Oh, She's THAT Kind of a Princess
While the novel sets us firmly within Arthurian times, too much information is thrown at the reader at once to make easy sense of the storyline. Even the opening illustrations of the varying country are a baffling plethora of foreign names and landscapes.
As for the titular princess, she’s a type of dewy innocent maid, the kind that fell out of favor in the late 1980s, the type of female fantasy caricature that falls squarely into the helpless damsel territory. For the author’s limning of her features, I will let this description speak for itself:
“Have you ever seen another maiden such as the Princess of Selgovae? I have not, nor ever shall! I remember her hair, the color of golden flax, which fell in folds about her slender neck and upon soft shoulders. Her countenance was as the eastern sun, dispersing night’s shadows and radiating hope of a new day’s creation. Her skin so white, so translucent, that it seemed a conduit of her soul. Always her dress was austere and chaste; nonetheless, her slender form was more artistic than could be sculpted in marble. And her voice—Felix, did you hear her speak?”
“Yes,” he answered, “once.”
“Vivien’s voice was melody, possessing many qualities—like the gentle sounds of nature—the song of the lark, wind’s whisper, the sigh of willows after a storm.” “Truly,” said Felix, “she was a delicate and considerate damsel.”
Ugh. She’s redeemed somewhat by a supposed intelligence that helps her father by routing out a traitorous plot by a vassal. She’s an advisor to her father and her demure qualities often mean that she is misjudged. But I’ve yet to see that in the plot because someone TELLS us what she’s like rather than the author showing us.
Still, we learn that her father didn’t rear her to be a pampered princess but saw to it that she was taught everything that tutors can teach the only child of royal blood. Your estimation of her rises. If she’s not a fighting princess like Xena, well, her father is to blame for that.
Imagine a small kingdom, without a large amount of wealth to tempt outsiders, where warfare has been unknown for centuries, where a king is so beloved by his people for his wise governance and fair rule that they wouldn’t dream of rebellion or treason. So, in spite of the fact that this country creates the finest swords ever known to the contemporary world, no one there knows how to fight, including its king. Annnnnd, we fall back into the realm of fantasy because where does this ever happen?!?
Some of the opening chapters are also steeped in Christian lore and drenched in the worship of the lord. If you’re an atheist, you might find this rather trying. In her attempt to give the dead victims of a Saxon raid a semblance of a Christian burial, Vivien makes the fatal mistake of lingering too long at the scene of a recent battle when she should be making her way to the hills.
This is the type of novel that will appeal to fans of Peter S. Beagle’s “The Last Unicorn” and other stories of this kind. As for me, it’s just not my cup of tea. Give me heroines who are smart, cunning, capable in a fight and a bit of badasses.
As for the titular princess, she’s a type of dewy innocent maid, the kind that fell out of favor in the late 1980s, the type of female fantasy caricature that falls squarely into the helpless damsel territory. For the author’s limning of her features, I will let this description speak for itself:
“Have you ever seen another maiden such as the Princess of Selgovae? I have not, nor ever shall! I remember her hair, the color of golden flax, which fell in folds about her slender neck and upon soft shoulders. Her countenance was as the eastern sun, dispersing night’s shadows and radiating hope of a new day’s creation. Her skin so white, so translucent, that it seemed a conduit of her soul. Always her dress was austere and chaste; nonetheless, her slender form was more artistic than could be sculpted in marble. And her voice—Felix, did you hear her speak?”
“Yes,” he answered, “once.”
“Vivien’s voice was melody, possessing many qualities—like the gentle sounds of nature—the song of the lark, wind’s whisper, the sigh of willows after a storm.” “Truly,” said Felix, “she was a delicate and considerate damsel.”
Ugh. She’s redeemed somewhat by a supposed intelligence that helps her father by routing out a traitorous plot by a vassal. She’s an advisor to her father and her demure qualities often mean that she is misjudged. But I’ve yet to see that in the plot because someone TELLS us what she’s like rather than the author showing us.
Still, we learn that her father didn’t rear her to be a pampered princess but saw to it that she was taught everything that tutors can teach the only child of royal blood. Your estimation of her rises. If she’s not a fighting princess like Xena, well, her father is to blame for that.
Imagine a small kingdom, without a large amount of wealth to tempt outsiders, where warfare has been unknown for centuries, where a king is so beloved by his people for his wise governance and fair rule that they wouldn’t dream of rebellion or treason. So, in spite of the fact that this country creates the finest swords ever known to the contemporary world, no one there knows how to fight, including its king. Annnnnd, we fall back into the realm of fantasy because where does this ever happen?!?
Some of the opening chapters are also steeped in Christian lore and drenched in the worship of the lord. If you’re an atheist, you might find this rather trying. In her attempt to give the dead victims of a Saxon raid a semblance of a Christian burial, Vivien makes the fatal mistake of lingering too long at the scene of a recent battle when she should be making her way to the hills.
This is the type of novel that will appeal to fans of Peter S. Beagle’s “The Last Unicorn” and other stories of this kind. As for me, it’s just not my cup of tea. Give me heroines who are smart, cunning, capable in a fight and a bit of badasses.