The Prodigal Son by Chris Bishop | Book Tour Review
{This book was gifted by LiterallyPR in exchange for an honest review and a place on the book tour}
Hello Readers,
It’s my turn on the Book Tour for The Prodigal Son, the final book in Chris Bishop’s The Shadow of the Raven Series. The tour started on the 3rd of July and runs to the 21st, so if you’re interested in following the tour and reading the other reviews, then you can find all the details at the end of this review.
I also joined the book tour for the previous book in this series, Bloodlines, so if you’d like to find out more about that book and what I thought of it, you can find the review here. So I was so happy to be able to read this final book in the series and find out what happens. But before I get into my thoughts for The Prodigal Son, let me tell you the synopsis so you know what the book is about:
“WESSEX 893. As the Kingdom is once more plagued by Viking attacks, Wareham is obliged to strengthen it’s defences against the threat posed by a fleet of Viking longships which are ramping along the south coast and could strike there at any time.
Meanwhile, having recognised Edward’s true lineage, King Alfred fears the boy may fall victim to every fraudster in the realm seeking to get their hands on the vast fortune he’s set to inherit. Worse still, given his newly established bloodline, he could well be used by those wishing to usurp Alfred as King.
The most immediate threat to the boy, however, comes from his treacherous uncle, Edmund, who has already tried once to kill him and failed.
Edmund hides, for now, until his greed and envy leads him to strike again…”
I just want to preface my thoughts by saying, I’ll do my best to not mention anything that could be considered a spoiler, as this is the final book in a series and I wouldn’t want to ruin this for anyone thinking of reading it. As such this review may be on the shorter side compared to my other reviews.
Rather than changing perspectives throughout the story, you change locations and the book jumps back and forth between the main settlement and the forest near by. In the settlement you are following Edward and the other noblemen as they continue to make plans and preparation for the Viking invasion that is seemingly on its way. In the forest scenes you follow Edmund, Edward’s uncle, and the band of men he’s joined up with.
Being back with Edward and his horse Fleet was wonderful. They were my favourites from Bloodlines and getting to spend more time with them was great as I needed to know that they would both be okay in the brutal world of Saxon England. As is mentioned in the synopsis, Edward’s status has changed from stable boy to a very wealthy nobleman, and I loved watching his character grow and adjust to his new position within the Saxon hierarchy while staying completely himself. The kindness and help he shows to the new stable boy in the settlement was so sweet and I really enjoyed that dynamic as it really cemented Edward’s character for me and that his new standing hadn’t changed him and he was using it for good.
There’s also more glimpses into Saxon life within the settlement and seeing those in charge deal with the repercussions of the Viking battle in the previous book was interesting as they again had the threat of another Viking fleet on it’s way looming over them and talk of this invasion added a nice touch of simmering tension. I definitely started having “are they coming or not?” thoughts the more I read and that made this element of the story more realistic as the people at the settlement were asking the same question while making preparations as if they were.
But the Vikings weren't the only threat looming over Edward, his uncle Edmund was still planning his demise and very early on in the story he finds himself amongst a band of robbers living in the forest not far from the settlement. The majority of the scenes within the forest gave me Robin Hood and his Merry Men feelings, which I really liked, though they were robbing the rich for themselves rather than anyone else. I enjoyed the dynamic between the robbers and Edmund as it felt believable ~ they were very unsure about helping him but the offer of riches was just too good to pass up for them as they all knew it would be life changing and well it was but not in the way they were expecting…
Personally, I felt this book was more character focused and less action packed than the previous book but I really liked that because Chris Bishop has created characters that you just want to root for and hope will be okay in the end. Overall, The Prodigal Son was a good, solid ending to a series and I’m so glad I was able to read it.
On that note, I want to say a huge thank you to the lovely people at Literally PR for giving me the opportunity of reading this book and joining the book tour. Your support of authors and book reviewers is wonderful!
Stay Safe. Read a Book.
L x
The Prodigal Son Book Tour Details
If you’d like to find out more about this book and Chris Bishop, you can do so via his social media handle ~ @CBishop_Author
If you’d like to find out what everyone else on the tour thought of this book, below are all the dates and social media handles for all the book reviewers:
3rd July: Lauren ~ readersenjoyauthorsdreams.com
4th July: Laura ~ @bookishhermit
5th July: Louise ~ @louiseslittlelife
6th July: Katie ~ @bookishkate517
7th July: Sharon ~ @shazzierimmel
8th July: Nicola ~ @bookish_nikki17
9th July: Rhianydd ~ @rhianyddmorris
10th July: Liza ~ @turnthepage171
11th July: Michelle ~ @thebookmagnet
12th July: Jill ~ @JillGal91513266
13th July: Dee ~ @DeeMGroocock
14th July: Danielle ~ @DanSamEnd
15th July: Kelly ~ @Tbhonest_uk
16th July: Helen ~ @bookoclock_
17th July: Jan ~ blue wolf-reviews.com
18th July: Joanna ~ @thelibraryofimagination
19th July: Louis ~ @LiteraryLouis
20th July: Kitty ~ @Tstrawberrypost
21st July: Gill ~ @gillianyoungauthor
