Jonathan Hunt listed THE FALSE PRINCE on his 2013 Newbery Reading List back in January already, the same time I was able to get a paperback copy in my hands through a Scholastic Book Order. Oddly enough, Amazon doesn't list the publication date until April, but since I was hearing things back in January I felt lucky to get my hands in on the action early! Which I rarely ever get to.
THE FALSE PRINCE tells the story of Sage, an orphan thief who finds himself recruited ('kidnapped' might be a better word) along with three other orphan boys, by a powerful man named Conner. Conner plans to pit the boys against each other in hopes of disguising one of them as the long-lost (and believed to be dead), young prince of a discontent nation. With certain death awaiting those Conner doesn't find worthy, each boy is determined to win his approval. As Conner's true motive begins to reveal itself, an even bigger secret surfaces that alters everything!
A strange sense of deja-vu came over me while reading this book. About halfway through I felt as if I had read this book before. Then it hit me . . . I had! Back when it was called THE THIEF by Megan Whalen Turner. Once I realized this, reading this novel became an interesting experience. Because I began to see everything differently. In fact, I began to realize that Nielsen was more than likely going to end her novel exactly as Whalen Turner had, by pulling the rug out from under readers. I even guessed how . . . just like Megan Whalen Turner! By using an unreliable narrator.
Novels with unreliable narrators are a tricky thing. When done well, they can blow readers away. When done not-so-well, they can leave readers frustrated, confused, and angry. Books like this almost seem to invite criticism. To me, it's different if the narrator has amnesia or is suffering from denial or something like that. But when the narrator is a perfectly healthy individual who is purposely hiding something from the reader, only to reveal it at the very end when the story reaches its climax, I tend to feel as if the author was merely out to "trick" their readers. Personally, I feel like that is the case with this story.
I admit, Whalen Turner's novel could be very guilty of this as well, but she went on to write an extremely complex series of novels, each one exceeding the previous in terms of brilliance. So it's easier to forgive her for tricking her readers. Nielsen has planned a trilogy with this cast of characters so it may be unfair to judge her yet. But right now, I can't think of any other way to describe this novel than to say it's THE THIEF's younger, easier-to-read cousin.
It's not a bad book. The psychological intrigue was interesting. I liked the suspenseful way the kidnapped boys began to compete against each other, yet, befriend each other and rely on each other in the same way. In the end though, I just felt sorry for the other boys because I was able to see through the main character's secret early on and they weren't able to see that they were competing in an unfair competition.
I suppose, if a younger reader has not encountered THE THIEF, and enjoys middle-aged suspense and mystery, this would be a good read. However, if that child reader is smart, and loved the taut storytelling on display in THE THIEF, I'm afraid they are going to put this one down because it just doesn't stand up when compared.
Maybe comparing it isn't fair. But THE THIEF was just that good. I couldn't help it.
Final Grade: B
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