The Prince of Power is the first book on the eponymous epic grimdark fantasy series, written by Michael Michel, and which has been selected as a SPFBO9 semifinalist. A slow burn character driven story, which follows several POVs in a world full of political intrigues, war and intriguing magic.

Let's first talk a bit about the character work, as I think this is the major strength of this book; the four perspectives are quite intriguing, as Michel introduces what could be a clash between the origin of the characters and their current occupation. Each one of those has their own voice, making them easily recognisable just when we are a bit into the chapter.
All of them are quite complex, having to deal with the complications attached to the power they might have had at some point; and being honest, they are quite flawed. They could also be called morally grey, as we will become spectators of acts that are not for faint hearts.

Another aspect that I need to talk about is the world-building, as Michel slowly introduces a vast world, full of details and which is quite intriguing at many points. Small historical moments are introduced here and there; and honestly, it feels like an alive place. Some fantastical elements are not really explained, but that only adds to the mystery aura of the world.

Personally, I found the pacing to be a problem for me in this book. The plot is told in a slow-burn style, which leads to a big frenetic avalanche quite at the end; while I understand why this worked for other people, for me, it was a big miss. I felt that with a more even distribution of events, trimming down some fragments initially, but expanding the final 20% could have worked much better for me.

While this book was a miss for me, if you like epic grimdark stories, in the style of A Song of Ice and Fire, with morally grey characters, and don't mind a slow pacing, The Price of Power could be a great choice for you.