Book Review: A Confusion of Princes
A Confusion of Princes by Garth Nix
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
HMMM YOU DESERVE ALL THE STARS
This was a book that was definitely out of my comfort zone. I probably would have never looked twice at it had it not been by my favorite author of all time. I am not a space-opera person (considering that a certain friend has tried for years to get me into Star Wars and has never managed to succeed) but wow, I can’t believe what a fun story this was! Maybe I just don’t want to try space operas because I don’t like trying new things…
Anyway, on to the review itself.
Prince Khemri has lived all his life in a sheltered temple, and on the day he comes of age, he learns that A) he has to leave his childhood temple forever, and B) Princes need to be hard to kill because his life is always going to be in danger. Luckily he has his loyal servant Haddad to help him find his way. They journey across the universe, and Khemri slowly realizes that he has a real chance to be the next Emperor, but that it comes at a high cost…
As always with my reviews, here are three good things about this book and three things I didn’t like as much, starting with something not-so-good so I can end on a positive note. Keep in mind that this is subjective, and it’s always hard to find things I don’t like in Nix’s works because he’s just that good of a writer. But here we go!
Not so good
Especially in the first half of this book, Prince Khemri, and everyone else around him, makes a huge fuss about how he’s such a special Prince candidate. Maybe I’m just not understanding something because of my Asperger’s, but I feel like I’m missing something. There’s never any explanation given about how he’s different from the other thousands of Prince candidates out there, not even at the end. For example, Khemri remarks on page 39 that “I was no ordinary Prince, so of course there would be an arch-priest waiting for me.” Yet there seems to be no logical reason for him to believe this.
Good
The voice is amazing! As expected of Garth Nix, the prose is fun and it really sounds as if a seventeen-year-old young man who has had his DNA altered to be stronger and more able to use the different technologies that exist in the world is recalling how he came to be in his situation. If Prince Khemri was a real person and telling me this story over a cup of coffee, I’d completely forget about my coffee and instead be absorbed into listening to him. If you like your stories voicey and fun to read, this is a book for you.
Not-so-good
In this book, we have two characters, one named Haddad, who is a loyal servant and friend of Khemri, and one named Huzand, who is an antagonist who tries to kill our main character at one point, which is one of my pet peeves–two characters, one a good character who helps the protagonist, one an antagonistic force, both named almost exactly the same thing. Of course, this is just a pet peeve of mine and doesn’t speak to the overall quality of this book.
Good
Garth Nix is the god of worldbuilding, with this book being one of his many examples of how skilled he is at this essential component of storytelling. With three different types of tek (Psitek, Bitek, and Mektek) that function sort of like this world’s version of magic, along with the thousands of planets, dozens of galaxies, and the in-universe logic that needs to be built for all of this to be believable, and yet Nix manages to do all this, plus the usual plot and character development that make this an entertaining read, in only 300 and some change pages. The three different teks introduced are well-explained right from the get-go, not to mention interesting and unique, and you get enough of a view of life in various galaxies and around the different planets to feel completely satisfied.
Not so good
Another personal pet peeve–this might not bother you so much, but I’m somewhat of a prude–but Khemri seems to be a slave to his hormones. He celebrates being reborn by having sex with his brainwashed courtesans, and then later on when he meets Raine, who is his love interest, he remarks that “what I wanted to do was grab her [Raine], kiss her, tumble to the floor with her, and have sex on the carpet that covered the downside emergency hatch.” Note that he’s know Raine for only a day or so. True, this is also due to his upbringing that he doesn’t desire a deeper emotional connection with another human, but up until this point, I’d pegged Raine as the love interest and was kind of shipping it, but this moment in chapter nineteen was an instant turn-off for me. Of course, as the chapter continued, we see Raine initiating the sexy time with him and he figures out what consent is, so I guess it isn’t too bad–gives him an opportunity for growth, I guess you could say.
Good
Nix is the master of plot twists! I’m still studying how to write a good plot twist myself, but I always know that when I pick up a Nix book, I’ll be able to study how to write one, because Nix is the master of dropping little teeny-tiny hints throughout the book without making them too obvious as to the eventual twist, that when the twist is revealed, it’s surprising, but also satisfying because then you’re like OH SO THAT’S WHAT THAT TEENY TINY THING WAS ABOUT BACK IN CHAPTER FIVE OH NIX YOU CLEVER SCOUNDREL YOU. And this book is no different; I don’t want to say anything specific so I don’t spoil it but the twist in this book is so good and the ending is so satisfying and I love it so much and it was just… a perfect ending, of sorts. If I were to make a list of “Top Ten Perfect Endings in Books” this would definitely rank very high on that list.
In conclusion
Aside from some little nitpicky bits that specifically irked me, this is a wonderful story and a solid standalone space opera that may very well be one of my new favorite books of all time. Definitely get your hands on this and give it a read!
If you’d like to grab a copy for yourself, you can buy A Confusion of Princes on Bookshop.org, add A Confusion of Princes on Goodreads, and follow Garth Nix on Twitter!
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Corinne 乙女
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