In the supernatural-saturated world of today’s teen fiction, Jennifer A. Nielsen’s The False Prince offers a breath of fresh air with its medieval but decidedly non-magical setting.
Nielsen’s world runs on grit and guile instead of swords and sorcery, and uses the mundane but powerful tools of death and politics to drive the plot, as opposed to the all-too-common epic sagas shaped by forces beyond the ken of the protagonist. This universe has been constructed with a deft hand, and manages to be both utterly believable and unbelievably exciting.
Where Nielsen really shines, though, is in her creation of characters who operate in this universe and with each other in a manner that is beautifully fluid and natural. Character motivations only come in shades of grey, and combined with the nuanced portrayal of these motivations a tapestry of a thunderstorm is created.
My one complaint with the novel lies with its plot. Nielsen takes a gamble and attempts to pull off a plot twist that in most novels would have utterly fallen apart. While she does execute it well, it feels contrived and she polarized characters, creating distinct “good guys” and “bad guys” as opposed to the morally ambiguous cast of the first part of the novel. It’s not easy to detect, but a lot of people—myself included—will probably see it coming.
Regardless, the novel is truly worth a read, eschewing romance and fantasy for well-done action and intrigue.
I give this novel 4.5 out of 5 flames.
