This second entry in Jennifer A. Nielsen's Ascendance Trilogy begins immediately following the events of The False Prince, and proceeds at the same breakneck pace.
The newly installed King Jaron, tired of all the politicking going on in the guise of honoring his family at their funeral, steps into the courtyard and climbs a tree. He spies a suspicious character below who turns out to be Roden ("Once my friend. Then my enemy. Now my assassin"), one of four orphans who vied for the throne. Roden has joined the Avenian pirates who were commissioned to kill Jaron four years ago. He delivers this message: Jaron must surrender to Roden and the pirates in 10 days. If he does, the pirates will leave the kingdom of Carthya "untouched." But if Jaron refuses, the pirates will destroy Carthya to get to him. Jaron suspects that Avenia's King Vargan is also involved--since the pirates' plot requires the aid of the Avenian Army. Carthya's regents want to avoid war by placing Jaron in hiding. Jaron suspects his regents will betray him, so he takes matters into his own hands.
Nielsen ups the ante, as Jaron sees no other way to convince his kingdom he's fit to reign than to come face to face with the pirate king who planned to kill him four years before. Her skill for plotting and characterization lives up to the high standards she set with The False Prince. Readers will want to read straight through without interruption. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness