There were some elements that I found very problematic in this first instalment, and things which could definitely be triggering for some people. When I finished it, I felt like the series had been… significantly overhyped. The first book is very short, and I blitzed through it in two sittings.
I read the three books, and the short story set afterwards: The novels follow the developing relationship between Damen and Laurent, and the growing understanding and – eventually – affection, as they navigate the political dangers preventing them from their thrones. He wakes from his journey to find himself deep in the palace of Vere’s capital, in the power of a selfish, arrogant and cruel master, and desperate to get home. Akielos is told the king and prince are dead, and his half brother, Kastor, assumes the throne.ĭamianos – Damen – is presented as a gift to Laurent, now 20. The novels start with the death of the king of Akielos, and Damianos being attacked in his rooms, before being drugged and sold as a slave to Vere.
The two kingdoms of Vere and Akielos have been in an uneasy truce since the battle of Marlas six years previously, when the King of Vere was killed, and his heir, the crown prince, was beaten in single combat by Prince Damianos of Akielos, leaving the younger son, 14-year-old Prince Laurent, in the care of his uncle, ruling as Regent until Laurent reaches 21. So, it reads almost more like historical fiction – if history had ever pitted Sparta and Renaissance Italy against each other. It is… ostensibly fantasy, but there is no actual fantasy in it, except that it is set in somewhere other than historical Earth. Also, much like Small, Angry Planet, this series began online, self-published through livejournal, and attracting many fans before it was given a traditional publishing contract. Unlike Small, Angry Planet, this came to me entirely through word-of-mouth recommendations. Much like The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, The Captive Prince trilogy was a series surrounded by a lot of hype.
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