The Princes of the Golden Cage is the debut novel by Nathalie Mallet.
In a land where the many sons of the Sultan fear for their lives, Prince Amir and his brothers must live in a golden cage. But the fear of assassination comes from among the brothers themselves, until one of them is named Sultan in their father’s place. As a mysterious death begins to attack the princes, one-by-one, in a way that seems to be magic in origin; Amir takes it upon himself to discover the source of these slayings.
Even though Amir tries not to draw much attention to himself, he is known to be a scholar and seemingly magical endeavors. Because of his interest in sciences that others don’t understand, Amir also becomes a suspect in the murders. As he begins to form a friendship with his brother Erik, Amir soon learns that Erik has his own secrets.
The Princes of the Golden Cage is a fantastic mystery. And as the mystery dominates the story, I’d consider it more of a mystery than fantasy story. Though there are definitely elements of the fantastic with the magic-related deaths and supernatural monsters. With a good mystery, you need strong and vivid characters, which this story does not lack either. Prince Amir is relatable and likeable. And while other characters may also be likeable, Mallet does a great job keeping everyone seem a little suspicious. The final, climactic revelation is a superb whodunit with quite a few interesting surprises!
Fans of both mystery and fantasy will enjoy this exciting novel.
The sequel, The Kings Daughters, is set to release next summer.
I just got this so I haven’t had a chance to read it yet. Mostly I’ve heard very good reviews, though it got trashed by sci-fi wire (I think) for grammatical errors. Thanks goodness I’m not the grammar police ’cause from what I’ve read so far, it sounds enjoyable.
SQT – Yeah, I’ve seen a couple people mention those errors. While they may be bothersome, it definitely won’t ruin a story for me. That’s an editing issue, not quality of writing.
Yeah, the book could’ve definitely gone through a better run of editing before being sent to print. That said, it’s still a quick, action-heavy mystery that really has a lot of neat worldbuilding to it. Definitely looking forward to its “sequel,” which looks to just be another episode in Prince Amir’s life rather than a straightforward continuation of what happened in the Cage.
My review of The Princes of the Golden Cage, if anyone is interested.
Thanks, Paul. I’ll check it out!
Oh…this looks really good! You must read at an un-Godly rate!!
Stephanie – I do make a lot of time to read. But it also helped that last weekend was a long one, and I read practically all day, every day!
I am going to another bookstore looking for this today because the one here doesn’t have it. 🙂 I can’t believe it is so hard to find, I live in Canada and she is Canadian, but even amazon takes a few weeks to ship it.
Wow. everyone has read this one. Must be good.
Me again, how are you liking The Crimson Sword? I have noticed you have been reading it, and I have been considering it a while. Just wondered if you are liking it.
Kailana – I’m enjoying The Crimson Sword so far! I’m only on page 54, but I’m reading right now.. “at lunch.” 🙂
Thank god I am a caveman when it comes to grammar because I didn’t even notice the grammatical errors. The worst part about the book is the preview of the sequel that is due out next year. I am way too impatient and I want to read it right now. 🙁
Remy
Remy – I didn’t read that preview on purpose. I knew I’d be too anxious about it if I did. A year is too long to wait!