Introduction
Am I a day late with this? Yep. Someone may or may not have had a hectic day yesterday which caused her blog to totally slip her mind. So sorry. *glances at clock* Most of you probably aren’t checking this yet anyway. Right? XD
Moving on, a bit of review. Last month I embarked on the long journey to review Jennifer A. Neilsen’s Ascendance Series, starting with The False Prince. That book was AMAZING, and now you get to hear about the second in the series.
Ladies and gentlemen, announcing The Runaway King!
The Runaway King by Jennifer A. Neilsen
(As a warning, there might be spoilers in here. So beware. I’ll try to make sure the spoilers are alerted, but just sayin’. 😉)
I… may or may not have written this review thinking I was writing a review for The False Prince before realizing halfway through that I was copying the wrong notes. *fp* Which actually turned out to be providential, ’cause now I only have half of a review to write in my short amount of free time instead of the entire thing. XD
A kingdom teetering on the brink of destruction. A king gone missing. Who will survive? Just weeks after Jaron has taken the throne, an assassination attempt forces him into a deadly situation. Rumors of a coming war are winding their way between the castle walls, and Jaron feels the pressure quietly mounting within Carthya. Soon, it becomes clear that deserting the kingdom may be his only hope of saving it. But the further Jaron is forced to run from his identity, the more he wonders if it is possible to go too far. Will he ever be able to return home again? Or will he have to sacrifice his own life in order to save his kingdom?
Is it just me, or are these covers absolutely GORGEOUS?!?! I could stare at them for hours. XD
STAR RATING
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Content
Pros:
Magic–none that I noticed!
Sexual–a betrothal and some mild romance. Nothing else.
Violence–there, but very mild. We don’t get too much blood, and descriptions of wounds/fights are kept at a minimum. Think Wingfeather Saga style. 🙂
Respect–there are hints of chivalry throughout the story, something I appreciate. It was never very obvious, but it wasn’t totally absent either.
Cons:
Drinking–there is a bit of alcohol-ish stuff in here. A mention of wanting to “drowning your anger” with cider comes up, and there is a bit of implied drinking later in the story. No one ever gets completely drunk, that I remember.
Neutral:
Language–Jaron does not have a clean mouth, as we learn throughout the series. Most of the characters don’t. They “swear” and “curse” throughout the series, although the actual words they use are NEVER shown – or even hinted at. Some characters disapprove of the cursing, though I don’t remember of you see that in this book or future ones. 😛
Spiritual–throughout the story, we see several mentions of “the devils” and “the saints”. Jaron mentally taunts/requests things from the devils, believing that they are the cause of all the trouble he gets into and can grant him long life. Most of his interactions with them are half-joking, more of a way to make fun of somebody than actual worship. There are also a few mentions of how churches were left untouched during raids, as if out of respect. A priest plays a key role in people’s backstories. There is at least one mention of the “Book of Faith” and punishments in there, and a mention of confessing your sins to a priest. None of this is portrayed negatively – other than the devils, who seem more like mischievous imps than powerful beings.
Messages
Pros:
It is wrong to do nothing, when you could do something. (James 4:17)
Be strong and courageous. (Joshua 1:9, among other places)
Be humble. (Matthew 32:12)
Trust others. (Can’t think of a Bible verse off the top of my head for this one XD)
Don’t run from danger. (Luke 21:19, but applied to Christians)
Sometimes you need help. You can’t do everything alone. (Proverbs 16:18)
Cons:
None that I saw. (Yay!)
Morals
Pros:
Loyalty–Mott is about as loyal as they come, in contrast to most everyone else’s selfishness. Imogen is also quite loyal, though not in such a glaring way as Mott. 🙂
Courage–everyone shows courage at some point or another, but Jaron is exceptional in this area.
Cons:
Assumptions–Jaron tends to jump to conclusions and, even though he’s usually right, acts on them.
Defiance–in typical Jaron style, he is not going to stand for being pushed around. If you tell Jaron to do something, he’ll shoot back with a sarcastic remark and proceed to do whatever he wants. Not exactly a model trait, but Jaron wouldn’t be Jaron without this flaw. XD
Stubbornness–don’t argue with Jaron. Just don’t. XD
Gray Area:
Deception–Jaron lies throughout the story, but he does it for the good of others. The lies are not good, but without them things would have gone horribly wrong and innocent people would have been hurt. *raises hands in surrender* I have no idea about this one. XD
Theft–Jaron also continues his role as Sage and swipes stuff on a regular occasion. It is pointed out as a not-good thing multiple times, but he continues to do it with his regular flair. *shrugs*
Anger–another Jaron trait that is slowly getting worked on. *shakes head, smirking* This boy needs help. XD
Arrogance–ohhh, yes, Jaron is still every bit the snarky bragger he was in The False Prince. Once again, he can actually do most of the things he brags about, but it still comes across as a tad arrogant.
Technicalities
Pros:
Prose–Neilsen’s prose is nothing Tolkienesque, but it is rather similar to Andrew Peterson’s. She throws humor in with her easy-to-understand sentences, coupled with unique word choices that convey her meanings perfectly. Five stars for this part!
Characters–in case you couldn’t tell from like… everything above this, there’s quite the colorful cast in this book. Jaron, Mott, Imogen, Roden, Tobias, Fink… everyone is unique, relatable, and compliment one another quite nicely. 🙂
Plot–y’all. I might not be much good with guessing the twists and turns in a story, but this one… *shakes head* I could rarely, if ever, predict the next plot twist. Neilsen manages to bring her plots around full-circle while still maintaining a well-paced story.
Setting/worldbuilding–this book is set in the same world as the last one, with even more development as to the politics and people populating it than we saw in The False Prince. Aka, her setting/worldbuildng deserves at least 4.5 stars. 😀
Theme–in case you couldn’t tell from the Messages section, Neilsen does an EXCELLENT job of subtly weaving her theme in at the beginning, then unfolding it in all its glory at the end. Her themes are both biblical and unique, not to mention applicable. *applause*
Typos/grammatical errors–none that I caught.
Humor–Ohhh, yes. The humor. Y’all, this book is SO. FUNNY. If you’re looking for a light-hearted, but still impactful story with enough jokes to make you laugh, this is the story for you.
Cons:
None that I saw.
Favorite Quotes
“Everyone gets scared at times. It’s only the fools who won’t admit it.”
“I was never missing. I knew exactly where I was.” (*laughs to self*)
“What’s the point of gaining peace if it costs us our freedom?”
Wrap Up
*wipes forehead* Oy, that was a lot. XD What are your thoughts? Lemme know in the comments! In the meantime, for those of you who read last week’s post, my friend Adaline Harper has a message for you:
Hello wonderfully kind people, I am Adaline.
Before I joined the Young Writers Workshop, I never shared my work. I was convinced that it was awful. But then I joined and I met people like Joelle. I began to slowly share more and more of my writing, and to my complete surprise people actually said it was good! Eventually I took the next step, I shared my poetry. I don’t know if you have ever written a poem, but for me, poetry is pouring my heart onto a page.
One day Joelle approached me about her sharing my poetry on her blog. I was terrified, it was one thing to share my work on a website where I knew people and I knew they would be kind to me even if they did not like it because they were my friends. But her sharing in on a blog? Where no one knew me and they were free to share their real opinions? It was an entirely different thing.
But I trust Joelle, so I allowed her to do so. I’ve seen the comments you have all posted, your reactions to what I thought was mediocre poetry at best. I am so touched and grateful for your kind words I cannot begin to express it, you will never know just how much they have meant to me. It was such an honor to be able to share my poetry with you lovely people, and an incredible blessing to receive positive feedback. I truly mean it when I say thank you so very much. Have a wonderful day.
-Adaline Harper
Isn’t she sweet?
Ahem. Until the next post,
Take courage, pursue God, and smile while you still have teeth!
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