Sunday, May 27

A Fate Worse Than Dragons – John Moore

Tradition has it that if a knight slays a dragon, the beautiful princess of the kingdom is his. Although nobody knows it, Sir Terry and the Princess Gloria are in love, and have hatched a plan that will force the crown to cede its most treasured jewel to a middle-class knight with no prospects. Well, less ‘they’ve hatched’ and more Gloria’s plan, which sadly goes awry when Terry discovers that – prior to his killing it in a fluke, spear-through-the-roof-of-its-cavernous-maw way - the dead dragon had wandered over a recently redrawn property line in disputed territory. Instead of the brilliant, scintillating Gloria, Terry must wed (the obligation goes both ways) the crazy Princess Jane, who talks to animals. Dead animals. Like pot roasts.
Fortunately, through some quick thinking and the dimness of his valet, Huggins, Terry is able to slip out of the obligation. But with no dragon left to kill, and Gloria engaged (thanks to her parents) to Roland Westfield(whose family bakery came up with the unpopular innovation of sliced bread), the lovers have to come up with a new, foolproof scheme.
This is an above-average genre fantasy – the four main characters are distinct and well rounded, the writing is witty, and I particularly liked the on-going threads about the heinousness of sliced bread and the bizarre attraction of people-eating creatures to virgins. As Gloria points out, not being eaten can just mean the creature wasn’t hungry. If I come across any other Moore books I’ll certainly check them out, but I don’t think I’ll feel the need to specifically go looking. – Alex

No comments: