Book Review: “The Lost Prince” by Peggy Downing (1995)

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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Illustrated by Sherry Neidigh

We’re always in search of new children’s series to try, so when a friend gave us a few boxes of Christian fiction last year, we were pretty excited for what awaited us. The best in the box was The Global Air Troubleshooters series by Jerry B. Jenkins, but we’ve also been pretty pleased with this much different series by Peggy Downing.

When I began reading the first book, Brill of Exitorn, to my kids, my son (12) wasn’t too excited. He didn’t like thought of princesses and dragons—but his 11yo sister was a different story. Everything in her world right now is dragons, and while the very cool “dinogators” from Book 1 aren’t dragons, they were close enough. All told, the kids really got into and loved that first book and wanted me to read its sequel right away.

We finished this as an evening read, and we were happy to see that most of the characters from the first book make a reappearance—even the chocolate-loving Prince Grossder whose family has been exiled to an island far away. Brill and Segra meet Grossder, Princess Florette, and their mother on the island after being shipwrecked. Some relationships are mended, but Brill and Segra have bigger plans than friendship for this adventure.

Their mission is to search the kingdom and the surrounding countries for King Talder’s son, the Lost Prince, who had gone into hiding back when Grossder’s dad, Emperor Immane, took over the kingdom. They ultimately find the Prince across the sea (and learn some pretty amazing facts about his identity), though he’s being held captive by another ruler who won’t let him free unless he can produce a missing crown. Like with the dinogators in the last book, Brill and Segra once more get help from an intelligent animal (the Meladora Bird) in their attempt to recover the crown and save the Prince.

The deeper I got into this second book with its made-up animals, unexpected locations, and random villagers, the more I felt like this was a lighter version of the Wingfeather saga. These Brill books are certainly not as intense as Wingfeather, but since the “Christian Fantasy” genre is so sparse, there’s really little else I can compare it to.

Peggy Downing apparently wrote many more books about Brill and Segra, though I think by now my kids have aged out of them. We probably won’t seek any more out….unless of course some friend gifts us another box of books, which they’re always welcome to do!

©2024 E.T.