A Confusion of Princes [Englisch] [Bibliothekseinband]

The galaxy-spanning Empire is ruled primarily by the ten million Princes, young men and women enhanced by Bitek, Psitek and Mektek, and educated to rule. Psychically attached to the Imperial Mind, they can be reborn over and over.

But the Princes pretty much live in a gilded cage, and the protagonist of "A Confusion of Princes" takes awhile to discover that. Garth Nix's first sci-fi novel in fifteen years is an epic space opera, slowly following a young man through his lifetime as a Prince -- and while it's slow-moving at times, Nix's unique "teks" and society make it a delight.

The first days of Khemri's life as a Prince are less fun than he expected -- he's nearly assassinated twice, and his Master of Assassins Haddad whisks him off to join the Imperial Navy (which he doesn't want to do). And after he's connected to the Imperial Mind, Khemri begins to realize that unseen powers in the Empire have special plans for him... assuming he isn't permanently killed first.

But despite a rocky start (including a quiet feud with House Jerrazis), Khemri distinguishes himself when he dies defending a post from the alien Sad-Eyes. When he graduates, a mysterious priest offers him a special assignment as an "Adjuster."

However, the entry test for being an Adjuster involves months of living as a normal human, vulnerable to a permanent death. Khemri -- now renamed "Khem" and and without most of his tek abilities -- ends up living in the Kharalcha system, where he falls in love with a young woman named Raine. As his half-hidden destiny in the Empire approaches him, Khemri must figure out what he truly wants -- a life in the Empire, or a human life?

I'm not into most kinds of space opera, usually because the futuristic stuff just rips off "Star Trek," Heinlein, Asimov and so on. But "A Confusion of Princes" takes place in a truly brilliant world -- it has a race of psychic cyborg Princes, space mantas, ninjas, insectoid soldiers and space stations that can have anything from bamboo forests to deadly lakes to mountains in a BLIZZARD.

The writing is a little unusual for Nix, since it's entirely told from Khemri's POV. But it does give the prose a wry, clever quality, and the style is elaborate and vivid ("I felt a cold, loathsome touch, almost as if something had plunged its frozen fingers into my brain and was feeling around for something it had lost"). The story moves a little slowly at times, but the exotic sci-fi elements keep it from getting boring.

But the center of everything is Khemri. We see him evolve in a surprisingly natural way from an arrogant, naive brat into a selfless young man who... well, learns about family, love and free will, and discovers that he wants to be human. It sounds sappy, but it WORKS.

And Nix rounds it out with a solid cast, ranging from the strong-willed Raine to the insectoid warrior mekbi. The best is easily Haddad, a shadowy Master of Assassins who serves as a father/uncle figure to Khemri, but who has a bittersweet undercurrent to his tutelage. If there's a problem, it's that a few of the minor characters could have used a bit more fleshing out (Tyrtho, who seems significant but... isn't).

Garth Nix leaves behind a lot of space opera cliches in "A Confusion of Princes," a slow-moving, character-propelled sci-fi tale. Definitely a must-see.

Garth Nix's CONFUSION OF PRINCES reminds me of the classic scifi that I grew up with. Sort of a combination of Robert Heinlein's early work with a transfusion from Larry Niven and maybe a wee bit of Keith Laumer's RETIEF liberally sprinkled about.

As a consequence you can expect more science speculation than you get in most current YA literature, and some cleverly humorous observations about the way the Universe and it's inherent beaucracy works --now and apparently in the far future as well.

The world building in this book is excellent. The story is told in First Person but beautifully done so that you get a real feel for what it feels like to live in Prince Khemri's world. Khemri's been augmented in dozens of ways. Made into a real super human, but despite that, Nix manages to make the super-abilities not so much of an advantage, and the prince comes off as vulnerable, and frequently naive.

Which brings me to another wonderful aspect of this book: CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. Hot D*, it's nice to run across because it's not something I find in the YA dystopias I've been reading. For while I truly enjoyed Divergent/Insurgent, Enclave, and Partials, their heroes and heroines really all find themselves at the end of the book with the same over-achiever competence they began with. You don't see anyone's eyes opening, nor any shocking internal revelation.

Now, on the downside, the secondary characters weren't that well developed. I understood the main character perfectly, and comprehended his culture and biases very well, but there was a wall that existed between me and other characters. It might be a result of the First Person telling, but they remained flat for me.
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Final Notes:
CONFUSIONS OF PRINCES is not a quick read. It's not frothy and fast. It's intelligent and 'full bodied'.

There's no swearing (that I recall), but there is more than one mention of drug use and courtesans of all genders who tend to the princes' pleasures. Nothing 'raw'. Mild violence.

I recommend this books to adults that like classic scifi, as well as it's recommended YA audience. I wish it was a series.

Pam T~

Many of my friends have been certain to inform me about how horrible I am for not reading Garth Nix's Sabriel and its accompanying novels. Okay, so I haven't read them, and as many times as I try to get them back into my to-be-read pile, they never seem to make it to the top. Yet, I have attempted some other Nix novels, and always found myself somewhat disappointed. With all of the hype I've heard about Sabriel, my expectations for Nix are very high, and so far nothing has really lived up to those expectations. A Confusion of Princes is just another title in that long line of Nix disappointments.

A Confusion of Princes takes place in a highly science fiction-like world where Princes are programed from birth for their responsibilities. And when the time comes, out of the many Prince candidates, one will be chosen as Emperor. More than anything, Khemri wants that honor -he can even feel the crown of the empire on his head. But that crown threatens to slip after he's sent off on a secret mission after graduation from military school -a mission that brings him into contact with a woman named Raine.

Let's take a look at this book in pieces -there were some good pieces and some not-so-good pieces. First, the writing. Nix is undoubtedly an incredible writer, he weaves elements of the world and characters together effortlessly, his style is fun and easy to read, and he really brings characters to life on the page. If it wasn't for Nix's strong characters, I may not have been able to finish this book (and overlook the not-so-good elements).

And, the not-so-good elements: this book was incredibly predictable. I pretty much knew the plot as soon as the truth behind Khemri's secret mission was revealed and he started to get to know Raine. Even worse, the predictable plot of the book isn't that original. There were no unexpected twists, no shocking moments, nothing that set this book apart from everything else out there that it mimics. Speaking of mimicking -Princes reads like a video game, complete with having multiple lives, somewhat cheesy science fiction elements and an imperial system with an outer space backdrop (it's been done in video games).

Strong characters and a fun writing style are what got me through this book. Though I was able to get through it rather easily, the other elements were major distractions. This book may work for some readers, but I was really looking for something more original and less predictable.