This is a pretty interesting debut fantasy, the first in a series about Prince Amir. The story, told in first person point of view, is about Prince Amir who is one of hundreds of brothers who all have to live in a palace locked off from the rest of the world until a new sultan is chosen by the old one or until they all kill each other off (whichever comes first). Amir spends all his time studying separately from his brothers in an attempt to survive. Of course all this secrecy and study makes him the number one suspect when princes begin to die by what seems to be sorcery. At the same time, Amir unwillingly becomes close to one of his brothers, and the two of them work together to try to find the real killer. And then a new princess is brought to the palace (but kept separate from the princes) and Amir sees her and falls in love.

The plot of Princes kept in a palace until there's only one left alive is not very unique, however the threat of sorcery killing them off and the brothers having to unite was kind of neat. The author's descriptions of the clothing, perfumes, and decorations in the palace were very vivid and added a lot to the book, too.

The love story, sadly, felt almost like an afterthought, or a separate story not very well integrated into the other. Prince Amir has some really violent mood swings, and his shift from not trusting, to trusting, to not trusting, etc. got old by the end.

It was a good story, and a good beginning. I hope to see the series improve, though, to flow better.

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