#bookreview: Urchin King by Katharina Gerlach

I won a copy of this e-book from Sher's blog last month. I had actually heard about the book much earlier, though I never got round to buying it, so this was a fortuitous win.

Urchin King by Katharina Gerlach
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In a world where being the younger twin of a noble means being put to death, Paul shouldn't be alive. But his twin Rupert is mentally handicapped and his royal parents need a miracle. Thrust suddenly into court life from his life on the streets, Paul must successfully pose as the miraculously healed Crown Prince or face his belated execution. Complications soon arise when his father, King Albert is captured by a vengeful sorcerer.

Urchin King is a fantasy story loosely based on The Prince and the Pauper, with many twists and turns of a magical nature. I found the story line interesting and intriguing and it was unique and complex enough not to sound like a simple rehashing of an old tale. Gerlach obviously has a fine sense of story and plot, and the novel was exciting, filled with many adventures that drive the story on.

That said, I'm torn between giving this book a three or a four star rating due to the inadequacies of the writing itself. I felt that many of the chapters were short and could have been further expanded upon. As it was, there was a feeling, not quite of urgency, but more of being rushed through the story to the end instead of being allowed to linger in the words and on the page.

Well, with a 3.5 star rating, we were always taught to round up. :)

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The lovely Katharina Gerlach (also known as Cat) can be found on twitter as @catgerlach or on facebook at her author page. She is also contactable on her website and blog.

You can pick up Urchin King from Smashwords, Amazon or well, as a paperback.