<insert obligatory praise for the cover art and how flawlessly it fits with its predecessor’s cover>
When I reviewed Tethered Spirits, the first book in T.A. Hernandez’s Curse of Shavhalla series, I confessed that I am not a fantasy reader. This is still very much the case, but while Revenant Prince contains its fair share of magic, dragons, and other classic fantasy elements, there’s also plenty of action, political intrigue, betrayal, and more that I enjoy reading—I just typically find these things in a different setting.
In TS, we met three POV characters: Amar, Kesari, and Aleida. All three are back to carry us through RP, each of them having been affected—perhaps irreparably—by the events of the previous book. One of the things I found most interesting in RP was the shake-up of the character dynamics we’d gotten used to in TS. In the first book, we had Amar and Kesari traveling together along with their non-POV companions, Saya and Mitul. Meanwhile, they were being hunted by Aleida and her Spirit Tarja, Valkyra the dragon. In RP, all of the characters kind of paired off with someone in order to carry out their respective quests. We had Kesari teaming up with Saya—the sweet, reluctant Tarja and the skilled warrior. We had Aleida teaming up with Mitul—the angry, grieving girl who’s lost everything and the gentle father figure. It made for some new and unique character interactions, and those fresh dynamics spurred growth on everyone’s part.
And then we had Amar, who—without spoiling anything—is dealing with a whole new slew of memory issues, and this time he’s stuck dealing with them alone. Actually, it’s worse than being alone; the one character he’s supposed to be able to count on is manipulating him, unbeknownst to him but right in front of readers’ eyes.
The world-building in this series is rich, not only from a historical standpoint but in the descriptions of all the current locations. I definitely get a “Narnia meets a more benign Game of Thrones” vibe, especially when it comes to the aforementioned political intrigue. Covert meetings and whispered plots abound, leaving you constantly wanting to find out how everything will turn out and how the truth will be revealed.
The story concludes with a pair of battles: one literally on the battlefield, and one more up close and personal, but both epic in their own ways. Every major character we’ve gotten to know throughout these two books played a part in one battle or the other, each contributing in a manner befitting their role in the story. But there’s clearly much more to come in the third book, and surely everyone will be put to the test in ways we can’t yet imagine.
As with Tethered Spirits, perhaps my only real reason for the 4-star rating here is that I still struggle getting into fantasy as a genre, but these are objectively very competently-written books, with rich descriptions, a well-developed world, and excellent character arcs. If you’re an avid fantasy reader, or even if you’re like me and enjoy at least some of the elements this series contains, you’ll surely enjoy it.
CHECK OUT T.A. HERNANDEZ’S OTHER WORK, ranging everywhere from dystopian thriller to circus fantasy to microfiction and short stories!
ABOUT T.A. HERNANDEZ
T. A. Hernandez is a science fiction and fantasy author and long-time fan of speculative fiction. She grew up with her nose habitually stuck in a book and her mind constantly wandering to make-believe worlds full of magic and adventure. She began writing after reading J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings many years ago and is now happily engaged in an exciting and lifelong quest to tell captivating stories.
She is a clinical social worker and the proud mother of two girls. She also enjoys drawing, reading, graphic design, playing video games, and making happy memories with her family and friends.
