The Princess & The Wolf (Krown’s Curse Prequel)
Rating: 4 of 5
This book is the prequel to Camille Collin's Krown's Curse Trilogy. I have not read any of the Krown's Curse books but this prequel does a great job of making you want to read the rest of the series. In this book we are introduced Warren, Raven, Olis and Dolores and a host of others who are the parents of what I assume are the main cast of characters in the trilogy.
She chose to come here a long time ago for him, and had chosen to follow him everyday since. She had to choose herself. Just this once.
The events of this short prequel all unfold because of Raven's desire to set aside her life as a pirate and settle on land and start a family. Raven, Warren and the other pirates with them decide to split their forces and settle in two separate locations that will be connected to each other. Raven and Warren decide to go to Pandris where they will be able to spread the Gospel to the inhabitants. A dangerous game as their King has closed ports and forbids it under pain of death! Hardly the place to want to start a family.
The group suffers and grows throughout the years it spends on the island. Raven gives birth to a daughter, Wren, who Raven considers a monster so she locks her away in a tower. As we soon learn Wren was created by a creature named Johnathan for a purpose:
A golem of gemstone and pure anguish, a guardian angel who will rise above her own sadness and save this last corner of the world… or perish trying.
The poor unsuspecting child who has no knowledge of the world and the war her parents have been fighting (since Raven kept her locked in a tower) is somehow supposed to save Pandris from the end of times. A task that won't be easy since the war resulted in the death of her entire family and destruction of her kingdom.
This prequel was incredibly well written and developed. I will admit when the book first started I was a little confused about what was taking place and really thrown off when religion came to play a part of the action. It sort of came out of nowhere, but it wasn't overdone and actually provided a reason for such intense conflict between the two groups of people. Oh did I mention the book has lycanthrope's, pirates, magic, and a giant! This quick read is definitely the best way to find out if this series is going to be something for you. After finishing it in a day I have to admit I want to know what happens with Wren. Will she as Johnathan hopes open her heart or will her desire for blood prove overwhelming? Will she bring the intense reckoning that Jonathan foresaw?
Camille does a great job of building her world in this short prequel and leaving the reader with a desire to know what happens next. Each character is given a detailed backstory and most importantly for the trilogy I imagine is the fact that Wren and Andrew (a half lycanthrope) grew up together before the war and were friends. When reading the prequel you can see that this is going to be of great importance to the trilogy. I highly recommend giving this quick read a shot to discover if you want to delve more into the world that Camille Collins has created.