Nepohledný princ

by John Moore

Když chce pohledná, leč chudá holka přijít je štěstí, nesmí sebou nechat vláčet…

Karolína má plné právo cítit se podvedená. Když se jí s vynaložením značného úsilí podařilo zachránit prince zakletého v žábu, zjistila, že není ani pohledný, natož krásný. A bohatství také neoplývá. Tak to být nemělo a někdo za to zaplatí – například Emílie, jediná dcera a dědička čarodějnice, která to všechno spískala a pak si klidně umřela. A jako by situace nebyla už tak dost složitá, ještě ji zkomplikuje Rapunzela (to je ta s nemožně nádhernými vlasy), kterou princ zachrání z čarodějnické věže a Rumplestilskin, skřet slibující počestným pannám, že je naučí spřádat zlato a přitom jim dělá nemravné návrhy.

Genres: Fantasy, Humor, Fairy Tales, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Romance, Comedy

229 pages, Paperback

First published April 26, 2005

About the author

John Moore is an engineer who lives and works in Houston, TX. His stories have appeared in Realms of Fantasy, Tomorrow, New Destinies, Aboriginal SF, Writers of the Future, Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine, and other magazines and anthologies. He is the author of six novels in the fantasy and science fiction genre, with the newest, The Lightning Horse , just released from YD Press.

In 2017 he will be at the Nebula Awards Conference in Pittsburgh, the World Fantasy Convention in San Antonio, Armadillocon in Austin, Texas, and Comicpalooza in Houston, Texas.

Reviews

[Laurie (barksbooks)]

DNF'd at page 50 because life is too short.

This book starts out cute enough. A young girl of the lower class works tirelessly for days kissing frogs, picking leeches from her legs and getting mud drenched in the hopes of breaking a curse and earning herself the handsome prince. Well, she finally kisses the right frog but when he transforms he's not the handsome prince she was promised and she is pissed off. Her hopes forever dashed, she decides she doesn't want to marry him. He's not too find of the idea either considering how rude she's being about his looks.

The beginning was cute, witty and sarcastic but then it meandered down a different path and I lost interest. They hook up with a sorcerer's daughter and go on a road trip and I just wasn't feeling it.

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A village Sorcress has cursed Prince Hal, third in line for the throne, into a frog and released him into a murky swamp. Village beauty Caroline is determined to be the one who rescues the prince. After three long months of kissing frogs she finally finds her prince. There is only one problem. He is not as handsome as the fairytales promised he would be. Unless Prince Hal can convince her beauty is more than skin deep then it is back to the frog pond for him!

This was another fun fantasy/fairytale parody story set in John Moore's hilarious Twenty Kingdoms. Just like Moore's other books this had a great mix of humor, action, magic, romance, and surprises twists. Despite this being a comedy fantasy there is still an engaging story and a bunch of likeable characters to root for.

As well as the tale of the Frog Prince this story also had fun twists on the tales of Rumpelstiltskin and Rapunzel.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Audio Note: Amy Rubinate gave an acceptable performance of the story. Her character voices were good, but it did feel like she missed some of the humor at times.

Reread: Almost as much fun the second time around!

[Kačaba · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 / 5*

Ach. Další autor, co pravděpodobně píše pod vlivem omamných látek. ^^

Nenechte se oblbnout na první pohled zvracení vyvolávající obálkou!

Ponořte se do milého, nesmyslného, absurdního a monstrózně vtipného příběhu, který začíná v Bublavce, kde v posledních měsících řádila pohádková verze Zlaté horečky. Žádné rýžování zlata... jen profi líbání žab ve snaze najít sexy prince (a celé království k němu). Krásná Karolína zbyla jako poslední zoufalý líbač, jako jediná má naději. A pak BUUUUM - povedlo se, princ je tu. A je fakt KUS! *ironie*

Můj Hal. ^^ :* - K sežrání!


Jako celek fakt fajn, možná mi vadil trochu židovský (trochu úchylný) Rumpl Cimpr Campr a nesedla mi ani Rapunzela.

Každopádně jedna humorně zabijácká situace za druhou (nebo trapná, záleží na úhlu pohledu) a magie, co si zaslouží větší prostor. Děj šálený, jak se sluší a patří. Jou, přečtěte to!

PS: Až někdy budu vlastnit smrtonosnou zbraň, zde je moje inspirace na její jméno: Meč, co jsem kopil od námořníka v docích, kterému utrhnu hlavu, jestli ho ještě někdy potkám. Ultrapekelné, ne? :)

[Moira · Rating 4 out of 5]

11.1.2015 - 4*
Oh my, ta kniha! Už dlouho jsem nečetla tak vtipný a nápaditý příběh. Iracionální a skvělý. Připomíná mi svou absurditou Pratchetta. Až na technické odbočky, kdy se dopodrobna probírala magie. Tuhle část(i) jsem milovala. A postavy! Různorodé, živé, propracované. Šílený a zamotaný děj. Skvělá knížka. :))

[Annemiek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny satire fairytale

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poutavé spojení vícero známých i méně známých pohádek.

[Heli · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a decent retelling of The Frog Prince with a mix of Rapunzel and Rumpelstiltskin thrown in. I was entertained.

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little too genre-aware for its own good, but it was a quick and entertaining read.

[Pat Cummings · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Moore’s Heroics for Beginners was a delightful entry in light, comedic fantasy fiction, and this is a great follow-up. The story begins with a Frog Prince scenario, then hops off in unexpected directions.

Caroline is a commoner, the most beautiful girl in her village. When she learns that a local witch has bespelled a prince into a frog, she (and every other local commoner girl) decides to free the prince with a kiss. Problem is, there are a lot of frogs in the swamp, and what’s needed to find the right one is determination, dedication, and a plan.

Plus, you have to keep kissing frogs.

Caroline has the stubborn nature and methodical approach needed, and sure enough, she eventually finds Prince Hal in froggy form, kisses him, and *poof*. There is Prince Hal, the third son of the King. He’s not handsome. In fact, he made a prettier frog. And he’s not even remotely in line to be King someday.

Caroline feels cheated, because she hadn’t done all that work to be a runner-up in the Queen sweepstakes. She sues the Witch (who has since died), and the local Council decides that, since a handsome prince was implicit in the contract, the Witch’s daughter, Emily, must travel with the two to set things right, or forfeit her mother’s estate. Emily can’t afford to give up her mother’s magic library, so she agrees to go along.

Along the way to Prince Hal’s castle home, the three encounter Rapunzel, a “hair-head” of monumental proportions, and Rumpelstiltskin, who is more of a con-dwarf than a magical spinner (and Jewish to boot). At the palace they meet Hal’s older brothers: Kenneth, the strong, handsome and arrogant jerk, and Jeffrey, the handsome accountant who is the only one in the family besides Hal who seems to realize the Royal Accounts are empty.

The resultant scramble to get Caroline hooked up with an appropriately handsome prince, get Emily and Hal to realize they are in love, resolve the Royal Bankruptcy, save Rumpelstiltskin from the anti-Semitic efforts of the vile Prince Kenneth, and finally rescue Rapunzel (all before Hal turns back into a frog for good) makes hilarious reading.

Once again, John Moore has given us a great twisted fairy tale. His stories have an internal consistency that underscores the humor, giving us leave to laugh, even when the subtext turns a little dark. And we know it’s a fairy tale, so we can be sure that everyone who deserves it will live happily ever after.

Or if not ever after, at least eventually.

[Emily Martha · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a disgusting book.

The magic system is almost entirely based around sex (especially the loss of virgnity), which is both unnecessarily graphic in places, and quite frankly not as logical as the author thinks it is. (His idea is that the transformation between virgin and non-virgin releases magical power, but there are all kinds of loopholes, which are helpfully hinted at in just-graphic-enough-to-be-way-too-much-information ways.) Somehow, I don't buy that this is a huge "transformation" to change an apprentice into a sorceress or straw into gold.

If he wanted to do a magic system based on sex, then he could have easily done so by having the big magical transformation be a woman's first *pregnancy.* It still could have been TMI if he wanted it to be, but it would have made a lot more sense. The transformation between maiden to mother is a huge transformation biologically, and would therefore make a much more logical transition magically.

The second problem with this book is the Jewish thing. Now, please let me be 100% clear on this: my grandmother is Jewish. I find Jewish culture fascinating. I love when Jewish traditions are used in a story in a fun way. In fact, I initially thought that, while it seemed weird that he just Jews in out of nowhere, it seemed like it could be a clever and unique twist.

Unfortunately, this story relies entirely on Jewish stereotypes and cliches, then proceeding to do this gaggingly-preachy, expelling-the-Jews-for-money-is-bad thing, which came out of absolutely nowhere and takes over the plot immediately. (Heck, why are there even Jews in this world, when there are no other recognizable religions from our world? Or even countries? He made up this fantasy world and then threw Jews into it wholesale, not even trying to consider how deeply that culture/nation is tied into *our* world's history. It isn't like he couldn't make up something super-similar and extremely transparent if he still wanted to do the same extreme cliches and preachiness. So, huhhhh?)

Two stars because the writing was good, and the first few chapters were excellent -- very funny. It just all fell apart because it didn't make any sense if you ever stopped to think about things.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moore is not only funnier that Pratchett, he puts some interesting twists into his plots. In this one, the third son of the King, Prince Hal, has been turned into a frog by a very powerful village Sorceress. Of course, everyone knows that if you kiss the right frog, it turns into a handsome prince, right?

So, Caroline, the-most-beautiful-girl-in-the-village, sets about a systematic means of finding the right frog and kisses a lot of them until she finds that prince... only he's not quite handsome. In fact, he's quite the dork. But that doesn't stop her from going back to the Palace (with the Sorceress' apprentice & daughter, Emily, in tow) in search of better prospects.

Caroline wants to be a princess, but can't be unless she either marries Hal or he releases her from that responsibility. Emily isn't quite as shallow as Caroline and is falling in love with Hal, but doesn't want to interfere with Caroline's plans.

And Hal has plans of his own for the Kingdom.

It's a fun read, believe me!

[Doris · Rating 5 out of 5]

A princess-wanna-be kisses every frog in a swamp trying to find the one that had been the frog formerly known as Prince Hal. She succeeds, and the hilarity begins.

This tongue-in-cheek story deals with several storybook legends, including Rapunzel, adding a new twist there, and the Frog Prince, creating an interesting entertaining story that may keep your roommates awake as you giggle and laugh out loud at the antics and the puns.

Recommended for anyone who knows how to read and has a sense of humor!

[Ben Aaronovitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth it for Repunzal's monologue alone.

[Thera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mám prostě nějaký čtecí blok, takže mě to dočíst donutila až dlouhá cesta vlakem, za což jsem nakonec ráda. Prostě takové milé pohádkové čtení.

[Allison · Rating 1 out of 5]

The references/use of fairy tales and fairy tale tropes was mildly interesting, but the use of Jewish stereotypes* and idea that having sex is what brings about large acts of magic to occur** was not.

*The evil prince and in-debt king decide to expel all Jewish people from their city because Jewish people are moneylenders and since the king owes everyone money, no moneylenders/Jewish people = his debts disappearing. Not only is this a harmful stereotype, but it’s also a flimsy excuse for narrative conflict. And while the good guys make sure the reader knows they think the expulsion of Jewish people is wrong, we still get that weird scene between Rumpelstiltskin and Rapunzel at the end with even more Jewish stereotypes played for laughs. (Because they’re good guys, it’s supposed to be funny? I wasn’t laughing.)

**A powerful spell of Transformation, such as spinning Rapunzel’s hair into gold, can only be accomplished by another sort of transformation, like that of a virgin suddenly becoming a non-virgin. Given that every instance of discussing this magical law is made while discussing a female character’s virginity, one can only assume the author believes a man’s dick can somehow magically transform a woman. Like, did the example given (and given again and again and again), have to be loss of virginity, and a woman’s at that?

Cut the Jewish storyline out completely—that fact that Hal and Jeff are trying to fix their father’s debt is enough of a conflict. You don’t need to bring in (the completely out of the blue***) racial storyline to further increase the tension.

*** Seriously, Kenny just decides they should expel the Jewish people from town about halfway through the book. Rumpelstiltskin mentions early on that people think he’s Jewish, which seemed oddly random enough, but my jaw dropped when Kenny made that statement. “That’s where the author was going with that??”

The summary doesn’t describe this book at all. The whole thing about him turning back into a frog if Caroline doesn’t marry him? Never once an issue. Other than mentioning it might be a problem once or twice, nothing is made of it and Hal never suffers because of it. (And the thing about how the spell shouldn’t have worked at all because of how pretty Caroline is and how so-so Hal is supposed to be is mentioned and then completely dropped a few paragraphs later. That actually sounding interesting—so why wasn’t it expounded on? Why did the spell work? It seems the author didn’t even know.

The ending is also incredibly rushed. There’s all this build-up to saving the crown from drowning in debt, and once they have their gold (formerly Rapunzel’s hair), everything is wrapped up in one paragraph only so we can be told the two main characters, Hal and Emily, are to spend the next two years apart—mainly because Emily, as an apprentice sorcereress, can’t have sex until she becomes a full-fledged sorceress because it might cause some great act of magic to occur. You know, because Hal, being a male, has a magical penis. Or something like that.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because I had read a bunch of fairy tale parodies and I wanted to read another. And this was written before most of the fairy tale parodies I read.

This is an interesting little book. Caroline, the village girl who wants to be a princess, kisses a frog, who turns into a prince. But the Prince is geeky and not that handsome. Caroline hates him, and in any other story, she learns to swallow her pride and marry him. But not in this one!

I like the magic in this story and the setting. The setting definitely feels more like your average medieval or early modern kingdom like your average fairy tale parody setting, which is very important. Medieval Europe, after all, was riddled with antisemitism, and the best way to prove a prince is actually the villain is to have him try to expel the Jews.

Seriously. That is a plot development in this story. As a young Jewish girl desperately looking for representation, I loved this development and thought it was hilarious and villainous. It’s kind of cringe in hindsight, but kudos to the author for acknowledging the bigoted element in some fairy tales, especially Grimm’s fairy tales.

This book ends wonderfully and has some great humor and characters in it. I just think it’s neat.

[Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy fantasy that pokes fun at the genre. John Moore, in particular, does a good job of asking followup questions of fairy tales, like "why was Repunzel in that tower?" and turning them into good stories.

Here, the most beautiful girl in the village puts in the work necessary to find that one frog that turns into a prince when kissed. The problem is the Prince isn't handsome and a promise is a promise. The story grows from there to encompass the prince's two handsome older brothers, his spendthrift father, Rumpelstiltskin and the daughter of the wicked witch that turned him into a frog a in the first place.

I only have one problem with the book. Mr. Moore did such a great job thinking about what happens to a prince/frog when the kisser doesn't marry him that the completely convenient ending to his story felt a little like he looked up, saw he met his word count goal and so just wrapped things up in the most expeditious manner possible. Still an enjoyable book and I don't regret buying it.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Uggh this book had so much potential. I read the whole thing because I can't handle not finishing things, but wow, it was tough.

I am generally pretty lenient on a lot of the things people get all up in arms about, because people write what they want and it's my fault for choosing to read any given book. But this book made me angry.

It seems like the author thought that the expulsion of the Jewish people is an entertaining piece of history that would be fun to exploit. The only purpose it serves the plot is to indicate that Prince Kenny is a "jerk." Seriously, that is the word used to describe such blatant antisemitism.

After talking about it with others, I am probably overreacting. But I am appalled and embarrassed that I have had this on my bookshelf for months. Not a fan.

[Ronald Spitzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very funny and also a quick read. I suspect this one is considered a teen book, but I doubt that teens will get all the jokes and references that bring out the humor in this satire. To get the full humor a person needs to be well read and educated. It will be be a good read even those those not as culturally knowledgable. I will look for more books by John Moore.

[Rebecca Lowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Middle school appropriate but a bit bawdy. John Moore books are always delightfully hilarious. He has a wonderful way of mixing fantasy and reality in a way that makes for absurd humor. The way the threads all come together on this one is a bit more obvious than some of his others but no less delightful. As a warning, some of the story is not considered politically correct this days.

[Neriparra · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5/5
The plot and the initial idea are really great. I laughed out loud a few times while reading it. But I didn't find it as funny as A Fate Worse Than Dragons or Slay and Rescue. I think this is the weakest of the 3, mainly because of the characters, who seemed kind of flat to me. And then I didn't like the part with the Jews either, that was not funny at all.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 3.5

[Krsiak Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but pretty basic book.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good weekend or holiday reading. Light and silly fairy tale story.

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly a quick and easy read. Sort of cute fairy tale reality book. A very uncomfortable scene near the end knocked off a star.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read... I liked Hal and Emily. I would have liked more of their story and less of Caroline.. Jeff and the rest. Too short to do H and E justice.

[Brennon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book.

[Cat5676 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun light-hearted quick read. Average and forgettable. But nice if you just want to read something set in a fairytale world. Has Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin, and of course the frog prince references.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute random fantasy book. Collision of fairy tales reworked. Worth reading once. Perhaps try some of his other boooks.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming retelling of "The Frog Prince." I like retold fairy tales anyway and this was a really imaginative retelling of this one.