Book Bites: 3 Sentence Intro About What This Story Is

Daston was a poor boy living in the streets when King Sharaman adopted him and turned him into one of his princes of Persia. As an adult, Daston and his brothers decide to invade the city of Alamut because they heard rumors of Alamut supplying weapons to their enemy. Throughout this venture, they meet the mysterious, beautiful Princess Tamina, who carries the powerful Sands of Time and helps Daston uncover a betrayal before it was too late to save his loved ones.

*As usual, to see the official book teaser/summary of this, go to anywhere books are found and read up more about what this book is about.

Now on to My Commentary (**May Contain Spoilers: Read at Your Own Risk)

This was a quick read. Well also duh because I’m a 20 something year old person reading a book aimed for an audience of middle school aged kiddos. Though, the story packs a punch.

Based Off the Popular Video Game Franchise and Movie

This junior novel was written very well. It is supposed to follow the plot of the 2010 movie with a few scenes omitted or something (so I read this somewhere). And based off the Prince of Persia games – if you don’t know what this is, highly recommend checking these out if you’re into video games. Another interesting bit I learned was that Assassin’s Creed (another video game franchise) was inspired by Prince of Persia. Small world, huh? Or I just have a certain type of story I’m interested in. Look out for my future posts on the Assassin’s Creed book series that was based off the video games.

The pacing of the story moved along quickly enough without compromising any story plot. I was excited (more so than I’d like to admit while reading a kid’s book) to follow Dastan throughout his journey in this book. Dastan is a really likable character who totally reminded me of Aladdin. I mean, picturing Jake Gyllenhaal as Dastan also encourages my motivation to continue reading. Ahem. Yeah. Kids won’t be thinking about this. Kids with hormones would though.

Prince Dastan and Princess Tamina’s Dynamic

The author did a great job timing the humor between the courageous, adventurous Dastan and determined, cunning Princess Tamina. I was laughing out loud reading their scenes together. I love a good flirty-but-not-flirty-and-we’re-in-a-love-hate-relationship-with-each-other interaction. She certainly contributed to the overall adventure so THANK YOU to the author for not writing her as a pointless damsel in distress that only got scenes because she’s got a pretty face Daston flirts with. Princess Tamina was spunky, smart, and complemented Dastan well.

Lore on the Sands of Time

I found the history about the Sands of Time and Princess Tamina’s backstory had a unique, magical take on the concept of time, people, and the universe. I won’t spoil anything in this review. But this story takes a simple item like the sands of an hourglass to craft an intriguing mystical origin that explains how these sands were interconnected with each person’s existence. And how the sands of this hourglass represents man’s redemption in a world of chaos and cruelty. Through this, Dastan learns the importance of the Sands of Time and the dangers of messing with past events. We also learn more about why this object is highly coveted by the antagonist of the story.

Critique: Needs to Elaborate Some Scenes

One critique I would note would be the author’s lack of elaboration on some of the scenes. They were set up well, catching my interest, but as I was getting into the scene, it shifted to the next part of the plot. And it doesn’t really circle back to flesh out the details of that scene. This could be personal preference. I like details in a book because to me it’s like a treasure hunt as I connect these elements to the larger story arc. Elongating some scenes would help immerse the reader further into those moments. Plus, it could contribute to character development. But keep in mind, this is a “kids” book, so they’re probably not going to focus too heavily on each character’s development or add in implications and nuances. Basically, it’s a pretty straight forward read, but nonetheless a very entertaining one.

Final Thoughts

I’ll admit, I had my doubts upon picking this up to read because I figured it might be your typical kid’s adventure book that would only draw adults in because of Gyllenhaal’s face plastered on the cover, but I was nose deep into it after the first chapter and didn’t want to put the book down. Also, I haven’t watched the Prince of Persia movie or played any of the games prior to reading this. Now I really want to. So if that isn’t advertising for people like me, I don’t know what is.

Here’s a bonus benefit for all you parents out there! Double whammy, you can read this book to your little heavenly rascals. I believe this story will sustain their short attention spans. You get reading time in and they do too.

Check out this book if it piques your interest. Hope you enjoy it as your next read or a re-read!

And remember, “Every story is worth the read. Someone (some poor, overworked, ink-stains-on-the-clothes lovely soul) took the time to write it.”