The False Prince

3.5/5. As far as intentions go, this was pretty well-executed. The book felt like it was introducing fantasy politics to a younger audience. There was just enough complexity and twists to the central intrigues, but a lot of things felt a little simplified or resolved too quickly for my tastes.

Although I said “fantasy politics”, there's actually nothing fantasy about this book at all. There is no magic system or any kind of supernatural phenomena here. This book is a sort of AU historical fiction since it seems to be set in a pseudo-medieval setting with a court, ruling government, and royal family typical of that time period. Honestly I was a little surprised given that Fantasy is the top-voted genre fort his book here on Goodreads.

The characters barely really grow on you. I probably cared the most about Imogen, being the one female character of any note in this book (the betrothed princess whose name I can't remember may also be a contender if she had appeared more), but otherwise I really didn't like most of the other characters. I did come a bit close to caring about Sage's outcome but it was fairly obvious that nothing bad was going to happen to him because the entire title and series seems to be about him. The other two boys in the story, Tobias and Roden, were supremely unlikeable from start to end and I haven't changed my mind about them yet.

Thoughts about the ending:

I had some fleeting thoughts about whether Sage was Jaron through the book but always dismissed it as too weird a development. Apparently I should've listened to my gut. So this is the not-so-false prince! The twist was a little tropey but I thought it was still well-executed. The lead-up to the grand reveal was pretty exciting and I was really looking forward to how Jaron was going to not only unveil himself but how he was going to serve it to Conner. The actual serving was not bad but a little disappointing. I liked how we got everything tied up neatly, why Sage was so upset about the imitator's gold, and the final reveal that Conner was also behind the deaths of the royal family, but I also really wanted something even more dramatic and more oomphy. I can't tell what's going to happen with Amarinda and Imogen but I hope it's not going to be some weird love triangle... I liked that this book had no romance in it. I also thought it was a very odd development that Roden turned out to be the “turncoat” in the end and somehow Tobias is the one who immediately swears fealty to Jaron. Maybe this was meant to be another twisty moment considering that Sage's relations with both had been the opposite for the entire book, only to have the turn tables right at the end, but I thought the development didn't make sense and didn't have any lead-up.

Overall, I did enjoy this book for what it was and I feel like I'd recommend it to people who want to get into court/political plots but are intimidated by the seriousness and complexity of so many of them.

The False Prince is the tale of a nearly fifteen-year-old boy, Sage, who is purchased from an orphanage by a nobleman looking for boys who could pose as the missing Prince Jaron. Sage's rebellious, intractable nature is both a point in his favor and a point against him: it's this personality that made him a potential false prince in the first place, but the nobleman would prefer a prince who was a bit more agreeable. And Sage's life depends on being selected as the prince since the nobleman will kill to keep his secret...

Though I personally tend to prefer books with less straightforward prose and more complexity than The False Prince, I also found it to be an entertaining, readable book with amusing dialogue and a narrative voice with personality. I expected the ending but it was still quite satisfying, especially since I do enjoy stories about rogue-like characters who are steps ahead of everyone else. It may not have surprised me or stood out as particularly unique, but I thought the author did a wonderful job of keeping the book engaging and above all fun.

3 1/2 stars

Full Review on My Website

I listened to this one. Nice short interview with author at the end; shocked to hear she was inspired for the main character by an Eddie Vedder song. Must listen to Guaranteed. Must get the next book. This book has some issues - mostly with the pacing at the beginning and dialogue. However, it improves over time with both.

The plot pulls the story along. Characters develop; some more than others.

I discovered this one when it was set to be republished in paperback format, but was blessed enough to get my hands on a copy of the hardcover. I dove right in and started reading and was enjoying it right for the start and then it was a free audiobook for one week during the Sync Summer Reading promotion and I was delighted to snatch it right up and have been listening to it on my computer narrated by Charlie McWade and it is excellent! This first book in the Ascendance Trilogy has definitely made it to my favorites list and you can count on my desire to read the rest of the series as it becomes available. Note on the narration, great choice in the voice of Charlie McWade, he definitely portrays Sage quite well.

Last year you may recall that I read a middle grades book about a boy named [b:Jinx|15818254|Jinx (Jinx #1)|Sage Blackwood|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1349997100l/15818254.SY75.jpg|19258981], he had a promising start followed by tragic events and became rather incredible, and now I'm reading the second book in his series to continue his story where interestingly enough he has crossed paths with a missing/presumed dead prince of a kingdom on the verge of war (in [b:Jinx's Magic|18085456|Jinx's Magic (Jinx #2)|Sage Blackwood|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1373660623l/18085456.SY75.jpg|25337566] ), but the point is that is an incredible read and it has been a good long while since I've had an incredible read and [b:The False Prince|12432220|The False Prince (Ascendance, #1)|Jennifer A. Nielsen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1585683740l/12432220.SX50.jpg|16221764] for me will sit right up there as an incredible read.

Sage is an amazing character to watch grow through out the book. He is witty and fun, he is humorous and entertaining and has a great flow. This book is a bit of a mystery and while I could perhaps see what might have come to pass as I read along I was entirely entertained while doing so. The cast of characters is really good with the elements of innocence, evil, redemption and forgiveness all thrown in. I was truly dreading stopping reading to go on with life and delighted when I got to get back to the book again.

Jennifer A. Nielsen is a new author to me and not one I will likely forget. I'm definitely adding her to my lists to watch. Hopefully I can get my hands on [b:The Runaway King|15703770|The Runaway King (Ascendance, #2)|Jennifer A. Nielsen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1351133357l/15703770.SY75.jpg|21365340] and find out what happens next!

I received this product free for the purpose of reviewing it. I received no other compensation for this review. The opinions expressed in this review are my personal, honest opinions. Your experience may vary. Please read my full disclosure policy for more details.

When I originally read this book I immediately wrote a review, which for some reason failed to save. I wasn't happy. The details are probably not nearly as crisp in my mind as they used to be, but I feel I should definitely attempt to write some things done. Not necessarily because I feel they are useful for anyone, but because I would like to remember the reason for my rating and at least some things.

Some books are stars because they just lack something that would elevate them into something higher. Sometimes the book itself is fine enough, but they have some mistakes that are just impossible to ignore to me.
Here I think it's a bit of both.
Some years back the country's youngest prince was lost in a pirate attack as a child. Of course everyone mourned him but life goes on and things seemed to be going fine. They still do, except... someone managed to poison the king, the queen and the remaining prince, so the country is heading for a bloody war to decide who will be the next ruler. Unless the lost prince, presumed dead, get found somehow.
Some people are trying to solve the situation with a fake prince, someone approximately right for the role, but one crafty nobleman feels he could really, really train one of the young boys e had taken from the orphanages. Sage, our protagonist is one of them and the boy has some serious issues with his attitude, but maybe that's what's needed to sell himself as the true prince.

Well, here is the thing, for all the dark implications of the book, it's still one for children. Very possible I'm the one who has issues here, but somehow it just felt like the pressure wasn't all that much. The atmosphere wasn't build up to be truly oppressive or for me to feel the true weight of things. Then again, Darren Shan can do it. He wrote his vampire books for children and somehow you felt it being heavy. So I don't know. Was it too short? Not willing to really go hard? I don't know.
Of course the same thing made it a very fast and easy read. Maybe for children it's a bit less traumatising than The Saga of Darren Shan, which I have to admit was much. This one, though, felt fine as a palate cleanser and something to read when you don't have to concentrate too much. It wasn't taxing.

Now the thing that I consider a mistake. It's the big plot twist. The big reveal, which is so incredibly nonsensical I couldn't help being surprised. Really, it wasn't unexpected because it's such a brilliant idea, but because it's so convoluted and just stupid you hardly believe anyone would actually do such a thing.

Don't get me wrong, I think I will read the rest of the series when I don't want another super heavy,, gazillion page monster. But I don't think this is an essential read as far as fantasy OR middle grade goes.

Have a nice day and don't rule this out completely!

This book hooked me from the start and it was impossible to put down. I honestly did not expect to enjoy this one so much. There isn't anything new about the storyline but my god was it done so so well. We are following an orphan boy named Sage who is competing against two other boys to be chosen to pretend to be the long lost son of the king for a really good reason... if you're curious as to why then this is your sign to go read it. If you read fantasy a lot then you will probably see where the plot will go from the beginning like I did, but I still had so much fun and can't recommend it enough. It's fast paced, lots of tension and so well written, I can't wait to pick up the next one.

I guess this is fantasy, in that it's set in a land that's not on actual Earth, but there's no magic (as far as I could tell anyway)? It's not the kind of thing I normally read but I'd heard some good things, and I needed some audiobooks for travels. The beginning kind of dragged–I'm not super into ~palace intrigue~ or ~plucky orphans~, but I did like Sage's voice.

But then like halfway through the twist totally took me by surprise, and from then I was hooked! It did seem a little cheap since Sage had been narrating the whole time, so why would he keep that a secret? But, like, for the drama, I guess? Who cares, it worked.

Also I kept wondering who Imogen was and I was fully expecting some kind of late reveal, but nothing?? Is that going to be later in the trilogy? She can't just be some random servant, right?

I liked the audiobook narrator as well–perfectly snarky.

Fun. I think this one was ruined a bit by listening to it rather than reading it – the reader wasn't bad, but was very much present in my mind, meaning I couldn't entirely lose myself in the story. It took a weird turn in the middle, not so much plot-wise but storytelling-wise. But it's interesting enough that I may try to pick up the next at some point.

It is one more YA novel where I didn't get a very good feel for the world – the author was too caught up in a few (pretty standard) characters and telling the general plot. I'd like to know more about the world, the way it feels, looks, operates. I think authors can get lost in worldbuilding and that's never good, but YA novels too often forego setting the stage, establishing the setting. This is one of those novels. Maybe now that we've established some characters etc, she'll build out the world a bit more in the next one?

My daughters & I guessed the major plot twist very, very early, but it still didn't hurt our enjoyment of the book. In fact, I spent most of the book admiring the double-sided nature of things, how if you don't know the twist, such & such an action or word seems to say thus, but if you do know, it instead says something else entirely.