The Forgotten Prince

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Lothian Books (2006)
ISBN: 073440882X
$14.95
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Reviewed by Lorraine Cormack, Jun 2006

The Forgotten Prince is an excellent novel for young people, but like many of the Quentaris novels there is no apparent reason why it should be set in Quentaris. It does, however, share many of the strengths and weaknesses of other Quentaris novels.

The novel features a strong female lead - Crocodile Sal is an apprentice thief sitting her prac exam. This potentially humorous idea is well carried off, and strengthened by Sal's delightfully acerbic approach to life. Sal's lively character was one of the significant pleasures of this novel.

Of course, all does not go smoothly for Sal, and she quickly finds her exam complicated by her efforts to restore a Prince to his throne (and, not incidentally, claim the hefty reward for doing so). At this point, one of the weaknesses of the novel emerged. There are certain themes that appear repeatedly in Quentaris novels, and anyone who had read a number of these novels recently was likely to solve the central puzzle in about thirty seconds flat. Mind you, it wasn't a very complicated mystery, and many young people will see the solution quickly regardless of how many Quentaris novels they've read.

Another thing I disliked about The Forgotten Prince was that it concluded with a chapter in which the main players explained to someone else (the Archon) what just happened. This struck me as clumsy and somewhat contrived, and it would have been better if some of the things explained in this last chapter had been more fully revealed through the action in earlier chapters.

The other notable weakness of this novel was shared with most Quentaris novels - it makes no use of the possibilities of the rifts. Quentaris is a city located near cliffs riddled with rifts that allow travel to different worlds. Most Quentaris novels all but ignore the rifts. In this novel, they are used once to travel to another world - but the characters might just as well have used a carriage to travel to the next town. The rifts were essentially irrelevant.

Despite that, this was a particularly enjoyable novel. Much of my enjoyment was based in the characterisation, not only of Sal but of those around her. This story could have been set almost anywhere; it was the lively and thoroughly engaging characters that kept my attention, far more than either the plot or the setting. While it is unlikely that young readers will see much of themselves in Sal, I suspect that many will wish they could claim her as a friend.

The novel was well paced, and had a fair degree of action. Apart from the last chapter, which was slowed significantly by all the explanations, it moved along nicely and kept a reader caught up in what was happening. The author has a good ear for dialogue, and managed to be amusing without ever looking as though he was trying too hard.

Overall, The Forgotten Prince is an enjoyable and above average read for young adults.

Lothian Books (2006)
ISBN: 073440882X
$14.95
Buy this book
Go Back to The Quentaris Chronicles
Go back to Reviews page
Reviewed by Gillian Polack, May 2007

This book is a charming romp. Sal is an apprentice with the Thieves' Guild and is determined to pass her prac exam. Unfortunately, her prac exam lasts three very dull months. During this time she has to hold down an ordinary job (boring) and then betray her employers (uncomfortable) by stealing something of great value from them (the only interesting bit of the whole test). Sal has to disguise herself as a non-thief and look respectable. She has to learn a new dialect and sound respectable. When she goes into a shop she has to purchase the items she wants. It's all wrong.

As her imposture nears the end, everything suddenly becomes much, much more wrong. Politics intervenes. Politics and mystery and rather a lot of mayhem. Gypsies and assassins and strange identities. Can Sal keep her head above water, her body safe, and still pass her test?

My favourites amongst the Quentaris books are the one that don't take themselves too seriously. The books that play with intrigue and the possibilities of life in such an odd city. The Forgotten Prince is one of these. There is a rather stronger feel of a living town underneath the character-play than some of the other Quentaris volumes and Sal is a particularly engaging main character.

It's not a perfect book. The plot is occasionally too convoluted and twice it requires just a half page too much explanation for comfort.

And it has twins. Or maybe not. Maybe it just has lookalikes and imposters.

The trouble is that a whole chunk of the plot revolves around whether or not one of two men is Prime Timaris, and the other trouble is that I am very tired of the number of twins or lookalikes or confusing doubles in Quentaris.

If I were writing a tour brochure it would be “Come and visit the magical city of Quentaris. Avoid the feuding factions. Be nice to the Thieves' Guild. Hire a Guide and explore the Famous Rift Caves. Don't panic if everyone looks the same because the citydwellers import twins when we can't grow them ourselves. Quentaris prides itself on the double-images you see along the streets and it hides singletons away in the darkness, along with the trolls.”

In case you haven't encountered one of my earlier Quentaris reviews, this is the very last in a series of reviews and yes, there have been an inordinate number of twins in the books I have encountered. Every book had a different reason for lookalike siblings or strangers, and some of the resemblances caused lovely sequences of events - as The Forgotten Prince does - but this reviewer has sworn off reviewing books featuring certain kinds of physical similarity for a while. “Quentaris - visit the Rift Caves to escape the ever-increasing numbers of doppelgangers that roam the city.”

More seriously, while mostly the language flows and the tone is light, just occasionally The Forgotten Prince has a laboured feel, as if the words aren't entirely comfortable together. The narrative and characterisation are strong enough so that this isn't a major problem. Although I admit I dislike the punctuation of the dialogue on page 101. Feel free not to share my annoyance.

The Forgotten Prince is a little tongue in cheek and has a pleasant charm. Sal is a spunky heroine about whom I wouldn't mind reading more. It's a shame the series has been cancelled, because it would have been interesting to watch her progress through the ranks of Thieves: she is someone who is going to end up in an interesting place, and her progress would definitely have been worth following. Collins does particularly well in highlighting some of the difficulties Sal has to face in learning different parts of Quentaris society and in not relying on magic for simple answers to interesting problems. There are enough unexpected twists in the plot to create a twisty, merry tale.

The Forgotten Prince is a lively read, and I recommend it.