Book Review #2 : A Princess of Fae by Bob Craton

An angel-faced young girl (looks are deceiving) recruits: (1) a famous warrior-hero (mistaken identity) who she read about in a book but found passed out under a table in a sleazy tavern; (2) an amazing wizard (amazingly awful, that is) who uses ordinary dirt for ‘magic dust;’ and (3) and a thief on the lam who is in deep [censored] for something he did back in the Malus Empire. Joined by a cowardly ogre and an eight year old stable boy with a degree from a famous university, she leads them on a special mission to a mysterious place named Faëoria. Along the way they tame a dragon, steal a Magic Sword, evade Imperial soldiers, fight demons, fire their author and banish a pompous narrator. Being a bitchy little brat, she doesn’t tell them what . . .uh oh, she’s looking at me. Did I mention that her icy blue eyes can freeze a man’s bloo . . .

After reading a dark crime thriller last week, this fairy tale parody was a refreshing change of pace. Full of famous references and hilarious arguments between characters, author and narrator, A Princess of Fae is a quirky book that I think most people would enjoy.

We follow the ever name-changing female protagonist that likes to call herself Damsel as she sets about gathering a group of strange individuals in a bid to travel back to her home. Constant bickering, foul language, and an eventual mutiny against the author and narrator see the tale take a turn for the random as the characters take over to do whatever they want. I loved the interaction between characters and author/narrator. I think the characters could have used a little more fleshing out, but they each had distinct personalities that kept the reader going along for the ride.

There were little errors here and there that I picked up on, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed the story. The ending was a bit abrupt and seemed rushed and I think this lets the story down a little.

My Rating : 4 stars.