We hope you're ready to be transported by Amalie Howard's The Fallen Prince, a Young Adult Science Fiction novel and the sequel to The Almost Girl! Publishers Weekly calls the first in the series “a high-octane thriller.” Grab your copy of this amazing novel today!
Today, we have Ashley's review and an excerpt from
The Fallen Prince for you! There's also a giveaway, so be sure to enter by filling out the Rafflecopter form at the end of this post.
Before we get to all of that though, here's a little bit more about the book and Amalie Howard!
About the Book
Title: The Fallen Prince (The Riven Chronicles #2)
Author: Amalie Howard
Publication Date: April 5th, 2016
Synopsis: Riven has fought for a hard-won peace in her world, and has come to shaky terms with who and what she is—a human with cyborg DNA. Now that the rightful ruler of Neospes has been reinstated, Riven is on the hunt for her father in the Otherworld to bring him to justice for his crimes against her people.
But when she receives an unwelcome visit from two former allies, she knows that trouble is brewing once again in Neospes. The army has been decimated and there are precious few left to fight this mysterious new threat.
To muster a first line of defense, her people need help from the one person Riven loathes most—her father. But what he wants in return is her complete surrender.
And now Riven must choose: save Neospes or save herself.
Purchase Links: Amazon |
Barnes & Noble |
Book Depository |
Books-A-Million |
IndieBound
Praise for The Fallen Prince
"[P]acked with action . . . Imagery is the highlight of this book."— VOYA
“A parallel-dimension–jumping cyborg soldier must make questionable alliances to save her country from an existential threat in this sequel to The Almost Girl. [O]ffers a solid conclusion.” — Kirkus Reviews
“This sequel to The Almost Girl was everything I wanted: non-stop action, smart science, new and intriguing characters, and a satisfying romance. I couldn’t put it down!” — Page Morgan, author of The Beautiful and the Cursed
“[T]he next step in a dark, clever and thrilling scorched-earth, world-hopping adventure.” — Jet Black Ink
And don’t miss the first book in The Riven Chronicles Series!
About Amalie Howard
AMALIE HOWARD grew up on a small Caribbean island where she spent most of her childhood with her nose buried in a book or being a tomboy running around barefoot, shimmying up mango trees and dreaming of adventure. 25 countries, surfing with sharks and several tattoos later, she has traded in bungee jumping in China for writing the adventures she imagines instead. She isn't entirely convinced which takes more guts.
She is the award-winning author of several young adult novels critically acclaimed by
Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, VOYA, and
Booklist, including Waterfell, The Almost Girl, and Alpha Goddess, a Spring 2014 Kid's INDIE NEXT title. Her debut novel, Bloodspell, was a #1 Amazon bestseller, and the sequel, Bloodcraft, was a national silver IPPY medalist. She is also the co-author of the adult historical romance series, THE LORDS OF ESSEX. As an author of color and a proud supporter of diversity in fiction, her articles on multicultural fiction have appeared in
The Portland Book Review and on the popular Diversity in YA blog. She currently resides in Colorado with her husband and three children.
Ashley's Review
It's been a while since I first read The Almost Girl, and I've been waiting impatiently for the chance to finish Riven's story. When we last left her, she had returned to Earth to find her father. The Fallen Prince picks up not too long after The Almost Girl ends, and it was nice to know that I hadn't missed too much when I jumped back into this story.
Because it had been so long, my memory of a lot of the details was sketchy at best. Luckily, since we're in Riven's head again, she often remembers things that happened previously that helped to jog my memory. There's a refresher for all of the important things that happened, and even for who is who. I definitely did not remember some of the characters, but there are subtle references to what we need to know about them (like how Riven met her Earth friends to begin with). It was nice to see old characters and find out what they've been up to since we last saw them.
There are also several new characters, and I loved meeting them because they helped to expand Riven's knowledge of her own world. Even though she's lived in Neospes her entire life, there are still things about her planet that she doesn't know. Amalie's world building was incredible in The Almost Girl, and I think it's even better in The Fallen Prince! Learning more about Riven's home world as she travels across it was just so much fun and I felt like I was there with her.
The Reptiles, on the other hand, are absolutely terrifying. Part machine and part organic, these creatures have somehow managed to organize and are wreaking havoc on Neospes. I was so intrigued by who (or what) could have gotten these scavengers to become an army, and as soon as i thought I had things figured out, Amalie threw a wrench into the works and had me scrambling to try to figure out what was really going on! There are so many twists and turns in this book that I didn't see coming, so I was kept on my toes and couldn't help but flip pages as fast as I could read.
Most of this book does move along at a pretty fast pace - Riven and Caden are learning so many new things and dealing with the ramifications of their decisions. There are new threats and old threats everywhere, and there's not often much time to sit back and process what's going on. Then there are times when things move a little more slowly. Normally I prefer things to be faster paced, but those slower moments were actually nice to sit back and take it all in. All together, I found the pacing to be a little bit better in this book than The Almost Girl, so I really appreciated that!
If you are looking for a great YA sci-fi series, you should definitely pick up The Riven Chronicles. The Fallen Prince was a fantastic continuation of Riven's story and I was a little sad when it ended because I wanted there to be more! There are not really any loose ends at the end of this book, so it was a very satisfactory conclusion, but I could definitely see maybe some short stories or even a book set much several years later. Even if The Fallen Prince really is the last book in this series, it's a great one, and one you won't want to miss! 4/5.
Read an Excerpt
Cale and I used to dare each other to go outside the dome as kids, knowing we’d get into trouble if we were ever caught. Leaving the safety zone had been illicit and thrilling. It had been our secret spot, a tunnel in the bedrock carved by a long-dried underground stream when Neospes had fresh running water. I stare at the old access hole, now filled with titanium, as the memories rush back.
It was the first time I’d seen a Reptile. Cale had just turned eleven. Thinking himself braver than ever, he’d dared me to accompany him on an early morning adventure beyond the dome. As much as I hadn’t wanted to go, he was my responsibility.
“Come on, Cale. This is far enough. We need to get back.” We’d turned around only to see a horse standing between our secret exit and us. Only, it wasn’t a horse.
“What is that?” Cale had whispered.
“Cale, get behind me.”
“No way.” He’d stamped his foot. “I want to see.”
Steam had blown from the creature’s distended nostrils, and then it had charged. I remember the rotting smell and the chunks of flesh hanging off its wired frame. It was also the first Reptile I’d ever killed.
Cale became obsessed with Reptiles after that. He would lure and catch smaller ones, keeping them in cages. He studied the creatures, torturing them—ripping them apart and piecing them back together. I’d always thought his morbid fascination was odd, but, in hindsight, it was understandable. After all, he was a clone with a failing body, searching for a way to reconstruct himself.
But Cale is dead. He’d died months ago in the Outers.
Enter the Giveaway!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Tour Schedule
May 30th
May 31st
June 1st
June 2nd
June 3rd
June 4th
