The Eyes of a King: The Last Descendants #1 [Hardcover]

Catherine Banner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 27, 2008 | Series: The Last Descendants (Book 1)

FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD LEO NORTH’S prospects in life are limited. He attends military school, lives with his fearful grandmother, and looks after his brother Stirling. He resists his innate powers, because those who demonstrate any sort of magical ability are considered enemies of the state. But when he finds a blank book in the snow, his typical indifference melts away. From the first moment he touches the book, he senses its strange power. Passages start to appear on the pages—revealing family secrets, telling the history of Malonia, and uncovering the story of Ryan and Anna, two teens from a parallel universe. When Leo’s seemingly narrow path takes an unexpected tragic turn, he finds himself on a journey from which he can never really return. And, as he slowly begins to lose touch with reality, Ryan and Anna’s story comes to the forefront. Their idyllic summer romance—seemingly worlds away from Leo—has everything to do with Malonia.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6–9—Two 15-year-old boys' lives are connected through parallel worlds—one medieval, one present day—in this debut fantasy. Leo's routine life in his medieval country of Malonia changes after he finds a powerful blank book that mysteriously writes itself in two stories. One reveals how the present King Lucien usurped the throne from his brother, the rightful ruler. Lucien had his brother assassinated but spared his young son, his nephew Prince Ryan. Aldebaran, Leo's great uncle, a powerful seer, prophesied that whoever harmed the prince would receive the same fate. Ryan is exiled to a mystical place called England where he lives while waiting to return to his homeland. A magical necklace belonging to Ryan's family also disappeared when he was exiled. Anna, 15, lives in modern-day England and inherits her grandmother's necklace. This is the first book in a proposed trilogy. The parallel worlds are well realized, particularly Malonia, but the characters lack depth. The book is confusing at times, and Leo's story goes on for too long. Several tragic events cause him to become depressed, and his constant crying gets tedious. There is more emphasis on his story than on Ryan's, but Ryan is more likable and his story more relevant to contemporary teens. Fantasy readers who like multilayered plots will pick up this lengthy book, but they may not stick with it.—Sharon Rawlins, New Jersey State Library, Trenton
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

In a fantasy marked by invention rarely seen from authors this young (Banner, currently 19, started the novel when she was 14), 15-year-old Leo learns that his kingdom’s lost prince may have been exiled to a “fairy story” land called England. The novel’s complicated structure, mixing Leo’s first-person memoir with legendlike snippets from an enchanted book, showcases Banner’s ability to create distinct narrative voices. She also makes some bold choices, from casting contemporary reality as a foreign, faraway realm to strongly focusing on characters on the periphery of the large-scale political machinations. At times, Banner’s dissection of Leo’s inner life, which turns unremittingly grim following several hard turns of fate, slows the novel’s momentum. Even so, readers who don’t necessarily crave tidy, joyful closure will find much to relish in this textured fantasy, well cued to fans of Megan Whalen Turner (for her character-driven political plots) and Garth Nix (for the Sabriel series’ fresh interplay between parallel realities). In the bargain, they’ll get a sneak peek at a rising talent in the bargain. Grades 7-11. --Jennifer Mattson

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (May 27, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375838759
• ISBN-13: 978-0375838750
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1.4 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,559,274 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Eyes of a King, June 11, 2008

By 

Brandie "Lacee" (Houston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Eyes of a King: The Last Descendants #1 (Paperback)

This book was a great read. It was written to target a younger audience so it was very quick to read. I do not suggest this book for the younger teens since it deals with topic such as war, politics, and suicide.

I thought that the story was written very well, it can be a bit tought at times to understand everything that is going on....I had to put the book down on a couple of occasion to go over everything in my head. It is hard to believe that this novel was written by a 14 year old. I am excited to read the next book. This is the first in a trilogy that is to be written.

I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I did.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing!, August 26, 2008

By 

Rena Ruadh - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Eyes of a King: The Last Descendants #1 (Hardcover)

Now there are some voices who herald 19 year old Catherine Banner as the next JK Rowling. I have to say, sorry, I disagree.

The narrator is 15 year old Leo North who lives in Malonia. To the Malonians, England is a fairytale country in another dimension, nobody knows for sure whether it's real or not. Malonia used to be a wonderful place to live in before the revolution when the king and queen were killed and the prince exiled to England. The country is now ruled by a type of military dictator who wages war against the neighbours.

In this setting we have Leo North who lives with his grandmother and 8 year old brother Stirling in a small flat. Both brothers attend military school. There used to be practitioners of magic everywhere and Leo seems to have some ability along those lines. His parents are not around anymore and we don't really know what has happened to them. We only know that his father wrote books about the good old times and these books are prohibited now - he had to leave. His grandfather Aldebaran was a great magician and he is also gone now. To cut a long story short, Leo finds an empty book in the snow and suddenly writing appears in the book. Every day or so there'll be a bit more. It turns out to be the story of what happened in England to the prince.

Altogether there are three different convoluted narratives and that was my main problem. It took me quite some time to figure out what on earth was actually going on. The three narratives are written in three different fonts to mark where one begins and the other one ends. That said, it took me until nearly the end of the book to understand what the first narrative, which actually starts the book, meant. It turns out that Leo tells his grandfather what has happened while the grandfather was in exile. We get that information about 10 pages from the end of the book.

Worse, however, was that the content of the book was boring, completely boring. There was not nearly enough movement in the story to keep me interested and I had to force myself to finish the book. The title is misleading - while 'the eyes of a king' are mentioned once or twice, there is no meaning attached to the phrase.

I would say that the first three quarters of the book could have been shortened considerably as the 'action' takes place in the last part. But even there, events that should have come across as exciting/traumatic are just lackluster. In addition, the author did not manage to make me care about the characters at all in one way or another. I did not mind when one of the characters died, I was not excited about the revolution - my only reaction can be described as 'yes - and - so what?'

4.0 out of 5 stars Deep but a bit dry. SPOILERS!!, December 28, 2011

By 

Siobhan - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Eyes of a King: The Last Descendants #1 (Hardcover)

i didn't discover this book online like most of the books that i've read. this one i picked it up in a local bookstore and bought it because it was on sale. i read the synopsis and thought, oh that sounds interesting and rather confusing, and then i read it, and then i thought it was actually better than i thought i would be. but i would've given it 3.5 stars if that's only possible because of the kind of dull feeling that never left the book. Nevertheless, to be fair, the book was very well-planned. it all seem kind of confusing and meaningless with the three different, interwoven story line going on at the same time, but in the end, they all wound up in the same place and you'd go like, oh yeah, that's what it is!! and then you'd be impressed by the author's ability to tell a story like this and not get confused herself :)

anyways, i think the plot was surprisingly complex and satisfying. the only problem that i thought was really distracting was that Banner spent a LOT of time writing about all the internal struggles that Leo is facing after Sterling died. so the story kind of dragged on without moving further for like a hundred pages or so, and for me, i was starting to get bored and there were several times that i had to put the book down to take a break from all the depressing and dark thoughts that have become constantly present in Leo's narrating. i mean, Banner did a great job showing the psychological aspects of it and an even better job creating a grim, lost, and sorrowful atmosphere that made me feel like even MY life in the real world seemed kind of hopeless like Leo's in the book. so yeah, i think that she could actually make the reader feel the same way the protagonist does is exceptional and deserve some credit for it, but at the same time, it can get extremely dull. however, it got better as Banner started to put more of the England story line in as Leo's woes kept multiplying to make things stay interesting enough. and then the plot became more and more complicated and made you feel like you have to know what's going to happen. so, basically, despite the 100-or-so pages of depression, the plot was very well planned and did create that kind of gripping feeling that i think is very important for fantasy books.

and then there's the characters. in the beginning, the characters, to me, just weren't all that likable because of different reasons and personal preferences. i know it's impossible that all the characters in every single book would be someone i like, but Sterling was simply too annoying for me to care about him that when he fell ill i didn't really feel bad for him, unfortunately. and then Leo is so childish in the beginning that i felt like i was reading a children's book. (or maybe the book is intended for children?) anyways, and the relationship between Leo and Maria seemed to be a bit unpolished. i don't know how, but it gave me a feeling that the author didn't know what's between them any better than i do. but, the good thing is, it got better as the story went on, and when it got to the end, i was glad to see that Leo's insights have grown much more mature and Banner has put forth many deep philosophical ideas. so yeah, the beginning was okay, but the end is quite stunning.

and one thing that made me give it a 4 instead of 3 when i was actually thinking of 3.5 was the age of the author. i'm sixteen, and i don't think i'll be writing a book anytime soon. i don't think i will have the thoroughness, intelligence, and determination that Catherine Banner showed when she was only 14. 14 years old and already writing a book? Unbelievable!! and i groan whenever i get a 500-word essay to write :) so yeah, i kind of admire her for what she accomplished at that age and really think that a work like this one is way more than impressive for a 14-year-old author. and i think i was being unfair to say that her characters are childish because she was only 14 at that time after all. and she did put many deep and insightful themes in it in the end. so yeah, good book, guarantee it will worth your time (only that you may want to take a break in between. it's not that kind of book that you finish in 1 day) and a great inspiration for young people!!