The Forgotten Prince | More than Conquerors #1

“All four of us,” Tridan continued after a moment, “we’re products of Endor, but that doesn’t mean that we have to be like those who came before us.”
Each of his friends met his serious gaze, and he could tell they were in agreement.
“Someday, we’re going to change this kingdom,” Tridan told them. “Someday, we’ll show Endor that we can be more than conquerors.”

The Forgotten Prince

The Forgotten Prince was just published by Kaitlyn King a month ago, and as soon as I saw the map a couple pages in I was sold. Today I’ll talk about the great parts of the book, the confusing parts (which were thankfully not many), and why you should read this inspiring adventure.

Plot

A wicked king, a corrupt church, and a forgotten prince.

After his mother is murdered, Prince Tridan must flee the kingdom of Endor for the safety of a tranquil monastery. There he is looked after by Brother Paul and the other disciples, and there he learns to trust God with his life.

But before long, duty calls, and twelve-year-old Tridan is brought back to the castle to be with the rest of his family. He soon realizes the castle is rife with danger, and he has to dodge threats from even his own kin. He’ll have to become more than a conquerer to keep himself alive.

The genre of this book is quite different. I can’t say that I’ve seen something like it before. It’s almost alternate history, where the nations, conflicts, and people are fictional, but it could take place in our world. This also means that the characters often reference God—not a representation, but God as He is to us—and quote the Bible. This has inspired me for my own projects.

I also liked how King weaves all the individual characters’ stories into each other, and how they start at a distance but slowly come closer together.

Characters

All of the main characters of The Forgotten Prince are constantly sarcastic, which was a lot of fun. Although, they each have their own shade of humor, so it’s not repetitive.

Tridan, having grown up simply and without the pampering of royalty, is appalled by life at the castle. He gets in frequent arguments with his servant, who wants to feed Tridan breakfast in bed and commit other such atrocities.

Emeline was Tridan’s friend for his young life at the castle, but the two hadn’t seen each other in eight years. They quickly become companions again upon Tridan’s arrival in Endor. Emeline is caring, learning to be an apothecary, and saves the life of at least one of her friends.

Jazmine is a cold, callous hunter. In fact, she’s the first female hunter of her clan. But behind her frightful appearance, could she hide something tender? Only she herself knows.

Zoran is the commoner knight—born a blacksmith’s son, but inheriting a promotion to knighthood through his father’s bravery. He’s ridiculed by the true nobility in the castle, but, at least on the outside, bears it with grace. He’s mischievous and sarcastic and contributes several wild plans to the cast.

Theme & Content Warnings

The thematic content of the book is great as well. Bible verses are quoted at multiple times in relevance to the plot and a character gets saved. This is the kind of Christian fiction I want to write.

The story touches on a number of smaller themes, like controlling your tongue and remaining unspotted by the world. Also, a source of conflict is between two rival churches.

Overall

In the kingdom of Endor, there is a system of clans with different specialties. It’s some good culture-building, but it was confusing to keep track of them. I gave up on trying to remember which house did what. Though, it wasn’t vital to the story, so it’s not necessary to remember.

I would recommend that you read this in as short a time as possible. I had to backtrack a couple times to keep track of characters introduced early on who made appearances later. This is no critique of the book—more likely it was my fault for forgetting the character introductions.

There are two times when characters get totally knocked out but no explanation is given for what did it to them. For example, in one scene Tridan is strolling through the courtyard when something heavy slams into his solar plexus. But the next time we see him, he’s perfectly fine and makes no mention of it. Unless I missed something, this almost felt like a scene from a former plot thread that slipped through revisions.

I heartily recommend this to teens, as they are the primary audience. The Forgotten Prince is fraught with danger and surprise, making a good story for any adventure-loving reader.

And as always, thanks for reading, and I’ll write you in the next one!