Seven castle guards watched the small wooden bridge that led from the castle grounds to the village below. All seven were at attention, all with shining swords and iron-studded shields, all eyes watching the village.
Then, from their left, six warriors rose from a small wrinkle in the landscape, swords drawn, bellowed their warrior cry, and attacked.
The Prodigals by Jerry Ross is the fourth book in the Stay in the Castle series. It continues to expand this allegorical world, tying in characters from all the books so far. And while it delivers a short but exciting story, it also carries a message of redemption and hope.
Table of Contents
Plot
As the back of the book states, “[The Prodigals] is the story of Angus and Willow, a prince and a princess who have both suffered the consequences of poor choices. This is a story of repercussions and regrets, but mostly, it is a story of redemption.”
This story picks up two years after The Chosen One. Rinc and Vala are to be married in just days, and all is going well. But two things stop Vala from fully enjoying the coming union—two of her friends won’t be there. Both are in the clutches of darkness, one voluntarily and one captured. Both are out of reach, unwilling or unable to come and support Vala.
But after Risa, one of the children of the castle, is kidnapped, things get even worse. The entire ceremony is halted as word spreads—Ubel is still after Vala, demanding her in exchange for Risa.
The castle residents spring into action, devising a plan that just might bring everyone back alive. But they’ll need the King’s strength if it’s to work.
The plot is, generally, engaging. However, I did find one thing odd. It’s clear that the castle has the best of soldiers housed inside, and they seem to have more than enough to hold off any potential threats. Yet, when they go after Risa, they send a small number of troops.
Even more confusingly, they send five people to overtake an entire castle. It is believable how they manage to get into the castle and it makes for a cool scene, but they could have sent a much larger force to attack the castle head-on. It is possible that there are good reasons they would want fewer soldiers, but no reasons are provided.
Also, until around the middle of the book, there’s little meaningful conflict in the story. One subplot serves to create some conflict, but it’s resolved early on and is set aside for the remainder of the book. It doesn’t move the plot forward, only (in my view) fills space and keeps the reader interested until the real story starts.
But even with that taken into account, this plot is far from bad. It’s a well-crafted story for such a short space.
Characters
Everybody from the Stay in the Castle series comes together for this book. The girl from book one gets a name—Willow—and is a prominent part of the story. Rinc, his prodigal brother Angus, as well as the kids rescued later in the book, are important in The Prodigals. Vala from The Chosen One is a main character. Other minor characters from previous books, as well as new characters, show up.
Because the installments of this series are so short, the characters are mostly one-dimensional. This isn’t a critique, just an observation. They are, however, distinct enough to prevent being confused for each other.
Theme & Content Warnings
As the book’s own synopsis says, this is a story of redemption. Willow and Angus, the prodigal princess and prince, play a major role. Angus demonstrates how he has fully returned to good, and Willow struggles with regret and shame over her past choice.
There are some vague mentions of female characters being physically abused in the past, and twice one girl catches the attention of some guards, luring them to follow her, in order for soldiers to get past.
Sword fights occur on occasion, but without gore or even mention of blood. Though in the climactic fight of the story a character is stabbed in the eye.
Overall
I enjoyed how The Prodigals, and every book of this series, continues to expand the world and give life to nameless and undeveloped characters in previous books. Despite a couple of issues I found with it, the story is enjoyable and fit for any fan of medieval or fantasy stories with a strong Christian theme.
Thanks for reading, and I’ll write you in the next one!
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