"A Confusion of Princes" by Garth Nix

Early in my reading of A Confusion of Princes by Garth Nix, I said, oh, this is a poor man's version of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game--less violent, less anguishing, far simpler. And now that I've finished it, I'm going to stick to that assessment. Somewhat. That's not to say it isn't a good story or that it is a retelling of Ender's Game. It is a good story, for what it is. And it really isn't Ender's Game. For, alas, it lacks passion and dramatic conflict.

Prince Khemri is one of the chosen leaders for the empire and he has been raised in isolation under special circumstances: His body and his mind have been enhanced. He is, truly, faster, smarter, and stronger than other humans. Of course, there are thousands of other "princes" just like him, especially selected to rule the empire. Once Khemri is old enough, he's put into training with other princes (and here's where the book is similar to Ender's Game). But something happens to our Khemri. Seems he's even more special than even he's imagined and may be destined to be the next emperor. Then Khemri falls in love and, well, that's that. No more dreams of running the empire for him.

I like the idea that love can conquer an evil empire. But the empire actually helps him achieve what he wants. There's no conflict. And what little drama there is (near the end of the book, a bunch of top princes fight it out Hunger Games-style) isn't really all that exciting.

I'd probably recommend this book to kids who I don't think are ready for Ender's Game. The enhanced princes are a nice concept for science fiction. But I think they'll find Khemri a bit boring, like I did.

I also seem to be one of the only librarians in the county who bought it for the juvenile section and will move it to my library's YA section ASAP. The young hero doesn't not explicitly describe his sexual encounters, but does have them many of them with programmed courtesans and notes how different sex is with a real human woman.

Comments

"The Fifth Season" by N.K. Jemisin

I’m a horrible blogger. Several times this past year, I thought I should just quit this. But I keep being drawn back. So, I’m going to do a little catching up and see how well I remember some of the books I read much earlier this year. Stay tuned. Today, however, I’m just going to write about one. I’ve been singing the praises of The Fifth Season all year even though I’m late to the party: It was published in 2015, and Jemisin is well-known as a gifted writer in the sci-fi and fantasy world. Since then, she has come out with the next two books in The Broken Earth trilogy and has won the Hugo Award three years running. No author has ever done that, let alone a black, female author. Back in 2015 she was the first African-American to win the Hugo for Best Novel. Actually, this year’s Hugos were dominated by women as female authors won in all the major categories. This is important. I’ve been noticing odd twitter posts lately about how women really don’t play video games or ar

"Beartown" by Fredrik Backman

I’m about to be overly effusive: I loved Beartown by Fredrik Backman and I think it is one of the best books I’ve ever read. (See Tangent 1.) I even love the cover. Backman lured us into his Swedish world of curmudgeons and the neighbors who love them with A Man Called Ove and his other novellas. But this isn’t A Man Called Ove . This book has a much larger scope. This feels like the book Backman has always wanted to write but had to wait to give to us until he developed an audience. You got it, bro. I will read whatever else you write in the future. This book more deeply develops his ideas about communities. It is also about parenthood and all the responsibilities that go along with it. It’s about family and best friends who are like family. It’s about belonging. It’s about sorrow and happiness. And there’s some hockey. (Tangent 2.) You will hate some of the parents (Kevin’s, William’s). You will love some of the teens (Amat, Maya, Ana, Benji, Bobo, Leo...). Be prepared

"The Boy at the End of the World," by Greg van Eekhout

I’m very grateful for The Boy at the End of the World , by Greg Van Eekhout. It’s a good, though not outstanding, book. More important, it fills a gap: science fiction for 3 rd -5 th graders. Because at some point during the school year, a teacher will assign a science fiction book report and I will have a hard time recommending books. I grew up reading science fiction and fantasy. And we know how much I like dystopian fiction (a lot). I have no problem finding good science fiction books for teens. In fact, some of the other librarians are tired of me telling teens (regardless of the assignment), “You must read Feed . Everyone should.” Or “You have to read Ender’s Game . You'll love it.” But younger kids come into the library looking for science fiction and it feels like there’s nothing very good. Most of them balk at the length of The True Meaning of Smekday (by Adam Rex), no matter how hard I sell it. They shrug their shoulders at The City of Ember (Jean DuPrau), even when I

Stacked Shelves

Search This Blog