Wednesday, June 13

A Princess of Roumania – Paul Park

Adopted teen Miranda Popescu has always fantasised that she is special, different. And she’s right – in an alternate universe, Roumania is the dominant European power, and Miranda is an heir, a real princess. To save her as a baby her aunt hid her in our universe, in a Rumanian orphanage, and organised for her adoption by an American couple. But Miranda’s enemies have discovered the truth. They’re are coming after her, and they have magic on their side.
I really tried to immerse myself in this apparently world class fantasy – the reviews say that it’s marvellous, well crafted, enchanting, appealing and lyrical. It may well be that real life, which is a little pressured right now, was pressing too hard for me to truly sink into the story. Or perhaps I am better suited to the “staple tropes” of run of the mill fantasy. But for whatever reason, 100 pages in (just over a fifth of the way through) I still didn’t care, and admitted defeat. I plan to give the book to Lynn, who has a mind more intricate and thread-connecting than mine; with any luck there’ll be a review from her up here soon which will give a more accurate and possibly glowing picture of what Locus predicts may be “one of the major fantasy works of the decade.” – Alex

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