The Frog Princess
(The Tales of the Frog Princess series, Book 1)
E. D. Baker
Bloomsbury
Fiction, YA Fantasy
**+
DESCRIPTION: Princess Esmerelda's life is nothing but a disappointment. She comes from a line of witches, but can't cast a spell without horrific consequences.
She's of royal blood, yet laughs like a donkey and trips over her own feet. Her own mother can scarcely look at her without a sneer of disdain... but that doesn't stop her
from using Emma to buy a politically advantageous engagement to a neighboring kingdom. The princess flees to the swamp, the only place where she feels free to be herself -
but this time, she meets a talking frog. Eadric claims he used to be a prince, and only needs her kiss to restore his humanity, but Emma knows enough to be skeptical; after
all, with magic leaking out of the castle, any animal might start talking, and just because a person's been hit with a frog spell doesn't mean they wore a crown. But he's
persistent, and she finally gives in... only something goes terribly wrong. Instead of turning Eadric into a prince, the kiss turned Emma into a frog! The two set off on a
dangerous quest to find the witch who cursed Eadric, while Emma gets a crash-course in amphibious survival.
And she still doesn't know if he's really a prince or not...
REVIEW: To be perfectly honest, if the premise of a later book in the series hadn't intrigued me, I probably wouldn't have tried this one. But I hate coming in partway through a series, so I gave it a try. The story sounds superficial and trite, but I've read many Young Adult books that rise above seemingly-simple stories. Sadly, this isn't one of them. Characters bend and twist their personalities to fit the scene, having to tell the reader what they're feeling instead of being able to show it through consistent actions. Everyone tends to be pleasant when approached in the right manner, except for a few not-nice people who are suitably punished for being unkind to the heroes. The world and the magic system are paper-thin and about as deep. Conflicts and resolutions, much like personality traits and half the conversations, pop up out of thin air, and tend to the obvious. If I were a young girl just starting to read longer books without pictures, I might have liked it, but this book holds absolutely nothing to interest anyone else. I actually thought about dropping this to a solid Bad, but it's just too simple of a story to care that much about it.
You might also enjoy:
The Sisters Grimm series (Michael Buckley, YA Fiction - Two sisters learn that fairy-tale beings still survive)
The Throwaway Princess (Elinor Busby, YA Fiction - A princess's crooked foot makes her ineligible for the crown)
Jennifer Murdley's Toad (Bruce Coville, YA Fiction - A homely girl visits a magic shop, where she is sold a talking toad)
The Dragon and the George (George R. Dickson, Fiction - Seeking his missing wife, a man finds himself in a magical medieval world, trapped in a dragon's body)
The Tales of Jig Dragonslayer (Jim C. Hines, Fiction - A cowardly, nearsighted goblin inadvertently becomes a hero)
My Sparkling Misfortune (Laura Lond and Alla Alekseyeva, YA Fiction - Seeking vengeance against a prince, a villainous lord finds himself stuck with a do-gooder spirit helper)
The Unhandsome Prince (John Moore, Fiction - A girl frees a homely prince from a frog spell, but demands a better-looking husband)
The Paper Bag Princess (Robert Munsch, YA Picture Book - A princess must rescue her boyfriend from a dragon)
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (Patricia Wrede, YA Fiction - A princess runs away from home to live with dragons)
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Sky Coyote
(The Company series, Book 2)
Kage Baker
Avon Books
Fiction, Sci-Fi
****
DESCRIPTION: In the twenty-third century, humans finally conquer the mysteries of time travel... and, naturally, exploit it for commerce. Dr. Zeus, as the company is
called, discovered that, while written history cannot be altered, it was possible to play with times, places, and people who were not recorded. They also discovered that one cannot
travel forward in time, only back, and return to their date of departure. As the process itself is very unpleasant, the Company tapped into another discovery: the ability to
manipulate human children into immortal cyborgs, with greatly increased intelligence, senses and strength. Going back to the dawn of the human race, they began creating cyborgs
out of our earliest ancestors, serving the Company's interests with the promise of great rewards when they "reach" the future. Using their indestructible agents, Dr. Zeus seeks
to manipulate the past for profit, selling human history to future buyers.
Joseph, an immortal from the time his tribe was slaughtered in the Stone Age, has just finished a tour of duty in the Spanish invasion of the New World when he is reassigned
to a remote California tribe, the Chumash. Despite being at a Neolithic technology level, they have a trade system and business know-how that puts Wall Street to shame. The
Company has decided that one village among the Chumash is worthy of being "saved" from the impending Spanish invasion (a salvation which likely has a pretty price tag for future
clients, of course, but the agents never learn much about that end of the deal.) They need someone to convince them to go along with the plan, though it will mean taking the
Chumash villagers away from all they have known. Sounds like a job for a trickster god... or would that be an immortal in coyote clothing?
REVIEW: When I bought this book, I was unaware that it was the second in a series. To me, it worked just fine as a stand-alone story. It's nice, for something a little different. This book is not so much about the plotting of Dr. Zeus as it is about the characters and the concepts, and there were many interesting characters and concepts here. Smart, yet with a sense of humor. I ought to track down a few more of Baker's books.
You might also enjoy:
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide (Douglas Adams, Fiction - The irreverent tale of Arthur Dent, who survives Earth's destruction by hitching a ride with an alien friend)
The Ancient One (T. A. Barron, YA Fiction - While protecting a redwood grove from loggers, a girl plunges back in time, where an even greater threat awaits)
The Inscription (Pam Binder, Fiction - A 20th century woman finds herself in the 14th century after falling into the waters of Loch Ness)
Kiln People (David Brin, Fiction - In the future, people create living clay duplicates to do their work... and commit their crimes)
Outlander (Diana Gabaldon, Fiction - A post-World War II woman falls back in time in Scotland)
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents (Terry Pratchett, YA Fiction - A cat running a rat-plague con with co-conspirator rodents and a boy piper runs into a real problem)
The Android's Dream (John Scalzi, Fiction - An interstellar diplomatic disaster leaves Earth's fate resting on one man's ability to find a rare breed of sheep)
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