The evil Queen Lucinda exacts revenge on a royal poet by casting a spell of never-ending cliches upon the kingdom. Will the clever King Richard thwart his stepmother’s magic and save the good people of Maxim? Test your literary knowledge and enjoy an entertaining spoof on fairytales.
Free on 18th - 20th May 24
Reviews:
"It is a decent story and stand-alone modern fairytale in its own right, complete with lessons and moral."
Reviewer: Reader for Bookangel.
This is a short, funny, story about a stepmother regent, a young king, his kingdom, and a writer with no sense of court politics whatsoever.
In a move akin to Shakespeare mentioning Queen Elizabeth's pockmarks, William Writer's ode to the deceased King portrays his wife as the stereotypical evil stepmother. In revenge she decrees that throughout the kingdom, all traditional fairytale clichés will now be true, and enforces it by magical compulsion.
While her reaction is a bit over the top, I do love the fact that even young King Richard's reaction to learning about the writer's words was to ask why she didn't just cut his head off? It seems even good kings don't take mockery well.
I loved the bit where Richard ends up travelling back through his Kingdom, his increasing bemusement as he realises what is going on, and that he immediately and correctly blames his mother. It makes you wonder what she has done before (and if the author wishes to write a prequel, that's a hint...)
In a era where fairytales get re-written for the screen, this draws obvious comparisons to Once Upon a Time or The Tenth Kingdom, but people who enjoyed those might read it. The isn't just a satire of fairytales, it is a decent story and stand-alone modern fairytale in its own right, complete with lessons and moral.
Rating: 4
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Discussion
Ellie Jane (12 November 2017)
This book sounds promising, especially as it's humorous. I've been looking for new material. I just saw it's only 16 pages long. I'll have it read in no time.
tirial (13 November 2017)
I've just read it. It's short but amusing, and I did enjoy the king's solution. That's a man who knows his stepmother far too well!
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2016-11-23
