about the book
The medieval kingdom of Carthya is in turmoil and discontent. The death of the royal family by mysterious circumstances is grounds for a civil war—if only they could be sure the young Prince Joran is really dead…
Years ago Joran was lost at sea. Recently, a strange illness has taken the king, queen, and their heir. Now to hold the kingdom together, the regent Connor comes up with a plan—he will take four orphan boys, all about fifteen years old— Joran’s presumed age—and pit them in battles of the mind and the body against one another.
Whoever wins becomes the false prince.
Fifteen-year-old Sage is one of the orphans taken, and knows enough to not trust Connor’s motives. However, if he does not fight, then he will most certainly die.
And when the real truth about Connor and the royal family comes out, Sage is left wondering if all the collected lies Connor has put in place are not preferable to the horrible truth.
about the author
Jennifer Nielsen grew up in northern Utah, and learned to love chocolate and mountains early on in her life. She also learned to love books. For as far back as she can think she has had characters in her head, and so far they have not started talking to her. That’s a good thing.
In elementary school Jennifer began writing, first about a girl whose daydreams became real and trapped her inside them. At the time she liked the idea, but she didn’t write very well so the idea never stuck. At the age of eleven she was researching how to pick locks and decided to call a locksmith—when the guy at the other end of the line learned he was talking to a sixth-grader, he hung up.
Her goal was to be published by the age of seventeen. That’s the age the author of The Outsiders was when that book—Jennifer’s favorite—was published, so she thought to match it. She didn’t, not by many years. Theater, school, debates, and life got in the way.
After realizing all her writing attempts were with adult romantic suspense characters, she switched to YA fantasy adventure. Then Elliot and the Goblin War was published. That turned into the Underwold Trilogy which was successfully followed by the Ascendance Trilogy and the Infinity Ring Trilogy. And there you have it.
Source:
Author website
Book trailer: The False Prince
Also by Jennifer Nielsen:
Mark of the Thief (Book 1). Scholastic. 2015.
The Shadow Throne (Ascendance Trilogy, Book 3). Scholastic. 2014.
The Runaway King (Ascendance Trilogy, Book 2). Scholastic. 2013.
The Underworld Chronicles series. Sourcebooks Jabberwocky. 2010-2012.
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