Review: The Lost Prince

The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa

My rating:         Fantasy

The Lost Prince is a follow-up to Kagawa's Iron Fey series, featuring Ethan Chase, the younger brother of Meghan (the main character in the earlier books). I actually haven't read all of the first Iron Fey series, so I wasn't sure if I would get everything - and maybe I didn't - but I didn't feel like I was missing out. While I would say this story stands well on its own, I found that having read the Iron King, it was interesting to see the change in the characters - with Ethan all grown up (well, into a teenage rebel phase), and Meghan settled down.

I really liked Ethan's character. He's deliberately hostile, trying to make himself unlikeable, but he's still incredibly sympathetic as he only does it to try and keep people away from the dangers presented by the fey. He's also got a knack for swordfighting, which is something I love to read. The main girl in the book, Kenzie, is an ordinary teen in Ethan's class who tries hard to chip away at his defences - and then is dragged into the Nevernever despite his attempts to shield her. Together, they have to negotiate the Faery lands and try to stop a mysterious new type of fey who have kidnapped their half-phoka classmate.

I really enjoyed the character development and the action in this story, and I'm sure there will be future novels in the series to probe further into the mystery of the Forgotten.