Helen Lowe

This fantasy for older children and younger young adults (if there is such a category) is a retelling of the Sleeping Beauty legend from the point of view of the Prince. And it's terrifically well done.

Helen Lowe manages to make the prince and his world believable and engaging, and also solves the difficult problem of how to make the sleeping princess an active participant in the story: to say how would be to give the game away. Her writing style is smooth, measured, and stylish, modern show more prose with just the right amount of elevation into a more courtly style.

The only aspect of the book that stops me giving this book the full five stars is the ending, or more properly the climax. Although the Prince is given plenty to do, he is ultimately a bystander as the Princess's fate is decided, and I didn't find that completely satisfactory. But that's one small flaw in what is otherwise an excellent book. show less

A great continuation of the story started in The Heir of Night, but not what I was expecting. Still, the world has expanded immensely. Perhaps because in the first book the focus was saving the Derai Alliance, and this has now become saving Haarth.

I couldn't quite figure out where the story was going to start with because there was no mention of the the main character from book 1, the Heir of Night, for a LONG time. But in hindsight we were being introduced to more of the people's of Haarth show more which is integral to this story.

The Heir has grown up, and I kept thinking she was as alone, if not more alone, than ever. The twist at the end will set the stage for more epic adventure in the next book.

Can't wait for it! show less

Malian chaffes against some of the restrictions on her life, she really wants to stretch her wings. Her family occupy a pivotal part in keeping the tide of shadow away from the rest of the world. Her home is attacked and she flees into the Old Keep. When there she has to face up to the fact that she has power, power that demands a price.

I really enjoyed this read, I like Malian as a character and the others around here were well drawn and believable. I'm looking forward to more in this show more series and by this author. show less

Impressive continuation of the tetralogy begin in "The Heir of Night". The protagonist, Malian, has aged from 13 to 18 between the two novels, allowing this one to have a darker tone and more adult material - "The Heir of Night" felt like a YA novel, but this one much less so. In addition to the quality writing and characterisation, the hints being given out about the background of the world make me want to keep reading. Looking forward to the next volume!