Summary Of The Shadow Throne

The Shadow Throne: The final adventure
War is coming to Carthya! This story opens in the country of Carthya, they are ruled by their young King Jaron. Hostile nations surround this peaceful country. One in particular, brodering from the south is Avenia. Their king is bent on overthrowing Jaron and taking all the land for himself. Jaron is surrounded with no way to escape, he will have to use every trick he knows to keep Carthya free. This story has enough action to satisfy any reader, and maybe the best part is how real the story seems. Each character has been carefully crafted throughout all three of the previous books. At this point, the reader feels as if they know each character on a personal level. With a strong climax and plenty of rising
action the reader will never want to put this book down. The Shadow Throne written by Jennifer A. Nielsen is an adventure worth reading for anyone, and every character will grab the reader’s attention!
The protagonist of this story is the young king of Cathya, Jaron. He is a clever and often mischievous young adult with a head of smooth black hair. This young boy inherited the throne after his father was killed, only recently has he come out of hiding to claim his throne. Although he is always confident in how he acts the stress of leadership often wears him down. This king isn’t like most, he acts with his heart and cares very little for his own safety. For example, in chapter nine he disregards his own value as king, and his obligation to the country in an attempt to save Imogen. The author shows him as a rebel by how he acts and the words he says. Along with him on his adventures are his two best friends Roden and Tobias. Roden is strong, tan, and an excellent swordsman. This makes him almost the perfect fit for Jarons captain of the guard. Except he lacks one major quality, leadership and the connection with the men fighting under him. This is clearly shown in chapter five when one of the men serving under Roden states “Yes, my king, he fights. We have many fighters, what we lack is a strong leader.” Tobias is just about the opposite, he is skinny, smart, and has a kind heart for anyone. Everyone who knows Tobias at all knows that he cannot fight, Jaron states to Roden that “He is a regent that can barely wield a sword against his own shadow.” Jaron has one man who is always looking out for him, and always by his side. His faithful servant Mott is tall, and an excellent swordsman. The author describes him by how he acts, Mott stays by his king’s side no matter what, and helps him in whatever way he can. At times in this book the most important character to Jaron is the girl he loves. Jaron met Imogen in the first book when he was staying in the house of Bevin Connor, a minor noble who served in the previous king’s court. Jaron would go to the ends of the earth to protect and save her. She is described as noble, kind, and shy about her feelings towards the young king. Some minor characters who also help Jaron along the way are Princess Amarinda, Fink, Harlowe and Erick. Each one has been carefully crafted by the author to seem as real as anyone that the reader knows. Each one plays a part, big or small in the plot of this courageous tail.
The story really opens with a jump right into the action. Carthya is on the brink of war with three other countries. How did one country get matched up against such slim odds of success? It was Jarons main enemy, King Vargen of Avenia who convinced Mendenwal and Gelyn to fight against this young ruler and his country. Jaron has so many preparations to worry about with this great war coming, but then he receives even more bad news. Jarons love, Imogen has been captured by Avenian troops and is being held captive. How will this king save his people and the love of his life. He will have to use his clever, smart, and devious brain to elude and surprise his enemies; however, this will not be easy, the places he will go to save his country are no place for a king. The setting in this book would give anyone reading a vivid picture of where Jaron and his friends go. The author Jennifer A. Nielsen uses descriptive words to give a depressing feeling when it seems all hope is gone. Nielsen uses Jarons past experiences to show what he is seeing. This helps one understand what it looks like and how the characters feels about where they are. Almost the most important thing the setting conveys is the mood of the scene. Nielsen does this very well when Jaron arrives at the Avenian camp where Imogen is being held. She describes it as an almost unbearable urge to run to the camp and save Imogen, even though it looks far too easy and might be a trap. The setting described gives way to the mood in which it’s way to easy and a need to storm the camp and save Imogen. The setting plays big into how the reader pictures the scene and the mood that is set by the setting.
The theme of this courageous and action packed story is mostly bravery and the drive to never give up.
Jaron is constantly put in a self vs group scenario. He could run away from the problem and let his people get conquered, at least he would be safe. Or he could stay and fight to keep his people out of oppression and away from a terrible ruler. Jennifer Nielsen also shows a sort of youth vs age factor when displaying King Vargen and King Jaron. Nielsen gives a great description of characters by using analogies to describe how a certain character looks or acts. One of the best ways Nielsen shaped Jaron was by showing his sometimes rude personality. She did this with heavy sarcasm and unkind comments made to other characters. The word choice in The Shadow Throne was relatively good. It helps the reader imagine most of the scenes, but in some cases she used to words that were too generic and didn’t really help one see what was happening. Another literary technique that the author used very well was controlling the mood of the story. Nielsen lets the reader get really sad in parts by changing the mood in how someone feels or when the situation is dark, but then she brings the reader back up with an action packed chapter of heroism. The entire plot of this story is full of great literary techniques. What the author is trying to get across to the reader is that no matter how bleak the situation you must always keep fighting for what you care
about.
The action, suspense, and heroism in Jennifer A. Nielsens book The Shadow Throne makes it a great read for anyone. With a plot that is exciting, but easy to follow for any reader. I would recommend this to those who like old style fighting and a little romance. Any reader will enjoy the literary techniques and the excellent word choice used to keep one interested in all the characters. With a great setting, theme, and characters, what’s there not to love about this book? Nothing. So go read it!