After leaving readers fully invested in the plight of characters Daniel, Callum, and Colby (among others), Edward Lazellari left readers hanging just as events came to a head in his debut novel Awakenings. In The Lost Prince, Lazellari picks up those threads in the second installment of his portal fantasy saga The Guardians of Aandor. As such, by nature of this being the review of a second book in a series, some spoilers for book 1 Awakenings may be revealed in the review below.
Our young lost prince Daniel has been found by a man who could be described, in generous terms, as a shady stranger – the private investigator Colby. As Colby comes to realize his employer, the wizard with the feel of a crime boss Dorn, has less than savory designs for Daniel, the broken down toilet of a man brings Daniel to South Carolina, where Colby’s estranged family resides in a trailer park. Colby pays his niece to do “whatever it takes” to make sure Daniel stays while Colby heads up to north to try to give some pushback to Dorn about finding the boy.
Meanwhile, Cal and his crew (Cal’s wife Cat, Seth the one-time magician, and the centaur Lelani) are scrambling along the Eastern United States to find Daniel before their enemy, the wizard Dorn does. As much as their quest to find Daniel is important and consumes their waking moments, their lives before awakening to realize they are from another world cannot be ignored. Cal’s partner was killed early in Awakenings so that must be addressed back in New York and Seth makes some great, mature strides to close off some loose ends and make amends for his past transgressions. Seth wasn’t exactly a good person, coaxing women to undress so he could photograph them, leaving women in the midst of trying times, being financially in debt to his closest friends. Cat, being a native to Earth, is also struggling with what she means to Cal with his role as a Guardian and how his life in Aandor can’t be ignored.
One of the stronger expansions to the story is the addition of more Guardians to Cal’s cause. Lazellari spends time early in the novel introducing some of the players and they all aren’t quite as gung-ho as Cal is in the quest they committed to before crossing the border from Aandor to Earth. One of the Guardians, Allyn, found God and feels inner turmoil between his role as preacher and role as sorcerer; another – Malcom has risen to great heights on Earth in stark contrast to his station in life on Aandor, while yet another – Tim, is the frontman for a popular rock band. Aandor is also revealed to have more depth and less pleasantry than initially hinted; women aren’t exactly equal to men, and races like dwarves are seen as lesser than men. This continued a very nice twist on the genre trope of people from crossing over from Earth to a magical/fantasy land and having to adjust to the new environs.
As Lazellari brings Cal and his group closer to Daniel, some more focus is given over to Dorn, the wizard who has set himself against Daniel and his role in Aandor. We also learn that Dorn has more of a hold on the private investigator than initially revealed. Which is to say, Dorn literally ripped out Colby’s heart in Awakenings and Dorn’s hold over Colby is even stronger than that. Dorn’s reasons for seeking out the Lost Prince also come to light as do the depths of depravity he will reach, despite his “honor bound” promises. Dorn’s machinations culminated in exciting climax with a chaotic conflagration of magical elements taking hold in New York City. Lazellari, smartly, left enough doubt about the antagonist’s side of the conflict upon the conclusion of the novel to be explored in the following volume.
I appreciated the depth Lazellari added to his world in The Lost Prince and welcomed the expansion to the cast. Where I found Cal to be a believable and sympathetic protagonist in Awakenings, I began to dislike him as the story grew. I found myself sympathizing a great deal more with Seth as the character grew and matured despite the annoying disdain thrown upon Seth by the high-and-mighty Cal.
For the vast majority of The Lost Prince, I enjoyed the plot paths down which I was taken. There were some scenes with Daniel and Colby’s niece that felt a bit out of a young man’s fantasies. Given that this is indeed a Fantasy novel, those scenes can be attributed to the fact that Daniel is a Prince. The fact that many of the other elements of the novel worked so well made it fairly easy to look past that element as well.
The Lost Prince continues a fun and engaging fantasy series that blends magic and monsters with a world very much like the one in which we live. There’ve been hints of what Aandor is like as told through the voices and recollections of the Guardians, but I hope Edward Lazellari takes readers through the portal to Aandor in the next volume, Blood of Ten Kings.
The Guardians of Aandor is a series that deserves more attention than it gets. It may seem a standard portal fantasy saga, but Lazellari is smartly playing with some of those expectations and revealing his full hand, like an expert poker player, with patience.
Recommended
© 2016 Rob H. Bedford
Guardians of Aandor, Book 2, August 2013
Hardcover, 352 Pages
http://www.edwardlazellari.com
Review copy courtesy of the author
