Though not strictly YOUNG ADULT fiction I thought I'd review this debut novel by Liane Merciel here anyway, because it promises to be an entertaining series.
A fantasy, the novel has a medieval setting with magical elements. The story isn't told from one characters POV, but rather from the POV of pairs of characters. There's a young unwed mother and a surly knight; a religious knight and his female childhood friend; and the bad second-son prince and his faithful follower.
Out of this group the best characterization has got to be that of the bad prince who has his brother and his brother's family murdered. Merciel does a marvelous job of making his actions understandable and almost reasonable. The rest of the characters, though well drawn, aren't nearly as innovative and might possibly even sound familiar. But for the first book in a series -- which I generally never like -- it shows true potential.
The one qualm I have in regards to Young Adults is that the pacing of the first half of this book is very slow, as Merciel takes her time introducing places and characters (lots and lots of characters). In the last 1/2 though, the story really takes off and ends in as satisfying a fashion as the first book in a series can end.
Talking Points:::
Medieval, knightly setting with magical/religious elements.
Slow to begin as world structure is built up.
If you like to follow only one character, leave this one alone. I follows several groups.
Some violence, but nothing stomach heaving. No bad language that I can recall. Some mild 'adult' situations; one character is an unwed mother afterall.
Two occurrences where I was incredulous which I found distracting-- but hey, that could just be me; I'm pretty scrutinizing.
Suitable for YA (young adults) although that's not the target market.
Pam
Somewhere in the X-burbs
River Kings' Road
- Accelerated Reading level : unknown
- Hardcover: 400 pages
- Publisher: Pocket (March 9, 2010)
- ISBN-10: 1439159114
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