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The King's Daughters

3.82 of 5 stars 3.82 · rating details · 22 ratings · 4 reviews

Far to the north of the hot desert land of Telfar lies the frozen kingdom of Sorvinka. Prince Amir has traveled there, leaving his sultanate in the hands of his half-brother Erik as he seeks to ask the king, the father of the beautiful Princess Eva, for her hand in marriage. But Sorvinka has grown dangerous during Princess Eva's absence, as she and Amir discover to their t...more

Paperback, 384 pages

Published July 1st 2008 by Night Shade Books (first published March 1st 2001)

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Jan 24, 2012 Majanka rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, read-2012, mystery, romance

GENRE: Fantasy, Mystery and Suspense, Romance
RECEIVED: Review copy provided by the author.
Read the review on my blog.

I have to say that I’m totally entranced by Nathalie Mallet’s fantasy series involving Prince Amir of the faraway land of Telfar as a main character. I loved the first book, as you can read in my review, and I instantly dove into the second one. I admit that I probably enjoyed The King’s Daughters even more than I enjoyed the previous book in the series. On the one hand, I liked...more GENRE: Fantasy, Mystery and Suspense, Romance
RECEIVED: Review copy provided by the author.
Read the review on my blog.

I have to say that I’m totally entranced by Nathalie Mallet’s fantasy series involving Prince Amir of the faraway land of Telfar as a main character. I loved the first book, as you can read in my review, and I instantly dove into the second one. I admit that I probably enjoyed The King’s Daughters even more than I enjoyed the previous book in the series. On the one hand, I liked the setting better. Telfar, Amir’s homeland, reminded me a lot of Arabia, and although that is mysterious and refreshing, the setting of this book, Sorvinka, a country reminding me a lot of Russia or Romania, made me even more intrigued. I’ve always loved Russian/Romanian folklore, and tales of witchcraft, superstition and the Baba Yaga, and I got all of that in this single book. Additionally, there is something strangely intriguing about a country covered in ice and snow, with harsh winters, impressive mountain ranges and foreign customs. The second reason of course, is the fact that I already knew some of the characters, in particular the main character, Amir. I already knew how he was at first, what journey he went through in The Princes of the Golden Cage, and the person he turned out to be by the end of the book, so I was excited to read more about what happened to him next.

Unfortunately, Amir’s arrival in the cold country of Sorvinka is anything but pleasant. In an attempt to get back at him for ruining her plans, Princess Livia gave him the worst presents imaginable for the king and his daughters. So when the King upon return threats him cold-heartidely and without any respect, it’s not a surprise. But Amir feels threatened in this strange and foreign land. One misstep on his behalf could practically cost him his head. On top of that, the king’s daughters are dissapearing, one by one. It’s only a matter of time before Eva is next, and Amir isn’t planning to let that happen. But when Amir goes out to investigate the strange happenings, along with his faithful servant, the eunuch Milo and his new-found friend, a dancy called Diego, Amir must solve this riddle and save the kingdom of Sorvinka from losing all the potential heirs to the throne.

As you can gather from the synopsis, this story fits in perfectly well with the story of The Princes in the Golden Cage. It seems as if Amir is in fact some sort of Sherlock Holmes detective avant la lettre. Wherever he goes, he is swiftly followed by mystery and suspense, death and betrayal. But those are the kind of things that make an intriguing main characher. I loved how Amir’s personality changed throughout this novel. In the beginning, we meet him right where we left him at the ending of book one. He’s a bit more trusting than at first, a bit less paranoid and a lot less egocentric. But he’s still arrogant and vain – referring to his family’s flawless profile like a dozen times – and arrogant, but I can’t force myself to find those personality traits annoying. I mean, he is a prince. He is vain by nature, and his royal blood has given him a fair share of arrogance as well, and it makes him all the more authentic for it. Nathalie Mallet is definitely not afraid to add some less than diserable personality traits to her characters, and I applaud her for that. While in real life, I might have a bazillion and more reasons why Amir and I could never get along – I would probably duel him to the death within the hour – but for a book character, he’s interesting, funny – although he doesn’t notice it himself – and totally refreshing. He isn’t someone who does good simply because it’s in his nature to do. He has reasons as to why he does the good thing. Although he is noble and protective, he can sometimes act like a coward as well, especially when it concerns matters of the heart. Like any other normal human being, he often has to choose between two options, and he doesn’t always make the best decision. He’s not flawless, but he’s incredibly enjoyable, and he has a complex personality that kept me intrigued till the very end. On top of that, his personal journey throughout this novel is no less impressive than it was in the previous one. By the end of this book, the prince Amir we see is much more introvert, a lot wiser and less cursed with the impatience and arrogance of youth.

Princess Eva, Amir’s love interest, goes through a very intriguing change as well throughout this book. Whereas in The Princes of the Golden Cage, she appears as a bland, dull character, and the love between her and Amir is less than inspiring to say the least, she transforms into a true, multi-dimensional character by the end of this book. She truly cares for her sisters and her kingdom. In fact, she cares so much that she’s willing to sacrifice her own happiness for the sake of her kingdom. If that doesn’t scream princess-worthy-material, then I don’t know what does.

The mystery at hand is even more complex and stunning than the one we are presented with in the previous book. Whereas The Princes of the Golden Cage still had some loose ends, and a lot of crucial events were based on pure coincedence, we don’t have these issues in The King’s Daughters. The story is well though-through and developed, and the mystery isn’t easily solved. I loved the mixture of folklore with the mystery at hand, and the way everything blends in well together.

The supportive cast is a lot more developed than in the previous book as well. Take Milo for example. Although he’s merely a servant to Amir, we do get to know a lot of his personality as the story continues. I actually liked Milo and found it impressive that for a servant, he really did have a mind of his own. Diego, another one of the supportive characters, a true dandy, proves to be more than expected at first. I thought his appearance brought much-needed humor to this otherwise rather grim story. Additionally, Khuan and Lilloth, the two foreign emissaries present at the court of Sorvinka, were intriguing as well. It wasn’t initially clear whether they were the good guys or the bad guys, and this duplicity added a lot of mystery to them and constantly made me (and Amir, for that matter) wonder whether they could be trusted or not.

I liked The Princes of the Golden Cage. I loved The King’s Daughters. So far, the Prince Amir Series has presented me with an intriguing and outstanding mixture of mystery and suspense, fantasy, history and romance, and I’m loving every bit of it. The more I get to know Prince Amir, the more irresistible and charming I find him. He doesn’t have the typical hero-personality, which gives him an edge that I particularly like. The supportive cast is a varying group of people at well, each with their own unique quirks. The storyline itself is strong and well-developed, and with enough plot twists to keep you on the edge of your seat. As usual, I enjoued Nathalie Mallet’s writing style, which manages to be both descriptive and straight-forward when needed. I recommend this book to all readers who enjoy mystery and/or fantasy.(less)

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Nov 29, 2010 Shauna rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was so intrigued by the title and by the picture of a guy with a sword confronting a bear in a cemetery that I failed to notice that this is the second book of a series or that the protagonist is a guy, not one of the princesses of the title. So this book was not what I was expecting from the cover. Still, I enjoyed it. The hero is an interesting man who grows in wisdom throughout the book as he solves the disappearance one by one of the princesses, and although I figured out the antagonist ha...more

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Feb 06, 2010 Lexie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: genre-fantasy, review-blog, genre-mystery, books-owned

Our second outing with the Telfarian Prince Amir brings us to the northern lands of Sorvinka, the homeland of his beloved Princess Eva. If Telfar was much like an Arabian fantasy, then Sorvinka is very much like Russian fantasy.

Many many things go wrong at the beginning of the novel. We're thrown into the the tailend of their months long journey from Telfar to Sorvinka. During their time in Sorvinka their caravan has been set upon by numerous bands of brigands who have dwindled their guards from...more Our second outing with the Telfarian Prince Amir brings us to the northern lands of Sorvinka, the homeland of his beloved Princess Eva. If Telfar was much like an Arabian fantasy, then Sorvinka is very much like Russian fantasy.

Many many things go wrong at the beginning of the novel. We're thrown into the the tailend of their months long journey from Telfar to Sorvinka. During their time in Sorvinka their caravan has been set upon by numerous bands of brigands who have dwindled their guards from numerous to barely seven. To top it all off Princess Livia's promise of retribution towards Amir from ruining her plans to place Erik on the throne as the new Sorvinkian King nearly gets Amir killed as a traitor--before even stepping through the gates of the castle!

Apparently, much like Telfar, there is menace afoot with the ruling family of Sorvinka. The youngest princess Aurora has gone missing, presumably kidnapped by their hated enemies, and Eva's father's new edicts are not making him popular with anyone. The book is once more told through Amir's first person POV and we get a better sense of his discomfort because of it. Used to a life of gilded luxury, even if it was within a prison, the harsh traveling conditions and icy reception as well as the brutality of Sorvinka in general have made Amir very unhappy.

I found the fact he mentions his family's legendary 'flawless profile' so very much once again rather humorous. Its annoying, but its a character trait that I think is a small detail that's often overlooked. He's arrogant and arrogant people tend to like to talk about what they consider to be their 'greatest' asset. Amir, for all his other talents, is very proud of his family's flawless profiles.

We learn more about Amir's abilities as well. A new mystery of course presents itself, but more than that we meet Khuan and Lilloth--two emissaries from the Eastern Emperor who understand what exactly is happening to Amir. He is a shal-galt, or Sorcerer Hunter (amongst other titles), and the voices he hears in his head are not him going crazy. Along with being able to see/hear them, Amir also can sense magic. Lucky him right? This is apparently something that has affected his family for years, most notably in his late brother Jafar's case.

Baba Yaga (the Russian witch) makes an appearance as well, plus enchanted animals. The romance between Amir and Eva builds, but hits obstacles as Lars--heir apparent to the throne of Sorvinka--tries to woo her as well. Amir is more trusting in this book, which may or may not be a great thing by the end of it honestly.

The problems of the first book--plot threads that lead nowhere for chapters on end, pacing, repetitiveness--aren't as bad in this second book. The plot still takes a while to truly get under way, and plot threads begin that seem to go no where or serve no real purpose. The matter of the Princess Livia's duplicity is not really addressed either. The ending seems manufactured almost as well, to find a reason to continue the series and more angst for Amir (though he doesn't need any more).

The teaser for the third book, or what will be the third book, titled Death in the Traveling City is promising. The idea of a traveling city is intriguing and I want to learn more about Khuan and Lilloth. The theme seems more Asian-inspired, which falls in line with my interests much moreso then Arabian or Russian. Overall this was still an entertaining and different read. The blend of mystery, fantasy and romance, as well as alternate history, works fairly well for the book on a whole and kept me interested throughout. (less)

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Jan 14, 2010 Gef rated it 3 of 5 stars

While the swords and sorcery fare isn't usually my cup of tea, I think it was the relatively small size of the book--300 pages or so--that had me look favorably on it. I didn't read the preceding novel, so I had a bit of a disconnect with Prince Amir. The characters introduced exclusively to this novel were entertaining and amicable, though--the good guys, at least.

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