The False Prince, by Jennifer A. Nielsen, is a YA fantasy novel published in 2012 by Scholastic Books and the first book in the Ascendance Trilogy.

The story opens with Bevin Conner, a powerful regent in King Eckbert of Carthya’s court, arriving at Mrs. Turbeldy’s Orphanage for Disadvantaged Boys. Conner is there to collect Sage, the narrator of the story, for a royal mission, though the exact nature of the mission is unclear. Sage is a wily orphan boy of about 15, known for his sharp tongue and mischievous ways.

After resisting, Sage is loaded into Conner’s wagon along with two other orphan boys who have been taken from different Carthyan orphanages. There is Roden, a strapping, athletic lad, and then there is Latamer, a sickly boy who coughs a lot. The group, along with two of Conner’s vigils, Mott and Cregan, rides in the wagon to the Gelvins Orphanage, where yet another young man, Tobias, joins the group. Tobias is a sullen, intellectual boy.

When they stop the wagon to rest for the night, Conner tells the boys about the covert mission for which he is recruiting them. The mission will affect the fate of Carthya and all its citizens. The boys will compete against one another to see who can most convincingly imitate Prince Jaron, the youngest son of King Eckbert who has been missing for the past four years. Whoever is named Prince Jaron will take the throne. Any boy who wishes to opt out of the competition can do so now. Latamer says that he is ill-equipped to compete, sickly as he is, and so he wishes to return to the orphanage. Conner calmly says that that is fine, but before Latamer can leave, Cregan shoots him with a bow and arrow, killing him instantly. The boys understand that their participation in Conner’s competition is mandatory.

Sage, Roden, and Tobias arrive at Farthenwood, Conner’s lavish estate. The boys have two weeks to learn everything the chosen one must know to fool the king’s court into believing he is Prince Jaron. This includes horseback riding, swordsmanship, courtly manners, and the history of Carthya. At the end of two weeks, Conner will select the boy who is the most believable Prince Jaron.

Tobias shows an aptitude for feats of intelligence, while Roden excels at swordsmanship and physical trials. Sage resists Conner’s authority at every turn, even though it may cost him the competition. Even so, Conner acknowledges that though Sage’s sharp tongue and difficult personality are hard to deal with, they actually do make him more like Prince Jaron—so, in that way, Sage has the advantage. When Sage tricks Cregan into allowing him to ride a wild horse, Sage is injured and unable to participate in many of the lessons. At night, sometimes Sage sneaks out of the boys’ shared bedroom, and at one point he discovers that Farthenwood is filled with secret passageways. A mute servant girl by the name of Imogen catches Sage’s eye at dinner one evening.

Sage comes to Farthenwood with a piece of gold, which Conner confiscates. When Sage steals the gold piece back, Conner is furious and tells Sage that it was just fool’s gold—only a worthless stone painted gold—and he demands that Sage give it back. When Sage refuses, Mott and Cregan drag him to the dungeon where he is hung by his wrists from the ceiling and his back is beaten with a leather whip. Imogen comes to his aid and nurses his wounds, in secret, in the dungeon. When it becomes clear that Sage will not bend to Conner’s will and return the stone, he is released from the dungeon, battered and bruised.

Princess Amarinda, of the neighboring country Bultain, arrives at Farthenwood for dinner. Amarinda has been promised to Prince Darius, King Eckbert’s older son, in marriage, but she has heard rumors of his death and asks Conner to confirm or deny. Privately, Sage advises her to err on the side of hoping he is alive; Amarinda thanks him for the kind words.

Having heard a rumor that Prince Jaron was alive and being held at Conner’s estate, Veldergrath, another regent in King Eckbert’s court, rushes to Farthenwood with a team of armed men. Though he is diplomatic, Veldergrath still threatens violence and tells Conner that he is going to search the castle to see if Conner is hiding Prince Jaron there. Veldergrath searches everywhere, but the boys are safely hidden in the secret passageways of Farthenwood and so they are not found.

Because Sage refuses to fully bend to Conner’s will, Conner choses Roden, who is more pliable, as Prince Jaron. However, when Conner sees Sage idly doing a very specific coin trick—a trick that Prince Jaron was notorious for doing—Conner goes back on his decision and chooses Sage to be Prince Jaron. 

The narration shifts from the first-person voice of Sage to an omniscient third-person narrator to give the history of King Eckbert and Queen Erin, and the upbringing of their two sons Prince Darius and Prince Jaron. Prince Jaron, after his ship was attacked by pirates, was able to escape to an orphanage in Avenia, a neighboring country. For the well-being of the Carthya, King Eckbert insisted that Prince Jaron remain hidden in disguise as an orphan. Prince Jaron assumes the identity of Sage. Sage has been Prince Jaron all along.

Sage, along with Conner and the rest of the group, make their way to the king’s castle at Drylliad so that Sage may be presented before the regents and crowned king of Carthya. No one but Mott, who has figured out the secret, knows Sage’s true identity as Prince Jaron.

As Sage and the group approach the castle, they see that the roads leading to Drylliad are clogged with people all claiming that they have the “real” Prince Jaron. The guards of the castle bar Sage from entering, but Sage knows another way in: through a garbage chute in the castle kitchen that empties into a river. As they approach the castle via the river that leads to the kitchen, Roden announces that he still feels as though he is the rightful Prince Jaron. He and Sage sword fight to determine who should go forward into the castle as king. Sage tricks Roden into victory; meanwhile Cregan, who helps Roden and attempts to murder Sage himself, is killed by Mott.

Conner rushes into the castle, and Sage seizes the throne. After convincing Lord Kerwyn, a most trustworthy regent, of his identity as the true Prince Jaron, Sage is named king. His first order of business as king is to eject Veldergrath as a regent; the second order of business is to have Conner arrested for the murders of King Eckbert, Queen Erin, Prince Darius, and Latamer the orphan boy. Lord Kerwyn tells Sage that war is coming to Carthya and that he should prepare himself for battle. Sage understands, and he invites the royal kingdom for just one night of merriment and celebration before the inevitable.