. When they never got to see what it was before.

PELES AND EQUALITY

After Alexos' teacher tells him about povery, he decides to visit Peles once he is healed. And once he finds Peles he convinces his father to let him leave the army. I guess he realizes his father's injustices and thinks he is doing a good deed.

Anyway, when they tell Peles this both him and Leander give him a talk about equality which I found kind of out of the blue. As it had no place in Alexos' world as far as I could see. I think the idea was to show he could be better than his father.

Also, Alexos praises Peles but he barely knows him. Yes, he knows he used the praise money for roads, but it's all very surface level stuff. And saying he has a “good heart” seems strange and unearned.

VISIONS OF TEO-SPOILERS

Alexos gets visions of his brother, who he believes to be in the afterlife. Maybe this was supposed to add suspense but it seemed obvious that Teo wasn't really dead. But Alexos thinks it's the goddess Athene being kind showing him this. Even though he basically murdered his brother. But this is supposed to help heal him of his guilt.

THE GODDESS INTERVENES-SPOILERS

A big problem in the story is that the goddess Athene steps in twice to move the plot along. She does the work the characters don't have to, which unfortunately just makes them look weak and pointless.

The first time is when Aria is found in the King's camp and a vision magically appears, revealing the King is a liar and a murderer. So all of his men turn on him and eventually execute him.

Another time is when Aria won't forgive Alexos for what he did to Teo. You can't really blame her. Luckily the goddess steps in again and shows her a vision of Alexo's entire life and throws in some other revelations as well. So Aria doesn't have to learn to forgive and trust Alexos which would actually take some character development. But she does get to give Alexos a message.

NOT HIS FAULT-SPOILERS

So it turns out that the terrible thing that Alexos did to Teo...wasn't Alexos at all. It was Athene, who controlled him and made him do it. After all, Alexos did explain to his teacher that he didn't know why he did what he did. He had no explanation for his own actions.

Now, that might sound awful and horrible as it caused Alexos a lifetime of regret and self-hatred, but she was just being merciful. Aria explains it was all about love and forgiveness and it definitely wasn't abusive and controlling. So Alexos feels all better.

CLAUDIO'S STORY

The man who raised Aria and Teo was brother to King Pyrato's father. But he had to run away with his daughter and ended up on an island. Turns out the goddess was using him too. I feel this was kind of forced in at the second half of the story and no real effort was made to make the pieces fit together.

FORGIVING ALEXOS

Teo has to forgive Alexos so he does so...in a long, drawn out scene of exposition similar to the one Aria later gives. But why couldn't Teo just forgive him for a real sin? Why couldn't he struggle with this forgiveness? Everything seems swept aside by the goddess to the point where the characters feel like puppets in their own story.

ARIA & ALEXOS

Aria sees Alexos and immediately falls in love with him. It feels forced and the many flowery, romantic descriptions of her emotions don't help.

CLIMAX

Alexos and his friends end up on a strange island where they meet a girl. There Alexos learns the truth about his brother but unfortunately stands by for the majority of the climax. We learn the truth about King Pyratos, our supposed villain.

CONCLUSION

The story isn't a bad idea, it's just full of flaws.

Alexos never has a real character arc that the reader sees, instead we jump from one Alexos to the next, where he is suddenly calm, wise and composed with a stranger and then bold and sarcastic with his father.

The relationships are weak as well. Teo and Alexos barely get any time together so it's hard to feel invested in their relationship. Aria meets Alexos and falls in love in a matter of minutes. We never see the hardships between Leander and Alexos, so when they discuss their past I was left wondering why I didn't get to see this relationship when it happened.

But the biggest problem is the deus ex machina element. The goddess steps in mulitiple times to solve the characters' problems, not just once, but twice. This makes them look useless as well as making it so no characters have to develop.

Alexos doesn't have to face the fact he hurt his brother, because he never did, it was the Goddess. Aria doesn't have to trust and forgive Alexos, because the Goddess steps in and explains that the prince is just a victim. And Teo doesn't have to let go of his hatred at a past sin, because the sin never occurred.

I give “The Chosen King” one and half stars.

Book Review: "Silver Boy" by N.M. Browne

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

Tommo escapes his life as a slave and meets Akenna, a young woman with her own problems. They end up together trying to escape trouble.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Tommo is resigned to the fact that he is going to die from his disease. He has no family ties and only wants to be free.

Akenna is a young girl who is rather rough around the edges. She is used to being independent and is skilled when it comes to catching and deboning fish. She can lose her temper quite often.

Fallon is the Protector of the land, which is basically like a king (and the villain). He fears those with special gifts called Inward Power. The only one he loves is Vevena.

Kalen is the chief spellstone wielder for Fallen. But he is rather weak willed and fearful. He spends some of his time with Vevena.

Haversnatcher is the father of Vevena. When he was younger he used to hunt down those with inward power.

Vevena is a young woman married to Fallon against her will. She has a spell on her that causes her to have little control over her own thoughts.

PACING

The story starts with Tommo on the run, which is great. But we get some explanation about priests and such, that kinda slows things down. We meet Akenna quite fast, so that's good as well. Then Tommo recalls something from his past, revealing how difficult it was to be a spellgrinder.

Basically information is peppered throughout, but I was never dying to know more. Perhaps because Tommo himself had no real relationship with anyone before Akenna. So the story doesn't usually feel fast, even if there is action in it.

TOMMO'S DECEPTION

Since Tommo worked with spellstones (which allow people to cast their own spells) Akenna assumes that he can use what's called Thaumaturgy. He never corrects her, because he has to rely on her for food and a ride. Akenna is annoyed when she finds out the truth but it didn't feel very important. I kind of expected it to snowball and all come to a head.

TOMMO'S GIFTS

Tommo isn't aware of any gifts if he has any. But he does find a dead dolphin who speaks to him and says only he can free the dolphn. Also, later he turns invisible. But he seems to have no real control over these gifts and they are kind of confusing. I feel like the only reason they are there is to make the reader think that Tommo is the real threat, when it turns out to be someone else.

THE WORLD

In this story the world has something called Thaumaturgy and Inward Power. The first is more common and less powerful and the second is more dangerous.

They worship a goddess called Urtha who had priestesses who claimed inward power was good and not to be condemned. I admit, most of this went over my head, as I had no idea what this had to do with Tommo. He does go to her temple to claim sanctuary, but it still seems to have nothing to do with him.

There is a mention about equilibrium of thaumaturgy but I found it quite confusing.

We get other hints of history, like the Blue pox, which killed all the priests, as well as someone called Gildea.

I don't know quite why I found it all vague. Perhaps because a lot of information was given at once, or if it was given it was such a small hint that I didn't even notice, like the birds with faces. The first time they were noted, I didn't think they important. And when they mentioned one protecting Akenna, I still had no idea why. I think the fact that Fallon hated birds went completely past me.

THE PRISONER-SPOILERS

An old powerful man named Gildea was once kept in Fallon's prison. He introduced thaumaturgy to the Island. He also said that spellstones were living beings and not to be ground and used casually. Although he died Fallon still feels like he is threat.

PERSPECTIVES

We first meet Tommo, and get the story from his perspective. Then we meet Fallon and see some of his story. Eventually Vevena and Haversnatcher, and Akenna.

I expected to get to know both Vevena and Haversnatcher better then I did. And I thought it was odd that the villain had his own stories. I didn't really feel like there was much too him, certainly not enough to get into his head.

I found Vevena mainly played the part of victim with not much else to her character. And I never really got to know Haversnatcher. I felt like I was meeting these characters long after I should have. Like they had a story before this one with a firm relationship that had been shattered. Since her and her father were never really together, I just had to take their word that they cared deeply for each other.

Not that they are not important to the plot, it's Vevena who finds out that Gildea isn't even dead. Although he supposedly dies anyway. And Haversnatcher is the one who has to hunt down Sibeal.

OUR VILLAIN

Fallon came across as two dimensional for someone whose head the reader gets into. He loves Vevena, I guess because she is pretty. But he also married her so her father could do as he wills.

He put a spell on Vevena so she can't control her thoughts completely and he has zero chance to win her over. He doesn't even try (then again he is described as being ugly so maybe he knows he hasn't a chance).

And yet Vevena notes he has never laid a finger on her, so he does respect her in some sense. Perhaps realizing he has turned her into a childlike doll. Although this is never expressed.

SIBEAL

I suppose Sibeal is a type of mentor character, although she barely spends any time with Akenna and Tommo. She was important because of the necklace she gave Akenna, and the fact that she is really the only person that Akenna knows of to run to when in trouble.

HEALING VEVENA

When Tommo finally meets Vevena he tells her to take off all of her jewelry. Turns out that they were what was keeping her enchanted. I thought it was strange that Vevena had never taken all of her jewelry off. It might have kept her from knowing, but how would Tommo merely telling her to do something make her do it? I don't think the spell made her obedient, just stupid. Perhaps Tommo should have been the one to remove the jewelry, making it clear that Vevena had not power to do so herself.

AKENNA & TOMMO

I thought the two of them played well off of each other. Tommo is quite willing to give up many times, and you can't really blame him. And yet Akenna is so stubborn that she just won't let him do it.

What starts out as a relationship of convenience (Akenna gives him food and a ride but expects payment) gradually turns into a friendship. It becomes clear that Akenna needs someone to care for and that Tommo needs to be cared for.

Both characters are victims, Tommo from his slavery and Akenna from her abusive father. And yet for the most part, they don't bring it up. Neither deny their abuse, but they don't whine about it and make it their whole lives. Although Akenna does get revenge on her father.

THE BIRDS-SPOILERS

All throughout the story there are these strange birds with human heads on them. They are not just creepy but mysterious. At first Tommo assumes people made them with spellstones but later they keep showing up. Once they even defend Akenna, like they know her.

I didnt think much of them, I admit. And when they turned out to be crucial to the climax, I shouldn't have been surprised.

After all, Vevena notes that Fallon hates birds and is always killing them. She just doesn't know why. And later Haversnatcher sees a bird with the face of Gildea on it.

THE TRUTH ABOUT AKENNA-SPOILERS

Turns out that it's Akenna who has inward power. There are hints, like the fact that while she was rejected by Sibeal, she was given a necklace for some unknown reason. Also she says spellstones feel wrong and Tommo agrees but notes that none of the other spell grinders seemed to notice.

THE TRUTH ABOUT KALEN-SPOILERS

Turns out that Kalen is Tommo's father. He thought his son was dead. The thing was, I didn't really expect Tommo to find his father, because there weren't any hints about it. We just learn that he is.

AKENNA'S DECEPTION-SPOILERS

When Akenna disappears, she later shows up with her father. She says she never liked Akenna and it was all a lie. Tommo believes her and feels miserable. But I didn't really buy it, as it was obvious that her father was abusive. Why would she side with him over Tommo, who has done nothing bad to her? I kind of wish I had hesitated, and really wondered if it had all been an act.

CLIMAX

All of the main characters end up together. The birds with faces are brought together along with the last part, an eagle. The birds have to pick a body for Gildea, the savior, to return to. Eventually it chooses a body but everyone is confused at the outcome. Tommo is healed from his affliction.

ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL

I was kind of disappointed that Tommo was unconscious at the climax. He gets carried around and finally is healed near the end.

EPILOGUE-SPOILERS

We learn that Akenna and Tommo are married, which is sweet, but I don't think it was completely obvious that they had romantic feelings. They were just so alone and needed a friend.

CONCLUSION

Both Akenna and Tommo are likable characters who, while both being victims, don't act like the world revolves around them. They compliment each other nicely and both rely on each other and this reliance develops into a friendship.

But I didn't really care much about the other characters, Vevena and Haversnatcher. And Fallon was rather a dull villain who seemed to love Vevena just because she was pretty.

The world itself had potentional and I do feel like effort was made. But it just never went deep enough. I would learn something about it, and instead of jumping out at me, I kinda just skimmed past it, not seeing the relevance to what was currently happening.

Certain aspects of the plot didn't fell well put together, like Tommo's father being alive. Or the idea of the birds being so important.

I give “Silver Boy” two and half stars.