A Confusion of Princes (utgåvan 2012)

A quick read, and an interesting coming of age story. The far future Nix created is interesting, and he uses it well to comment on privilege, duty and happiness. The second half feels very rushed, particularly the last section, but overall it was still enjoyable. ( )

Khemri learns the minute he becomes a Prince that princes need to be hard to kill—for they are always in danger. Their greatest threat? Other Princes. Every Prince wants to become Emperor and the surest way to do so is to kill, dishonor, or sideline any potential competitor. There are rules, but as Khemri discovers, rules can be bent and even broken.

There are also mysteries. Khemri is drawn into the hidden workings of the Empire and is dispatched on a secret mission. In the ruins of space battle, he meets a young woman, called Raine, who challenges his view of the Empire, of Princes, and of himself. But Khemri is a Prince, and even if he wanted to leave the Empire behind, there are forces there that have very definite plans for his future.

This space opera romp drops you into the head of a young prince, whose altered body and mind place them in the elite class of rulers over a galactic empire. Thrust into a world of assassinations, politics, and far more danger than they expected, this adventure takes you through Khemri's maturation. The point-of-view is excellently deployed. The narrator casually drops mentions of incredible cruelties, which princes of the empire have simply learned to accept. Furthermore, the strange technologies and politics of the empire were paced out and revealed enticingly.

The book's ending was a let-down. After such delicious point-of-view dissonance, having Khemri quickly internalize a moral code that the reader could more easily sympathize with was rushed and unsatisfying. I recommend this book despite the ending for anyone who likes coming-of-age adventure stories with a space flavor. ( )

Kind of a silly spaceboy coming of age tale. ( )

Khemri, isolé depuis son enfance, a été entrainé et modifié afin de devenir un prince de l’empire galactique, et, s’il est jugé qu’il le mérite, de pouvoir renaître. Mais il n’est pas le seul et une bataille larvée gronde entre les milliers de princes. Malgré les embûches, le héro mature et gravit les échelons jusqu’au moment où il se demande qui planifie son futur et dans quel but. Ce space opera raconte un passage à l’âge adulte ponctué d’action, de suspens et de rebondissements.