A comfortably formulaic prelude to a projected sequel that will likewise be spun from some of the oldest surviving Irish...
The latest entry in Friesner’s Princesses of Myth series shifts scene but not much else.
Like her royal equivalents in previous volumes (Nobody’s Princess, 2007, etc.), beautiful, tempestuous Maeve, youngest daughter of Eochu Feidlech, High King of Eriu, goes through childhood and adolescence, learning the value and perils of being a princess while fighting for the freedom to shape her own destiny instead of knuckling under to expectations linked to her sex and place. To viewers of the 2012 film Brave this will read like a spinoff—centered on a willful lass with: wild red hair; three identical little brothers; an indulgent but tradition-minded royal father perched precariously atop a warrior society; a brisk way with her many suitors; the raw courage to tackle massively larger animals (here, a huge bull and, later, a savage wolfhound); and an unconquerable yen to be free. Unlike Princess Merida, though, Maeve’s pride remains intact as she grows to be an astute student of politics and human psychology. In the wake of engineering a daring rescue of a captured bard, can she find a way in the end to chart her own course without alienating her father?
A comfortably formulaic prelude to a projected sequel that will likewise be spun from some of the oldest surviving Irish legends. (afterword, pronunciation guide) (Fantasy. 11-14)Pub Date: April 22, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-449-81863-3
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2014
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel,...
Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.
Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra, but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra—can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel, reminiscent of Naomi Kritzer's Fires of the Faithful (2002), keeps this entry fresh. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
If it were a Golden Age comic, this tale of ridiculous science, space dogs and humanoid aliens with flashlights in their hands might not be bad. Alas... Number Four is a fugitive from the planet Lorien, which is sloppily described as both "hundreds of lightyears away" and "billions of miles away." Along with eight other children and their caretakers, Number Four escaped from the Mogadorian invasion of Lorien ten years ago. Now the nine children are scattered on Earth, hiding. Luckily and fairly nonsensically, the planet's Elders cast a charm on them so they could only be killed in numerical order, but children one through three are dead, and Number Four is next. Too bad he's finally gained a friend and a girlfriend and doesn't want to run. At least his newly developing alien powers means there will be screen-ready combat and explosions. Perhaps most idiotic, "author" Pittacus Lore is a character in this fiction—but the first-person narrator is someone else entirely. Maybe this is a natural extension of lightly hidden actual author James Frey's drive to fictionalize his life, but literature it ain't. (Science fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: Aug. 17, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-06-196955-3
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2010
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
