Civil War is brewing in the
kingdom. Rival nobles are out for blood and the threat from outside kingdoms
grows ever stronger. What most people don’t know is that the royal family is
dead, a secret that one of the King’s low ranking regents and advisors has been
keeping a secret.
Four years ago, the King’s youngest
son disappeared. Rumored to have been murdered by pirates, with his body never
found some still hold out hope that the young prince will one day return and
unite the kingdom. That is at the root of Connor’s plan. He has searched every
orphanage in the kingdom, looking for boys he thinks might fit who the prince
would look like now. He has chosen four boys, all of the age and with similar
facial and body structures to the king and queen, Sage is one off those boys.
Sage, while young, is head strong
and a fairly clever thief. While the other boys look at the possibility of
ruling with pleasure and want, Sage scoffs at the idea of being a puppet king
for Lord Connor and his agenda. Fighting the training Connor and those in his
camp are forcing on the boys, Sage continues to be defiant and headstrong,
often at danger to himself and the few people he has come to know and care
about.
There is also something that Connor
isn’t telling the boys, Sage knows what people look like when they are lying
and avoiding the truth, and when one of the other boys gets killed Sage realizes
there is much more to Connor’s plan than trying to protect and unify the kingdom.
What Connor and his men don’t know is that Sage has a secret
too, a boy living on the street learns tricks, and hears rumors and secrets
that people try to keep hidden. Trying to turn Sage into the long lost prince
might be the worst thing Connor has ever done.
I loved this novel. I liked the
twists and turns the author wrote, some of which I figured out or at least
mused on, while others came out of no where and wasn’t until I really thought
about it did I realize the hints that Jennifer Nielsen left throughout the
novel. It has a historical fiction feel without is being based on a specific
event. This is a novel that can stand on its own, but I cannot wait to read the
sequel when it comes out!
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