Review: The Prophecy by Hilari Bell (contains spoilers at the end)

The Prophecy, by Hilari Bell

Genre: fantasy fiction--contains unicorns, dragons, prophecies, and magic. Set in an undetermined kingdom somewhere in medieval times.

This appears to be the Hilari Bell’s fourth book. In a very broad sense, it is similar to Robin McKinley's The Hero and the Crown in that the misfit royal progeny goes out to save the kingdom from a gigantic dragon that is wreaking havoc upon the land.

Summary without spoilers: Prince Perryndon (informally called Perryn) is a scholar-prince who is loved by the palace servants, but mocked and maligned by his father, the arms master, and the palace guards. Studying to find a way to help rid the kingdom of an enormous marauding dragon, he finds a prophecy listing three things that should defeat it—a unicorn, a true bard, and an ancient sword of power. But his father won’t listen and locks him in his room. When he discovers a plan has been laid to assassinate him and betray the kingdom to their enemies, Perryn must find the strength of will and act on his own to fulfill the terms of the prophecy.

The main character, Perryn, is a weakling that becomes irked when he finds out early in the story that his enemy considers him a weak-willed boy who can’t do anything on his own. The criticism goads him to exert himself in all cases, even when others might think of giving up.

Readers are also introduced to some fascinating characters who help Perryn along, once he has bargained them into cooperating. We meet the bard Lysander, a skeptical worldly wise song-spinner who doesn’t believe Perryn is really a prince, Prism, a dirt-averse unicorn with the tendency to faint when confronted with danger, and the Sword of Samhain, which has a penchant for reminiscing loudly about glorious past battles.

At the beginning of each chapter, Bell has a little blurb that summarizes the chapter’s events. As a reader, it was strangely refreshing to have a little hint of what was coming, and I suppose if her readers were nervous people, they might find it comforting to know what was going to happen before it did. (In a way, these blurbs acted like a prophecy for readers, leading them along through the book, just as the prophecy leads Perryn to his heroic destiny.) It must be noted that this also makes the author’s job that much harder to deliver an interesting story that holds the reader even when the reader knows what will happen. I think Bell succeeds. So while the book never became really suspenseful, it still aroused in me a feeling of pleasant curiosity. And there is just enough of the unexpected—plot twists and quirky characters—at the right time keep me engaged.

One of the refreshing things about this story to me as a reader was that its tone remained earnest and sincere, rather than depending upon snark and sassy dialogue to maintain engagement in the story.

Another of the ways Bell has made this slay-the-dragon story different is to by making it into a quest that glorifies brain and creative problem-solving more than raw brawn. There is a deep current of respect for science and learning behind this story, even with unicorns, legends, prophecies, fire-breathing dragons, enchanted forests, ghosts, and magic swords.

There are two things that irritated me about this story. The first was that it ended too soon without completing one of the story arcs. The second was that it diluted the power of the prophecy plot device in an attempt to add a twist. These two problems prevented me from completely enjoying the book. The first problem caused me to throw the book from me in annoyance after reading the last page. The second problem was sensed in my subconscious and gradually wormed its way to the top after a day of thinking about it. (I will discuss these problems more in depth in the spoiler section.)

In all other respects, this story is pleasant. Ultimately it is about discovering the ability to make things happen, using brains to solve difficult problems, and refusing to get discouraged. This book is for younger teens interested in fantasy fiction.

All in all, I give it a B.


WARNING! SPOILER ALERT!! MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!




























Here I will more fully discuss the nature of the problems I found in this book. I do this for the benefit of the book’s author and any other authors who might stumble upon this post.

Incomplete Story Arc

As a reader, I wanted to see how relationship changed between the prince and his disappointed father after the dragon was slain, since the relationship was made into one of the important conflicts and motives in the story. I wanted to see the king’s initial disbelief, the slow trickle of proofs of Perryn’s valor coming in, and the king’s final acknowledgement that Perryn had something in him after all. The more messy and gradual it could be made, the more satisfying it would have been to me as a reader. It should have been in there. I was all set up for it. Near the beginning, on page 17, Perryn pleads with his father:

“How can I make you listen?”
“By making me,” said the king. “Come on. Give it a try.”

I wanted to see Perryn finally make the king listen, and when I didn’t get to see it, I felt cheated.

Prophecy Plot Device Diluted

As said before, I sensed this issue more on a subconscious level, but it gradually became clearer with thought that there was something wrong when the prophecy turned out to be false. It is a curious twist to be sure, but as a reader I felt betrayed. This is not a mere echo of the main character’s feeling of betrayal; it has basis in literature craft. Two of the literary purposes of prophecy are that it serves as motivation for great deeds, AND it intensifies the feelings of satisfaction (for both the book characters and the reader) upon achieving a difficult goal. There is deep satisfaction in fulfilling one’s purpose and destiny. Human beings deeply want to know that what they are doing is right, is meant to happen, and is part of a cosmic plan somehow. For a prophecy to accomplish its literary purpose as a satisfying plot device, the prophecy should not be found to be false and then be fulfilled anyway. This substantially dilutes the power of the device. Fake prophecies may be postmodern artistry, but it doesn’t satisfy the reader at the visceral level.

Parts I Liked

I don't believe in giving medicine without sugar, so here are some parts that I consider highlights of this story.

When the prince had his money stolen from him soon after his escape from the palace, I really started to get interested. I wanted to see how he would persevere without funds.

I was pleased when the prince bartered for the bard’s freedom by chopping wood. If the process of his learning to chop better had been stretched out a leeeeetle bit more, I would have been even more happy.

I appreciated the song the bard wrote for the prince. I was glad it wasn’t some stupid throw-away verse. It had really thought and sincerity in it, and the simple earthy truth of it touched me. “It’s the song of the ax/that’s the song of your soul.” Nice.

The fainting unicorn made me laugh out loud.

When the prince decides to go back to the palace to get more information, I was delighted. This renewed my interest substantially because it was the exact opposite of what was expected.

I liked that the book showed Lysander’s repeated exclamations of “I can’t believe you’re really Prince Perryndon!” when he realizes it really is true. This was so realistic and true to life it made me grin.

I enjoyed Perryn’s elaborate plan to kill the dragon after his friends are captured. I thought the actual method of killing the dragon was fitting and nicely scientific. I almost expected him to start singing the song Lysander had written for him as he did it.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”