Thursday 20 December 2012

The Lost Prince - Julie Kagawa


Pages: 377
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: 23rd October 2012
Edition: US paperback, purchased copy


Don’t look at Them.
Never let Them know you can see Them.

That is Ethan Chase’s unbreakable rule. Until the fey he avoids at all costs – including his reputation – begin to disappear, and Ethan is attacked. Now he must change the rules protect his family. to save a girl he never thought he’d fall for.

Ethan thought he had protected himself from his older sister’s world – the land of Faery. His previous time in the Iron Realm left him with nothing but fear and disgust for the world Meghan Chase has made her home, a land of myth and talking cats, of magic and seductive enemies. But when destiny comes for Ethan, there is no escape from a danger long, long forgotten.

My name is Ethan Chase.
And I may not live to see my eighteenth birthday.

I’m a huge fan of Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey trilogy and I was really sad to see it end so when The Lost Prince was announced, I’m pretty sure I cheered.

The Lost prince begins twelve years after the end of The Iron Knight and the cute, scared, curly-haired little Ethan of the original series is an a surly, closed-off and rather angry sixteen-year-old. For the first few chapters it was a little difficult to make to mental jump, but I soon forgot about it and fell in love with him. I mean, he watches Firefly. I was intrigued as to all of the dealings he had had with the fey in the interim to make him so, so angry towards them. A few incidents were revealed, but I have a feeling that there’s some more to come. But even more interesting was his intense resentment towards Meghan for leaving and Ash for taking her away.

Speaking of Ash and Meghan, there were quite a few familiar faces that I was more than pleased to see. The first to pop up, unexpectedly, is the fabulous Grim. I do love that cat. Of course, Meghan and Ash made an appearance, which was all too brief for my liking. I missed them a lot. It was really interesting to see Ash through a stranger’s eyes though. He seemed to be back to the cold Winter prince of The Iron King with only hints of the Ash that Meghan brought out. Puck, of course, hasn’t changed a bit and he’s as brilliant as ever.

Julie Kagawa also introduced some major new characters, one of the biggest being the delightful Kierran. Now, I figured out who he was immediately as I had read the final novella that Julie Kagawa released, Iron’s Prophecy, which was set after the end of The Iron Knight. The hints at Kierran’s mixed heritage and the problems and appeal of it were really subtle and clever and it made me smile every time it made an appearance. There were also elements of his parents in some of his actions which were a really nice touch. I also loved how a few of the older characters saw Kierran and Ethan as rather similar to two other cheeky, former best friends.

The other big introduction in the feisty, stubborn Kenzie who speaks to Ethan on his first day of his new school. She’s a fantastic character that has a lot of history and her own motivation behind her. Her reasons for getting involved with Ethan and the dangerous world of the fey has dimensions that don't really come up too often. It was rather fantastic.

I loved The Lost Prince. Even though it didn’t quite hit the heights of the original series for me, I’m still eager to read The Traitor Son and get lots in the Nevernever once again.

I purchased a copy of this book from The Book Depository.

Sophie 

2 comments:

  1. This sounds like an interesting new series! I've still only read The Iron King, so it will be awhile before I get to this book, but I'm glad you enjoyed it!

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  2. I wasn't as in love with this first book as I was for the first book in the Iron Fey series, but I still liked it and I'm intrigued by the rest of the series..

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