Book Review: Foreordained – Aaron N. Hall
This classic feeling YA fantasy was undeniably humble, filled with friendship, learnings, and a touch of clean romance.
Foreordained follows 17-year-old Jason who has grown up in the lower city. Working as a blacksmith creating weapons for lower and higher city dwellers alike, he has seen all walks of life. The vast differences in how the upper and lower classes are treated are blatantly apparent. Throughout his time, he has seen incredible hardships of the other city dwellers during King Barnabas’s reign. From consistently rising taxes, to public beatings, the people have had enough and are desperate for a new king to take the throne. Little to the people know, Jason has been foreordained to be the next king, only he doesn’t understand why, and he doesn’t really want to hold that responsibility.
After fighting his new role for so long, it is finally time for Jason to enter the year of decision. Called to King Barnabas’s castle, the king makes it perfectly clear that he will stop at nothing to make sure Jason never gets the throne. Throughout the coming year Jason will have to fight his way through the trials, remember his humble beginnings and rise to be the leader his people need.
The storyline of Foreordained was simple and didn’t try to colour outside of the box. This was a classic feeling, clean YA fantasy which felt comforting as a reader of the genre. This would be a great introduction for younger audiences to get a feel for fantasy without needing to memorise a glossary during the experience. Due to the plot being simple, this book needed to shine in other areas, and from a YA perspective I think the strengths lie in the character growth, friendships, and lessons in faith.
Jason is young, but has had to grow up rather quickly, he feels both wise and naïve at the same time. While he lives apart from his parents, he is still very much connected to them, and the idea of family values shine through the pages. He starts off not wanting anything to do with the throne, he doesn’t know why he has been chosen and he wants to say no from the get-go. Throughout the book, as he grows and sees the effects of King Barnabas’s reign progress in devastating ways, he knows that this responsibility is so much more than him. It was interesting to see Jason go back and forth on this realisation, sometimes putting his head in the sand and focusing on things a 17-year-old would deem more important i.e., a new budding relationship and sometimes knuckling down and doing whatever was in his power to learn more about the coming role. It felt quite authentic to a teenager going back and forth on decisions while hormones and emotions were running rampant.
Another thing worth mentioning in Foreordained were the friendship dynamics. There are some very healthy and mutually beneficial friendships explored within this story. It was great to see a young boy be openly affectionate with friends of the same sex without it turning into sometime derogatory. They were allowed to genuinely feel for one another, have tiffs without it turning into a blow, and they continued to learn and grow with one another as the chapters went by. The budding relationship between Jason and a young woman who wanders into the shop was also delightful. This was a very clean, courtship which felt innocent and again authentic to the ages of the characters rather than being forced or rushed. It was awkward, adorable and some of the more gender-based roles we can often see were left at the door. These were kids allowed to be kids and experience the moments for themselves without pressure.
The last thing I will mention here is the faith aspect of the story. If you are looking for faith in your books, then this is going to be for you. At the heart of this story is the “Dragon” and all must have faith in the Dragon for their general well-being. This was a factor which was bought up numerous times throughout the book as a reference to faith. When Jason was questioning how or why his actions needed to be a certain way, he was often told to just have faith and it would all work out. There were also references to a cathedral service which would be attended weekly to assist this faith. I will say this didn’t take away from the overall story, but the theme was strong throughout.
As a side note, if you are someone who doesn’t like somewhat of a preachy aspect to your stories you may want to give this one a miss. However, I have talked to the author about this aspect and have been told it becomes less apparent as the series goes on.
I think this book was a case of right book at the right time for me, when I needed something nice and easy for my brain to process. It was comforting, humble and I enjoyed my time with it. I am certainly interested to see what Jason does next.
