By Lydia Kealy
*be wary of entering Elfhame, for there are spoilers ahead. Should you wish not to be ensorcelled, turn your eyes away now*
If you’ve read my sister’s review of the Folk of the Air trilogy, then you’ll know we LOVE all things Elfhame and are obsessed with Cardan and Jude! The Prisoner’s Throne, however, is set 8 years after the original trilogy and is the second part of a duology that explores Oak and Suren’s relationship.
Let me quickly recap The Stolen Heir. Oak and Suren’s potential relationship is hinted at in Queen of Nothing, so it’s interesting to see more of them in The Stolen Heir and The Prisoner’s Throne. I think Holly Black does a good job of explaining Suren’s background that we get glimpses of in the original trilogy, and I really like the plot twist that she is actually made and she has Mellith’sheart inside of her. This book very much feels like a journey trope, as we traverse the landscape of Elfhame with Wren (Suren), Oak and their companions, tackle obstacles on their way until they get their final destination: the Ice Needle Citadel. Whilst I like the plot twist we see at the end, I did find the plot, at times, difficult to follow, and found I had to keep re-reading pages to avoid confusion. I will say, however, that the book ended on a cliff hanger that made me excited for the second installement!
So, jumping back to The Prisoner’s Throne. Whilst I liked that this book followed the story from Oak’s point of view, in comparison to The Stolen Heir which was from Wren’s perspective, overall the book was a little disappointing. It was quite slow paced and not much happened. I was halfway through and the plot hadn’t advanced at all and even when Wren and Oak go back to the Shifting Isles, I still feel like I couldn’t tell you anything of significance that happened before then! I also think that the romantic element was really lacking in this book. I normally love how Black will hint at romance and fill scenes with sexual tension without going into too much detail, but The Prisoner’s Throne was very lacklustre in the romance department and I didn’t even get to highlight any swoon-worthy declarations of love. Whilst I’m happy Oak and Wren got their happy ending, I’m not sure we needed 352 pages to get there…
I will say though, despite being underwhelmed, I’m quite interested to see what book Black will write next in the world of Elfhame. (Spoiler alert, I think it will be about Nicasia and the Undersea!) I normally hate when authors write in the same world as their original trilogy but focus on different characters, as I always think the original couple is portrayed differently and not like the characters we grow to love when reading from their perspectives (i.e., Maas’ ‘A Court of Silver Flame’ or Amanda Hocking’s ‘Kanin Chronicles)’, but I must say, I’m really interested in hearing more about Cardan and Jude. They were very much portrayed like they were in the original trilogy and I just feel like they have more left of their story (like are we going to get a baby Cardan or what?!).
Regardless of how I feel about The Prisoner’s Throne, I still very much love Holly Black’s writing and can’t wait to hear more from the Folk of the Air.