Heroics for Beginners
John Moore
Ace
Fiction, Fantasy
****
DESCRIPTION: In the land of the 20 fairy-tale kingdoms, where whimsy, passion, and danger exist in more-or-less equal amounts, Evil Overlords have been a long and troublesome problem, but so far heroes have always managed to thwart their evil schemes at the last possible second (usually earning a well-proportioned wife or husband in the deal.) The Evil Overlord Voltmeter, also known as He Who Must Be Named, might be the first to succeed. He just stole a powerful Ancient Artifact (Model Seven) from the king of Deserae, with which he will power his Diabolical Device, and is poised to bring the entire land to its knees. The theft and threat come just when Princess Rebecca of Deserae, also known as the Ice Princess, is about to announce her engagement to whomever her father deems most politically advantageous. Most of the suitors are sent home, but remaining behind are Prince Logan, a cunning warrior appointed to lead the assault on the Fortress of Doom (and win the princess's hand for his seemingly-inevitable victory), and Prince Kevin, who is less warlike and more diplomatic... not to mention the fact that he and Becky have been secretly in love for over a year and were really counting on him, not Logan, being announced as her betrothed. But Logan's not at the gates of the Fortress yet, and Becky's father said that whoever returned the Ancient Artifact would win out - surely Kevin can outride a slow-moving army. All he needs to know about recovering the artifact and defeating Voltmeter can be found between the covers of a handy how-to book he happened upon in the king's library, The Practical Guide to Heroics. Of course, Becky's not the kind of princess to pine away at home while her beloved rides off to near- certain death, and both Voltmeter and reality have a few tricks that the guidebook's author never got around to mentioning.
REVIEW: If you've read a few fantasies, you should enjoy this lighthearted send-up of heroic clichés and stock characters. There's a bit more to the story than that - the characters are sophisticated and self-aware enough to work with the conventions they're part of, rather than being trapped by them - but mostly it's just a fun read with many funny moments.
You might also enjoy:
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide (Douglas Adams, Fiction - The irreverent adventures of hapless Earthman Arthur Dent, who escapes the planet moments before its destruction with a hitchhiking alien friend)
Sky Coyote (Kage Baker, Fiction - Told with clever wit, the story of an immortal cyborg agent of The Company, a time-traveling conglomerate which manipulates history for future profit)
Galaxy Quest (Terry Bisson, Fiction - The washed-up cast of a cheesy old sci-fi show meets aliens who think it was all real)
The Vlad Taltos series (Stephen Brust, Fiction - In a world of magic and gods, a sharp-witted assassin/detective works with his often-obnoxious dragonlike familiar)
The Sisters Grimm series (Michael Buckley, YA Fiction - Two sisters learn that the "fairy tales" of their ancestors, the Brothers Grimm, were actually case files)
The Artemis Fowl series (Eoin Colfer, YA Fiction - A boy criminal mastermind deduces the existence of the underground Fairy nation, and sets his sights on their gold)
Dark Lord of Derkholm and Year of the Griffin (Diana Wynne Jones, YA Fiction - A magical world is forced to give tours to offworlders, recreating standard events from epic fantasy tales)
The Tough Guide to Fantasyland (Diana Wynne Jones, Fiction - A tongue-in-cheek guide to epic fantasy)
The Red Dwarf books (Grant Naylor, Fiction - Based on the BBC sitcom, a Liverpudlian loser aboard a Space Corps mining ship becomes the last human alive after a radiation leak traps him in stasis for 3 million years)
The Percy Jackson & the Olympians series (Rick Riordan, YA Fiction - Clever updates on Greek mythos, as a modern boy learns that the gods and monsters of Olympus are still quite real)
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (Patricia Wrede, YA Fiction - In a fairy-tale world, a headstrong girl gets so sick of being a proper princess that she runs away from home to live with dragons)
Forever After (Roger Zelazny, creator, Fiction - After the battle between Good and Evil has been won, the powerful artifacts that won the day create no end of trouble)
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The Unhandsome Prince
John Moore
Ace
Fiction, Fantasy
****
DESCRIPTION: When a local sorceress turned Prince Hal into a frog, every girl (and a few women) in Ripplebrook flocked to the swamps searching for him; everyone knows that any girl, noble or commoner, who frees a handsome prince from the frog spell gets to marry him and live happily ever after. Most gave up after a few weeks, discouraged by dismal conditions and the death of the sorceress who cast the spell, but Caroline, the most beautiful girl in Ripplebrook, continued her gruelingly systematic search and eventually struck gold... almost. Hal, unfortunately, is a decidedly unhandsome prince, and Caroline decides that this simply won't do. She worked hard, she broke the curse, and she's to marry a handsome prince or take compensation from the late sorceress's daughter Emily, whose own future was thrown into jeopardy by her mother's untimely death. Hal, Caroline, and Emily end up as uneasy companions as they travel to Melinower, where Hal's family lives. Emily needs a new wizard or sorcerer to take her on for the two remaining years of her apprenticeship. Caroline, unhappy with Hal's looks and unprincely manner, wants to try her luck with his two handsome older brothers. Hal has his own problems - the spell that turned him into a frog may come back on him. Meanwhile, the Council of Lords pressures the aging king to choose among his three sons for an heir and to account for the royal family's increasingly out of control debts, a problem about which his three sons each have their own ideas. The question of finding a suitable match for Caroline and a teacher for Emily may end up saving - or destroying - the entire kingdom.
REVIEW: I read this in a single day, and found it enjoyable. Moore weaves in elements of The Frog Prince, Rapunzel, Rumplestiltskin, and other fairy tale conventions, along with some social commentary. The characters are mostly likeable and the story ties itself together very nicely by the end, though I'd guessed before then roughly how it would sort itself out. I felt that a little more could've been done with the cruel Prince Kenneth, whose plan to solve the family debt involved running out the Jewish moneylenders (thus rendering the debts nonexistent), though perhaps that will be left for a sequel. It's mostly a light book, though there are a few more serious subplots and undertones.
You might also enjoy:
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide (Douglas Adams, Fiction - The irreverent adventures of hapless Earthman Arthur Dent, who escapes the planet moments before its destruction with a hitchhiking alien friend)
Sky Coyote (Kage Baker, Fiction - Told with clever wit, the story of an immortal cyborg agent of The Company, a time-traveling conglomerate which manipulates history for future profit)
Galaxy Quest (Terry Bisson, Fiction - The washed-up cast of a cheesy old sci-fi show meets aliens who think it was all real)
The Vlad Taltos series (Stephen Brust, Fiction - In a world of magic and gods, a sharp-witted assassin/detective works with his often-obnoxious dragonlike familiar)
The Sisters Grimm series (Michael Buckley, YA Fiction - Two sisters learn that the "fairy tales" of their ancestors, the Brothers Grimm, were actually case files)
The Artemis Fowl series (Eoin Colfer, YA Fiction - A boy criminal mastermind deduces the existence of the underground Fairy nation, and sets his sights on their gold)
Dark Lord of Derkholm and Year of the Griffin (Diana Wynne Jones, YA Fiction - A magical world is forced to give tours to offworlders, recreating standard events from epic fantasy tales)
The Tough Guide to Fantasyland (Diana Wynne Jones, Fiction - A tongue-in-cheek guide to epic fantasy)
Firebird (Mercedes Lackey, Fiction - The Russian tale of the immortal Firebird and the young tsar's son Ivan)
The Fire Rose (Mercedes Lackey, Fiction - A retelling of "Beauty and the Beast," set in turn-of-the-century California)
The Serpent's Shadow (Mercedes Lackey, Fiction - A retelling of "Snow White," set in turn-of-the-century London)
Ella Enchanted (Gail Carson Levine, YA Fiction - A girl sets out to find a cure for a fairy's botched christening gift of total obedience)
Fairest (Gail Carson Levine, YA Fiction - Based on "Snow White," a homely girl with a beautiful voice meets a vain queen and handsome prince)
The Red Dwarf books (Grant Naylor, Fiction - Based on the BBC sitcom, a Liverpudlian loser aboard a Space Corps mining ship becomes the last human alive after a radiation leak traps him in stasis for 3 million years)
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (Patricia Wrede, YA Fiction - In a fairy-tale world, a headstrong girl gets so sick of being a proper princess that she runs away from home to live with dragons)
Forever After (Roger Zelazny, creator, Fiction - After the battle between Good and Evil has been won, the powerful artifacts that won the day create no end of trouble)
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe - Official Illustrated Movie Companion
Perry Moore
HarperCollins
Nonfiction, Media Reference
****
DESCRIPTION: Go behind the scenes of the blockbuster movie to find out how it all happened, from convincing the estate of C. S. Lewis who was the best crew for the task through casting, shooting, and effects.
REVIEW: I enjoyed the movie, and I enjoyed this look at how it was made. The film was an epic masterpiece, in its own way on the scale of Lord of the Rings, the kind of movie I'd want made if I ever write a story worthy of it, and I like peeks at the production process. On an unrelated note, I'm a little nervous. Though lip service is given to the other stories, and I understood this to be the start of a seven-movie series covering all the Chronicles of Narnia books, no mention is made of any plans to reassemble this winning crew for future projects. (I recently learned online that the next movie slated to be filmed is Prince Caspian - it looks like they're wisely sidestepping the rather inflammatory potential of A Horse and His Boy, with its thinly-veiled anti-Arab overtones. Hopefully, this means that the final book, The Last Battle, also won't make it to the big screen; not only would the general public not enjoy seeing Narnia destroyed, but some of Lewis's "revelations" in that one go a little too far across the line for even the most talented filmmakers to pull it back.)
You might also enjoy:
The Chronicles of Narnia (C. S. Lewis, YA Fiction - English children visit the realm of Narnia, domain of the great Lion Aslan)
The Lord of the Rings: The Art of the Fellowship of the Ring (Gary Russell, Nonfiction - The concept art behind Peter Jackson's epic film)
The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Widescreen Edition)
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