Book Review: The False Prince

Review by Mikayla Rainbow, ninth grade

The False Prince is the first book out of five in the Ascendance series. The author, Jennifer A. Nielson, is a Christian, though this is not expressly shown in this book or the rest of the series. However, it is completely clean and fit for a broad range of readers.

This book starts out with a boy who goes by the name of Sage being taken out of an orphanage by a man named Bevin Conner. He finds out that Conner has also taken three other boys. Conner explains he has a secret plan, both dangerous and potentially rewarding, in which he needs to use one of the boys.

Conner tells them that the entire royal family from his home country, Carthya, has been killed, which may lead to a civil war. His plan to prevent this is to bring the younger Prince Jaron, who was believed to have died several years earlier, before the court to be crowned king. He was going to make one of the boys into that prince.

When the boys start their new lessons (swordsmanship, the history of Carthya, etiquette, horse riding, reading, and writing), Sage does not seem to care as much as the others and goes against Conner’s wishes. However, he soon must learn a lesson and puts more effort into his studies, trying to convince Conner to choose him as prince. After many secrets are slowly unveiled, plans unfold, and close calls are avoided, Conner is forced to choose his prince. He takes the new Prince Jaron to the country’s court to be crowned king of Carthya.

This book has been a favorite of mine and of anyone else I know who has read it. I definitely recommend it to anyone with a love of mystery, competition, fun and sometimes large twists, and/or adventure.

Check this book out from the church library.

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