Reviews for The Prince in Waiting

The average rating for The Prince in Waiting based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-07-09 00:00:00 David Choi This takes me back. I just acquired a replacement copy, and have reread, after many a year (decades). I first read this novel, along with most of Christopher's other great SF novels, when I was in High School (early 70s). After that I re-read this novel many times, but by the 80s (I think), I had moved on. Now, it is great to wallow in nostalgia (which never gets old). The story: post-global catastrophe, some type of unspecified mass earthquake. The human population has been decimated, and its existence hampered by a fickle climate. The story centres around England and the 'Kingdom of Winchester'. Here, humans live in small cities, ruled by princes, and practise annual, small wars, against each other, for glory. There are mutants aplenty: dwarfs, and others more afflicted. Surrounding them are the 'barbarian' lands, which continually encroach upon the civilised, threatening to dissrail what small steps of progress have been made. The protagonist is young warrior, Luke, who first gains a measure of glory and notoriety when he wins the City annual, teen, military contest, whose father becomes the ruling prince (killing, with regret, his predecessor), with him as heir designate. In the pages of this young adult novel Christopher backs more twists and turns than a roller coaster. Luke rises from mediocrity, ascends to glory, and is cast down. All done with a plausible believability. His rise is all accomplished with the connivance of the "Seers"—a religious order, now dominant (Christians are a small, annoying minority), who publicly condemn science and technology, but who secretly preserve this knowledge and plan to re-introduce when they can. Their stratagem is to use Luke to unite the fractious city-states, produce one kingdom, and restore the old world. Noble a goal as this is, it comes to nought in this novel. Towards the end of the story Luke's father is treacherously murdered, and Luke himself becomes a fugitive, forced to flee his city in disguise and seek refuge with the Seers. Exciting as the story is, it is far more. Luke's life reflects the true complexity of human existence: he sees the nature of friendship, endures the pettiness of fawning courtiers, and is betrayed by people (including his step-mother, who attempts to murder him), close to him. Over the course of the trilogy, we see Luke grow increasingly taciturn and grim, increasingly disenchanted with human nature. I recall, somewhat, the first time I read this novel. I was bewildered. So much packed into so few pages! (Certainly as compared to modern novels, which have 2x the number of pages). So much sadness and pain. I cannot say that I have read much YA since I was a YA, but I cannot think how a reflection of adult life can be better shown than through Christopher's writings. Recommended.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-03-07 00:00:00 Bruce Mcdowell I have loved this series for as long as I can remember. I only wish it was still in print. I was lucky enough to have some correspondence with the author before he passed and look forward to sharing my yellowed and dogeared copies with my son when he's older. Update 1/2019: My son is now reading this series and thoroughly enjoying it.