Book Review
Title: The Oddling Prince
Author: Nancy Springer
Genre: Mythology/Historical/Fantasy
Rating: ****
Review: The opening to The Oddling Prince was great, we are introduced to Aric and his father the King of Calidon who lays dying after a cursed ring appears on his finger. His son is not ready to be King but despite everything, no one can remove the ring. However, when a mysterious fey named Albaric arrives at the castle, he does the impossible restoring the King to health but there seems to be more to his relationship with the King as he asks if the King knows who he is. Aric seems to notice this as he has a strange emotional connection to Albaric and wants to know all about him. Albaric seems to have come from the fey world as he doesn’t understand the concept of time or mortal things like sleeping and death.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, I was really enjoying the story despite not being a huge fan of historical fiction. After the King’s recovery Albaric tells the story of how he came to be there. It turns out that he is also a Prince, the son of the King of Calidon and the fey Queen. However, being half-human, he didn’t feel welcome in the fey kingdom and came to help his father in his time of need. However, the King doesn’t seem happy to have another son and treats Albaric poorly, Aric and his mother try to get to the source of the King’s problem, but I have a feeling that Albaric won’t be at home in the human world or the fey world.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, Albaric finds no love in the mortal lands except from his brother. It is Aric that comes up with the idea to find a place where the people don’t know about fey and wonders, a place that Albaric can be happy. He asks his father to let them both go to find this place under the guise of Aric looking for a wife. Despite, this I don’t think the brothers will be happy unless they are together as they seem to completely understand the other in ways no one else can understand. The language in this novel seems old-fashioned it is very easy to read which I was very thankful for. As they reach their first destination Aric immediately finds a girl who would make a great political match, yet she is too young to wed, however, she makes the remark that Albaric should be a Prince and Aric agrees. Another strange thing is that the Lord of this kingdom tells Albaric the story of the White King and his blue horse that rose from the sea, which has a striking resemblance to Albaric.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, I was curious to see what would happen to the brothers. However, soon the brothers are ambushed again but this time they learn that their home is to be attacked and immediately head back in order to warn the King and both pray they aren’t too late. Against all the odds, the brothers and Bluefire seem to overcome almost any task they are presented with, but something seems off about the situation they find themselves in at the moment.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, the brothers are beginning to show to everyone how well they work together. One challenge the brothers constantly face in their quest to win their father’s approval for Albaric but no matter how hard they try it seems to King refuses to acknowledge Albaric or Elfland. Meanwhile, the ring that started the story seems to be conveying a message to the brothers although they don’t yet know what it is.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, the problems only grow for the brothers and Aric isn’t faring well. However, he makes a full recovery as expected but the wedges the King is driving between them is beginning to show. Marissa ends this when she arrives as she is the one Aric intends to marry when she is old enough. However, like the brothers she is different, she knows things that no one else does, she can even tell that Albaric is fey just by looking at him. When Aric receives the ring’s message they all understand that something large is coming, something bad.
I can’t really talk about the last section of the novel without giving away the ending, but everything comes together and all the things that didn’t really make sense earlier in the novel really come together. Overall, I really enjoyed the Oddling Prince, it wasn’t the best historical fantasy I’m sure but it was a quick, easy and fun read.
Buy it here:
Paperback: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
I received this review copy from NetGalley
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