Suitors Duel

Quest Triad #2

by Douglas Niles

When the Princess Danis reaches a marriageable age, the king proposes a contest by which whomever recovers the Trollheight Goat, who gives wine instead of milk, will win her hand, and farmboy Holt is hired to lead a band of treacherous suitors. Original.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

282 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1995

About the author

Douglas Niles is a fantasy author and game designer. Niles was one of the creators of the Dragonlance world and the author of the first three Forgotten Realms novels, and the Top Secret S/I espionage role-playing game. He currently resides in Delavan, Wisconsin with his wife, Christine, and two Bouviets, Reggie and Stella. He enjoys playing his guitar, cooking, and visiting with family.

Reviews

[SBC]

This was going cheap at a booksale so I picked it up to read. I found the story a bit cardboard-like (i.e. two-dimensional). I never read book 1 and this was book 2 of 3. The cover seemed to say that Princess Vanderthan insists her commoner friend Holton Jaken join her suitors in a contest for her hand - but in fact she doesn't suggest it, her friend the owl does, and the story is more of a blow-by-blow factual action account than a psychological/emotional study. In Book 1 they met and made friends finding the legendary Crown of Vanderthan, whose wearer can make people do anything he/she wants. Now it is a summer later and the king wants to find a husband for Danis; he sends them in quest of the legendary goat who gives wine rather than milk; the suitors slowly thin out; they encounter yetis and trolls, then find out one of the suitors is in league with the dark side and a war follows. Right at the end they kiss, but it wasn't very exciting or particularly engaging, romantic or otherwise. Oddly, the story is framed by a bet between a wizard and a fairy in a place like Heaven.

[Charlotte]

This book, like its predecessor, is just fine. It doesn't really excel in any particular way (aside from, perhaps, having a female character not just sit and look pretty). The illustrations are nice. I don't actually have the third book, so when will I read it, will I read it at all, I have no idea.

And who would have seen the ending coming? Ever since Holt and Danis met in the first book, I knew it had to happen. It's such an obvious direction for the story lol.

Anyway, my reading this year has had a distinct lack of immortal, bloodsucking corpses, so I suppose I'll remedy that by returning to a series that has consistently let me down!

[Theresa]

A solid fantasy book for pre-teens. I might have enjoyed it more at 12 than I did in my 20s lol.

[Betsy]

Decent second book.