The Lost Prince (The Iron Fey - Book 5) [Paperback]

We have all been here. There is a series of books that you just fall in love with, they ended so perfectly that you would never imagine the author going back into that world and disrupting what has already been a wonderful ride. Then one day out of the blue you see it, the confirmation that the author is doing just that. They are messing with your series! How can this be? What will happen now? NoooOOOooo I forbid it to happen!

Then you actually stop and think about it... The original series was so awesome how can the author mess it up that badly? And at the very least we may get to see some of our favorite characters again. hhhmmm... maybe this isn't such a bad idea after all.

Well those of you who have read and loved The Iron Fey series, you can rest assured. Kagawa has done an immaculate job with The Lost Price. It has everything that a good spin-off book needs in order for it to be remarkable and worthy of the love you have for the original series. There are great new characters and just enough 'page time' with the old ones to satisfy that craving.

The Lost Prince follows Ethan, Meghan's half brother. To be honest it is only fitting that everything should be ending with Ethan seeing how it was him being kidnapped in The Iron King that started Meghan off on her original journey. Ethan is human and at first you think, what could be so interesting about him to deserve an entire spin-off? Well Ethan has always had the Sight. He can see the fey around him and they have never left him alone his entire life. So although he is no part fey he is still very much tied to their world. I really felt for Ethan and the understandable torment that he has gone through over the years. His thoughts and actions are exactly how I would think a teen would react in certain situations and it was refreshing to read something that seemed so authentic in such a magical and unauthentic setting as the Nevernever. In other words I believed what I was reading. He is harsh, angry and sick and tired of everything fey and to be honest I would be also if I were him!

I have to say that for a moment I was in fear that there was going to be a love triangle but thankfully that did not happen. It is not that I hate the love triangle but it was such a large part of the original series and I just did not want to see that storyline again. But as I said it doesn't appear that will be happening so that made me very happy.

Because I felt the characters were so real and believable it made me instantly fall in love with them. I understood the decisions that they made and never really had the 'book thrown at the wall' kinda feeling that I sometimes get when silly decisions are made that I can not comprehend. We also get to see our fair share of old characters and all I can say is that I am so glad that I was alone at one point. When Puck showed up I honestly did a 'whoop' and fist pumped the air a few times, I was that excited. What can I say; I absolutely love everything about Puck!

So as you can tell I really enjoyed The Lost Prince and I am so excited to have another book in this series to look forward to. Kagawa has already titled the next book, The Traitor Son and as of right now it is listed as being published in September 2013. I know that is a long time to wait but I promise you it should be worth the wait. Do not hesitate at all to pick up this book because I really do think you will enjoy it if you liked The Iron Fey at all. There was so much action and it was lovely to have the story continued... I sound like such a fan girl but it is hard not to gush when you just liked something so much.

Christine
Rainy Day Reads

Note: I was given an ARC copy of this novel directly from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

If you loved Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series following Meghan, and were feeling a little sad to have reached the end of the series (they need to invent a term for when you get withdrawal symptoms for your favourite books as for me it is a common ailment)... fear not the world of the Fey is back in all of its colourful, if slightly twisted glory!

This time it is told from the point of view of Ethan, Meghan's little brother (if you have read the previous series, Ethan was the little 4 year old boy who started Meghan's adventure). Ethan has grown up into a sullen and resentful teen, shaped by his life of trying to avoid the Fey that only he can see. Despite being a bit of a whiny child at times (especially when he is reunited with his sister for the first time in years) you can understand why he acts the way he does, and can't help but love that he still tries to protect everyone. Kenzie, the lead female character and love interest for Ethan, is a feisty and stubborn girl who you can easily empathise with... hopefully the relationship between the two will develop more in future books.

The only flaw for me is that there wasn't nearly enough Ash... which I guess is right as it's not his story, but still I miss his snarky comments and attitude. However, you may be happy to know that Puck appears twice within the journey for brief fighting genius, and Grimalkin, one of the best characters ever to be written who is also a cat (well technically a cait sith), takes over his trusted role as guide through the trods of the NeverNever and is featured a lot in this story.

In summary, if you read and enjoyed the previous Iron Fey series, buy this book as you will love it. If you haven't read the previous series... Why on earth not - go read it now. While you technically could read this book on its own as most of the world is described, there are so many references to the other characters that you will not enjoy it half as much, so I strongly suggest reading them first. The reading order for the other series is:
1. The Iron King
1.5 Winters passage (a short novella in between books 1 & 2 - while not necessary I would definitely recommend reading)
2. The Iron Daughter
3. The Iron Queen
3.5 Summers crossing (another novella - didn't really add much to the story, but worth reading for more time with Ash and Puck)
4. The Iron Knight (possibly my favourite book as it is from Ash's POV.... swoon!)
4.5 Iron's prophecy (novella that leads into the Lost Prince)

(All of them are available together The Iron Legends (Iron Fey (Quality))

So much so that I read the entire book in one sitting!

Ethan, Meghan's half brother who has the 'Sight' has been trying to stop seeing The Fae all his life but with little success. He has been expelled from school after school for supposedly arson and carrying a knife. He is now at a new school where he suddenly finds there is also a half breed at the school by the name of Todd. He keeps trying to talk to Ethan but he won't respond. It's not until Todd goes missing and Ethan sees some horrible Fae creatures lurking around that he finally accepts he must ask his half sister Meghan, the Queen of the Iron Court to help him. Meanwhile, he is also being hounded by a pretty girl called Kenzie who is not put off by his bluff and rude manner. He doesn't want anything to do with her because he knows that anyone close to him can be hurt by the Fae.

After Todd goes missing, Ethan goes into the park where there used to be lots of Fae but now there are hardly any. He finds one Dryad called Annwyl who tells him that all the half breeds and exiles are just disappearing.

In despair, he goes home and takes from his drawer a letter from Meghan and a charm that will enable him to get into the Nevernever again. He doesn't want to use it but when he and Kenzie are threatened he does and they end up in the Wyldwood. Of course Grimalkin turns up and takes them to the Iron Court where he meets his half Sister again after many years. What he doesn't know is that he is now an Uncle to Kierran who is Meghan and Ash's son. Meghan invites Ethan and Kenzie to stay at the Palace whilst she finds out who or what is taking the half breeds and exiles. Feeling trapped and with no seeming way out of the Palace Ethan starts to fume......suddenly at the window a Faery appears and offers to help Ethan and Kenzie get back to our world. This is an offer he can't refuse so with Kierran as yet unknown to Ethan as family and Kenzie, they all escape.

Oddly Kenzie seems to accept the Nevernever without question (there is a reason for this but it would be a huge spoiler). Ethan finds that his defences are coming down around Kenzie something he promised he would never let happen after what happened to Samantha.

They end up after several fights with Goblins and the unknown nasty looking Fae back at Leanansidhe's exiled Court. Here, Kenzie offers a month of her life for the 'Sight'. Ethan is horrified as he knows that Faery bargains aren't always what they seem.

They get back to our world so that Kenzie can search the web for anomalies in Central Park which used to be full of exiled Faeries and half breeds. She finds a huge cave under the park so they head back to see if they can find the cave. They find it but where has Kierran gone? Annwyl who is obviously his girlfriend is terrified something has happened to him so they head towards the cave only to be attacked by the weird cat like Fae. Ethan has also been to see his Kali guru to tell him the story and is presented with two beautiful swords to help him kill these rogues.

The ending came rather abruptly so I suspect that there is another book in the offing....will the prohecy come true and what will become of Kenzie?

I like Julie Kagawa's style of writing and she certainly knows a fair amount about the Sidhe.

If you liked the first books, you'll like this one too.