My favorite character would probably be Fink, an errand boy for a band of thieves. Though that might have had something to do with needing to get a new review out. I kept returning to read, needing to know what happens to Jaron. The conclusion of the conflict is pushed off continually.īut despite all that, I did enjoy the book. The climax felt artificially drawn out, as Jaron should have died innumerable times but is saved again and again by lucky breaks. The good guys win despite overwhelming odds, the main character’s reckless plans pay off. Other than a couple small twists, the story plays out predictably. Certainly, his viable choices to prevent war are few, but there must be one more realistic than this. For example, his entire plan to save the country depends on his singlehanded overthrowing of an entire pirate army. Jaron constantly makes poorly-planned and foolish decisions and is saved by wild luck every time. However, in other ways, it is worse than the first book. The action ramps up and the stakes increase. The unreliable narrator of the first book is dropped for the sequel, so I felt more connected with the point-of-view character than I had before. In a way, I liked The Runaway King better than The False Prince. Time is short and friends are scarce and it seems that death is inevitable. He stakes out alone with a desperate plan-find and destroy the pirates. With both the pirates and Avenia ready to declare war, and with a court largely in opposition to Jaron’s decisions, no simple options remain.Īlternatives in short supply, the new king must abandon his people to save them. Mere weeks after Jaron is crowned, an assassination attempt brings a dooming but not unexpected message-Carthya has ten days to surrender, or the pirates will attack.

The runaway king