The Runaway King (Ascendance Trilogy, #2)

by Jennifer A. Nielsen

The thrilling sequel to THE FALSE PRINCE (9781407133058). GAMES OF THRONES for a younger audience. If you like the danger and sword-fighting of MERLIN, you'll love this! Jaron is now in his rightful place as king, but he knows that with traitors in his castle, and enemies at the borders, he is far from safe. He must go on a journey to discover the truth behind his family's murder. The trick will be coming back alive...

• ISBN10: 0606356630
• ISBN13: 9780606356633
• Publish Date: 28 January 2014 (first published 1 February 2013)
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Turtleback Books
• Edition: Bound for Schools & Libraries ed.
• Format: Hardcover (Library Binding)
• Pages: 331
• Language: English

Reviews

[ladygrey]

ETA: i tried again after reading the first book and rather enjoyed this one. The beginning with Jaron and Imogen didn’t seem as forced or cliched the second time around. The landlocked pirates weren’t necessarily my favorite plot point but by the end i looked all the characters more so it worked out well.

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I didn't not finish this because it wasn't good. I was on the fence before I started it. The first book worked really well as a standalone and I wasn't sure if I was interested in this book or just wanted to leave well enough alone.

Then less than 20 pages in he started acting like a jerk to the girl he liked in order to "protect" her. I just don't care enough to endure that. It's too annoying.

[nitzan_schwarz]

To read this review and more check out Afterwords!

It's been a long time coming, but I finally set down and read the book. I've explained what happened with this series and me in my The False Prince review so I won't go into details again, but short recap; IT'S TOTALLY MY FAULT I DIDN'T READ IT SOONER, AND I REGRET IT, OKAY?

Phew, now that we've gotten the deep, shameful regret out of the way, let's talk THE RUNAWAY KING.

So... the titular king. That's Jaron. I love Jaron. Did I mention before that I love Jaron? I feel like I did, once or twice. But just in case I didn't... I love Jaron. Like, so freaking much. This boy gives me life, okay?

I want to punch all those dumb people who deem him unfit to be king solely based on his actions as a young prince. They think him to be wild and reckless. And, granted, they're not wrong, but that's not all he is. Because all those wild and reckless actions are taken for other people's sakes. Jaron doesn't have a selfish, self-interested bone in his body. Have you ever met a selfless prideful man? It's very rare. All he does... he does for his country. That's his top--and almost only--priority. He has practically erased the word "self-preservation" from his vocabulary, or at the very least made it into a curse, in order to always put his country first.

HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE IT? HOW CAN YOU FAULT HIM FOR THAT? HOW CAN YOU DO ANYTHING BUT FOLLOW HIM!? I'm really unclear on all these.

Except... I'm not. Because this book is all about how Jaron wins over his people and assembles his court. How he changes their perception of him not by using words, but by using actions. And it is so extremely satisfying. My favorite book in The Queen's Thief series (I haven't read the latest yet) is [b:The King of Attolia|40159|The King of Attolia (The Queen's Thief, #3)|Megan Whalen Turner|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1293505327s/40159.jpg|847545] for exactly that reason.

There is something so gratifying about seeing this smart, precious, clever boy surprise, overpower and generally prove people wrong about him. It's incredibly inspiring to watch all these men and women, young or old, who have sneered in his face before, come to respect, follow and swear their loyalty to him.

Jaron really is a wonderful character. He makes this series, and he makes it great. Nielsen manages to make him a person you, as the reader, would like to follow. You are awed at his smartness. You are shocked by his bravery. You are wowed by his wit and humor, especially in the face of danger. And most of all, you are heartened by all he is willing to do for his people.

He proves himself to be the great leader no one ever thought he could be.

Now, there is only one thing I would like to request. For god's sake, PLEASE STOP HURTING MY BABY!! Just... just let some good things happen to him once in a while, okay?? why is that so much to ask??

For some reason, I have a feeling things are going to get worse before they get better. Which is going to be painful to read of. So... wish me luck. I'm going to need it if I want to finish this series without killing some of the bad guys myself for hurting my precious child, you monsters!

Speaking of, the villain really sucked in this one. Which, I guess, makes sense. This book really wasn't about that, after all. Still, he kind of felt disposable. And he was. Oh well.


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Original Thoughts

This book was so good!

I just love Jaron so freakin' much, and I want to punch all those dumb people who think he's unfit to be a king because he's too wild and reckless. Yes, he is those things, but he never does anything for himself. Jaron doesn't have a selfish, self-interested bone in his body, despite being a prideful man. This is a very rare thing. Everything he does is for his country. From day one, that's his only priority. And honestly, the word "self-preservation" is probably a curse word for this boy.

What I love the most about these books is watching Jaron winning over people and assembling his court. There is just something so gratifying about watching this boy surprise, empower and prove people wrong. It's so great watching all these men and women, regardless of their ages, come to respect, follow, and swear loyalty to him, especially since they usually start out sneering in his face.

It's the same thing that I love about [b:The Thief|448873|The Thief (The Queen's Thief, #1)|Megan Whalen Turner|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1427740839s/448873.jpg|1069505] series, which is one of my all-time favorites.

Jaron is really a wonderful character. I absolutely love him! And he is so incredibly smart. I can see why people would end up following him because he proves himself without a shadow of a doubt.

That being said, dear Nielsen, can you please stop hurting my sweet baby??? Just let some good things to happen to him! Is that so much to ask?? *tears*

Anyways, I am super excited for the conclusion of this series now that Jaron has assembled his court. And I want to find out how the romance is resolved at the end of the day.

[layawaydragon]

I listened to the audio book version, borrowed from my library and while I was trying to purge my TBR realized I hadn't updated it at all! Oops.

I'll dig out my notes when I get home, and write a quick review.

[littleread1]

I really liked this book and am excited to see how the trilogy wraps up.

[KitsuneBae]

Sigh. I know that Sage/Jaron is really immature but can he be that immature? Leaving the throne so he can go play pirate and made Roden, the one who ruined his leg, the captain of his guard?

[Stephanie]

Maybe more like 2.5 stars.

I really enjoyed The False Prince and was excited to get into this book to see what else happens to Jaron as King, but after listening for about an hour of the audiobook, I found myself very annoyed with Jaron.

In the first book, Jaron seemed to know what he was doing, even when he seemed to be making some stupid decisions or getting himself into trouble. In the first book, I could handle his stupid decisions, because it seemed like he knew what the outcome was going to be (or what he hoped for). BUT not with this book!

Jaron gets himself into some seriously stupid situations, makes rash decisions, and doesn't listen to anyone who's telling him how stupid he is being. Even at one point he thinks to himself that he really did screw up this time and what a stupid decision it was for him to make. At that point, I didn't care for Jaron one bit. A character broke Jaron's leg, and all I could think about was how much he deserved it.

At the end of The False Prince audiobook, there was an interview with the author and she explained that she loved books where it seemed like the main character had no chance with the position they were in. Well, she wasn't lying because that pretty much sums up this book.

Other than Jaron annoying me, I did enjoy it enough to want to listen to the next book and I am curious to see what happens next.

[tellemonstar]

Very good. Review to come.

[anne]

Book 2 is as good as book one,. The king is as foolhardy and amusing as ever.