Onyx Crown

The Onyx Crown (Book 1)- Alan Hurst
Amazon Digital Services
Release Date: January 27, 2019

Rating:
📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: From the searing heat of the desert to the vastness of the savannah,
The Onyx Crown tells the story of Jorann, Gesi, and Sania, three
children who grow up in a pre-medieval era of wars and successions,
not fifteen years after the greatest king in the history of the
continent has been deposed and assassinated.

When the legendary warrior of Numerian history, K’Nan of Loffri is
hired to guide a hunting expedition he is astonished to discover that
one of the hunter’s slaves, Jorann, a boy of thirteen, bears the
legendary mark of the Onyx Crown, a mark he’s been searching for since
the death of his sworn king many years before.

Many miles to the east, Gesi is despairing of his life in East Rhydor
as a commoner companion to Zoe and Zadeemo, the twin siblings of the
tribal prince. Good enough to run their errands, but not learn the
ways of nobility, he astonishes them when one day he shows the uncanny
ability to match the famous knight, Jorell Boro, in single combat.

Deep within the savannah, Sania is working as an errand runner in the
pleasure house where she has been raised since young. As usual, she
is wreaking havoc on the customers with her practical jokes and
tantrums—except this time her antics will lead her on an adventure she
may not be prepared for.

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The Onyx Crown is book one in a trilogy set in a fantasy version of ancient Africa.  Three children discover that their destinies may be much more than they imagined, and that it may be their fate to restore to the throne a deposed noble house.

Jorann, Gesi, and Sania are three children growing up in different parts of their world, different castes, and with vastly different personalities.  But each discovers that they are part of a prophecy to bring the young heir of a deposed royal house back to the throne, before it can be claimed by usurpers.  Like any coming of age fantasy tale, each child must leave home and embark on an adventure to discover their rightful place in the world.  Each begins to discover talents innate with their natures as Chaos, Conflict, and Calm.  Onyx Crown focuses mostly on Jorann, a slave discovered by the renowned warrior K'Nan.  Freed from the tribe who owned and abused him, Jorann learns the skills of fighting and peace from K'Nan, and once separated from his mentor Jorann learns to trust his instincts as new groups appear to challenge and assist him in his quest.  Gesi and Sania get smaller roles in this book (though probably will get larger ones in the rest of the trilogy), but their stories mesh well as the book progresses instead of jerking the reader from one story to another.  Potential allies and enemies have shadowy motives and by the end of the book you aren't sure who the three should trust.

Overall a pretty well-written book, although there were a few times (especially in conversation) where things got awkward or jerky.  The main style of writing is a lovely rhythm with a slightly formal feel to it, so when someone suddenly starts talking in a very 'modern' way, or a description gets too 'modern', that threw me off.  But I very much enjoyed the overall style. I hope the future books will let us get to know the main characters in a more three-dimensional way, at the moment they are still a little more stereotypical general characters for me to really connect to.  Hurst definitely shows that he has the potential for good pacing, devious villains, and tricky plot twists so I am definite looking forward to reading the next book in the series when it comes out.

A fantasy book for young adults and adults alike. As a coming of age type of book it may appeal more to older teens, and I don't think they'd be bothered much by the level of violence here.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review