The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielson

The first time I heard someone compare The False Prince: (Book 1 of the Ascendance Trilogy) by Jennifer A. Nielson to Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, I admittedly balked a little. I mean really, Harry Potter AND The Hunger Games? But I put the hardcover in my Amazon cart anyway.

The second time I heard the comparison made, I decided to check my library system to see if I could get it sooner. All the copies in the county were checked out. And there were quite a few.

The THIRD time I heard that it was AS. GOOD. AS. HARRY POTTER. AND THE HUNGER GAMES (!), I said, I need this book now...and downloaded it to my Kindle.

So, how did it measure up?

Considering my HIGH expectations, it did well.

I can't say that it was quite the page-turner that The Hunger Games was, but I certainly didn't want to stop reading at any point either.

I enjoyed this book as well as the first few Harry Potters (BLASPHEMY! you say), but whether the series becomes a true classic remains to be seen. I mean, that 7th Harry Potter book was genius. Pure storytelling genius.

Here's a summary:

The royal family is dead but few members of the Kingdom know. One of the princes, however, was lost at sea years ago. A power-hungry regent chooses four orphans who look similar to the missing prince and begins training them. One will become Prince Jaron. The other three, knowing too much of the treacherous plan, will be killed.

Sage, an unruly boy full of spunk, is our narrator. He doesn't want to be a prince, but what choice does he have? Full of twists and turns, we watch this unique character face challenge after challenge in his unusual way.

And it is Sage's character that makes this book great. Jennifer Nielson did an excellent job crafting this boy...making him someone stubborn yet lovable. He's always fighting the system, but the more we get to know him, we see that his intentions are honorable and worthwhile. I don't know if I loved him at first, but I watched him become a man and grew to LOVE his character.

While this book has some adventure, the violence is more comparable to the first Harry Potter novels than any of The Hunger Games books. One orphan is killed early on to prove that the regent is serious about his evil plot, but it isn't graphic.

So, despite my balking (like a chicken), I consider this book a 5 star read. Adventure, a little romance, a good fairy tale...

If you want to know if Sage ranks up there with the likes of wizard boys and the tributes of district 12, you'll just have to read it and decide for yourself.

Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby

Here's another quick recommendation. As you know, I've been a bit of a slacker on the blogging front lately.  During my recess, I have read many books. Some turned out to be unworthy of Deliciously Clean Read status. Others were forgettable.

Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby
was one that stuck with me, and I wanted to make sure to mention here at Homespun Light.

Amazon has the following plot description:

Critically acclaimed author Matthew J. Kirby deftly weaves a stunning coming-of-age tale with chilling cleverness and subtle suspense that will leave readers racing breathlessly to the end.

Trapped in a hidden fortress tucked between towering mountains and a frozen sea, Solveig--along with her brother the crown prince, their older sister, and an army of restless warriors--anxiously awaits news of her father's victory at battle. But as winter stretches on, and the unending ice refuses to break, terrible acts of treachery soon make it clear that a traitor lurks in their midst. Solveig must also embark on a journey to find her own path. Yet, a malevolent air begins to seep through the fortress walls, as a smothering claustrophobia slowly turns these prisoners of winter against one another.

Those charged with protecting the king's children are all suspect, and the siblings must choose their allies wisely. But who can be trusted so far from their father's watchful eye? Can Solveig survive the long winter months and expose the traitor before he manages to destroy a kingdom?

Besides being a great page-turner, this book has some great themes. It talks about the importance of stories, what it is like to be a middle child, bravery, and selflessness.

This book kind of has a fantasy feel, but you certainly won't find any fairies or goblins in it.

I highly recommend it. If you enjoy books like The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen (review here), check this one out!

The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry

I have decided that I love Bloomsbury...the publisher. I love them. (Of course, I'd love them more if they published one of MY stories...)


Anyway, the latest review book I got from them is this one.



The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry.


And guess what? We are very lucky today to have the author with us for a little interview. Yay!


But first, let me tell you a bit about this wonderful new YA fantasy.


Lucinda Chapdelaine's parents died in a carriage accident years ago, leaving her to live with a distant uncle. They toil in a jewelry shop under the direction of her demanding step-aunt.


One day, a mysterious lady comes into the shop with an even more unique jewel. This sets a chain of events into motion that will change Lucinda's life. She'll befriend a goat, find her childhood home, meet a prince, and be sent to her death.


I thoroughly enjoyed this debut novel by Julie Berry, so I contacted her for an interview. Here goes...


Hi Julie,
Thanks so much for agreeing to answer a few questions...

First of all, I'll start with the flattery (you can blame Shannon Hale for that). The Amaranth Enchantment is a stunning debut novel. The plot is quick and fresh, and the characters are realistic and engaging. Readers who enjoy books by Jessica Day George, Robin McKinley, and Shannon Hale are sure to find a gem in The Amaranth Enchantment. Anyway, I devoured the book (and found it quite delicious.)

1. Tell us a bit about you.
I grew up on a farm in western New York, the youngest of seven children. I attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as an undergrad, majoring in communication, and have worked in software tech writing, marketing and sales for most of my career. I'm married with four young sons, ranging from 4 to 12 years old. I earned an MFA in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College of the Fine Arts in January 2008. I love gardening, quilting, and singing -- I'm a choir director at church. And, I write a humor column for the MetroWest Daily News.

2. How did you get the idea for this story?
It was a long process with many false starts. I started thinking about a decaying but once-magnificent house full of memories. I thought about falling from Paradise and how that might happen. And I thought about a fairy-tale heroine with a sidekick who rescues the fallen one. From there, the pieces gradually came together.


3. How did you break into publishing? Do you have advice for the hopefuls like me who haven't been able to YET?
I think several things made a difference for me. My newspaper writing experience taught me to write quickly, for an audience, paying close attention to voice. My years in grad school forced me to write extensively, think and write critically about what I was reading, write lots, and revise lots. Many people do publish without an MFA, of course, but it made a great difference to me. Beyond that, just writing daily, diligently, and being willing to write honestly and revise painfully makes a big difference. Setting all that aside, I met an agent at a conference, followed up with her, and she decided to represent me. Her efforts led to the publication opportunity with Bloomsbury.


4. Who do you most closely identify with in The Amaranth Enchantment? Is there a bit of you in Lucinda? Beryl? The Prince?
I always say that everything I write is autobiographical. It may be true that every character I write is in some way a reflection of me! Probably I feel closest to Lucinda, though, among those you've mentioned. We spent the most time together. I appreciate her flaws and her persistence.

5. Congratulations on the awesome article in the Boston Globe! How do you think being LDS/Mormon has influenced your writing? Why do you think more and more LDS women are writing for teens?
More writers are writing for teens, period, Mormon or otherwise, so Mormons are part of a larger trend in this instance. But I think there's a natural fit between many Mormon writers and children's/YA literature, inasmuch as there's more overlap between youth literature and LDS standards. Mainly, though, I think LDS women are encouraged to develop their talents and pursue their goals, so when the Harry Potter tidal wave hit the world and re-confirmed the legitimacy and vitality of young adult literature, many LDS women rose to the example set by J.K. Rowling, herself an inspiring writer-mom. I think this is true whether or not someone likes Harry Potter or is drawn to fantasy. The entire children's literature universe was expanded and energized by its Potter encounter.


6. How do you balance being a mother and writer?
It's not easy. I'm not sure that I do balance it. I don't write when the kids are awake and needing attention. I write when they're asleep, or elsewhere. I need to focus in order to write, and that's hard to do when they're here. And they need me to focus on them when they're around. So I need to search every day for pockets of time when I can write without taking time away from them.

7. And finally, tell us about any new projects you are working on.
Right now I'm hacking my way into a mystery. Alas, much of it remains a mystery still to me! Beginnings tend to take me quite a while. I need many rewrites and start-overs to find the right entry into my story.