The Purple Emperor (The Faerie Wars Chronicles) begins immediately after the end of Faerie Wars. As the title implies, Herbie Brennan has turned this into a several book series, with five books as of May 2013.
Excellent Sequel
So often a series bogs down in book 2. The first book moves fast, with intriguing characters and setting, interesting challenges and threats. The second often spends extra time setting up new characters and side plots to explore later, with the main plot or characters suffering from slow pace. The good news is that The Purple Emperor breaks that jinx; it is as good or better than the first book. I have a reserve in for the third book and look forward to reading it.
Character Development
I mentioned how interesting the villains were in my blog review for Faerie Wars. (You can read that blog post here: The Faerie Wars by Herbie Brennan YA Fantasy Fiction Book 1 Chronicles.)
The villains are truly villainous, rotten to the core and happy with themselves in their vileness. Book 2, The Purple Emperor spends more time on these amazing villains and we get to know (but not love) Brimstone, Lord Hairstreak, and Chalkhill. I actually developed a mild fondness for Chalkhill, the cowardly, despicable former glue factory owner, cat killer and now symbiotic host to a talkative Wyrm.
The younger characters, Pyrgus, Henry and Blue develop as would real people and we get to know Pyrgus and Blue’s younger half brother, Comma better and meet the forest Faerie Nymph. Pyrgus seems to become less central to the action during the story and Harry gets a more prominent role. All three continue through the typical coming-of-age struggles, but what sets The Purple Emperor apart from so many YA fantasies is the coming of age part just happens. It’s the background, the normal side effect from teens having to act as adults in the grown up world. There is nothing boring or pretentious here, just a good story with plot and tensions that force three young people to mature.
Setting
Brennan has some wonderful settings that could be built into the story more. We go from England to the Faerie capital city to the deep forest, back to the city, in the palace, in Lord Hairstreak’s mansion in the woods. Brennan could capitalize on these a little more.
Plot
Just like its predecessor, The Purple Emperor moves fast with challenges, surprises and traps. Brennan has mastered the YA fiction plot elements and spends just the right amount of time on each one. Yet the book has more nuances and layers that make it enjoyable for adults too.
Overall
I liked this book very much, even more than the first book. Brennan wrote a tight story with fascinating characters, dastardly villains, interesting settings and intriguing moral problems. Adults and older teens will enjoy the full novel while younger teens will like the fast plot and good-guy/bad-guy story.
5 Stars.
Amazon links are ads that pay commission to blog owner.
Leave a Reply