Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Seven Princes-John Fultz

Seven Princes

John Fultz

Orbit, Jan 3 2012, $15.99

ISBN: 9780316187862



In the southern section of the High Realms overlooking the Cryptic Sea, King Trimesqua of Yaskatha leads the celebration of the Feast of Ascension. Elhathym the stranger arrives at court informing the monarch his time is over as he has come home to reclaim his city. Irate at this affront, the king splits the self-acclaimed sorcerer’s head. Not long after his men dispose of the corpse, the ancient necromancer returns and executes the ruler. Trimesqua’s teenage heir Prince D'zan escapes.



D'zan visits neighboring Mumbaza and Khyrei and realms beyond with a call for arms to kick the usurper off the throne before the sorcerer turns to their kingdoms. To the far north bordering on the Giantsland, King Vod of New Urudum suffers from dementia. His oldest son Prince Fangodel meets and betrays the naive D’zan while magical lethal assaults leave the kingdoms in chaos and peril. Unsure who to trust to help him on his quest, D’zan finds a possible ally in Fangodel’s youngest sibling Princess Sharadza while he and six other princes loosely align to combat the evil overwhelming the kingdoms.



The Seven Princes is an interesting quest fantasy that focuses on the intrigue and backstabbing between the ruling classes of the six kingdoms. The storyline is action-packed from the grim moment the necromancer offers to simply execute the King Trimesqua to keep the bloodshed down to one insignificant monarch and never slows down until the final confrontation between good and evil. The hero is an “assumed” coming of age protagonist, as readers never see his specific metamorphosis since he just matures with each new incident. Fans will want to tour the kingdoms with D’zan and his peers as their guides.



Harriet Klausner

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