Let me start this off by making one point clear: I hate the Twilight series. (Irrelevant as you might think it is, that’s important.) That being said, I did not expect much from The Changeling Prince. Ever since I had the displeasure of reading the new “Stephenie Meyer” rendition of werewolves, picking up a book with werewolves in it has brought me both mental and physical pain (the physical pain being caused by me violently throwing the book against my foot whenever I read a new passage about how attractively attractive the werewolf looked). So once I’d finished reading The Changeling Prince and my feet were still in perfect condition, I knew it had been a success.
Here’s the story: For his entire life, Weiland (the main character, in case it wasn’t completely obvious from me mentioning his name first) has been under the control of the evil sorceress Daria. She kidnapped him when he was still just a wolf pup, and changed him into a human. Now, he isn’t the only animal-turned-human that Daria owns. She has a wide variety of bears, wolves, birds, etc. (like a Beanie Baby obsession gone bad). Whenever Daria wants them to do something for her, she’ll change them back to their original animal form and send them out. Naturally, being a main character and all, Weiland is not satisfied with this lifestyle. He doesn’t want to kill people, he doesn’t like waking up and tasting blood in his mouth: the usual. But how can he manage to escape when Daria has complete control over him? And that’s when the adventure begins.
Now I can tell you that Weiland is one of my favorite characters I’ve read about. Ever. And that’s because he isn’t all moral. Sure, he doesn’t like to kill people, but he’ll beat you pretty hard if you deserve it (and maybe sometimes even if you don’t). That’s a characteristic you often see in side characters -- while the main character is being moral and brave, trying to hold the side-character back. To see this from the main character was really refreshing. In any case, I don’t want to spoil any more (actually, my fingers are starting to hurt from this annoying computer keyboard, but same difference), so the main point I am trying to get across is: read the book.
Now, after finishing The Changeling Prince, to my extreme joy I discovered that there was a sequel. Oh, how I wish I hadn’t. Apparently, Vande Velde wrote this book ten years before she wrote The Changeling Prince, and it shows. Honestly, I liked it so little that I can’t even remember most of the plot … or the main character’s name. (I just Googled it: It’s Lylene.) Alright, so Lylene is supposed to be this good, caring, brave, perfect (I know … already you can’t stand her) heroine. Instead, the author accidentally made her bratty, annoying, awful, flirty, and just plain unbearable. The only reason I could even finish this book at all was the fact that Weiland was in it (and honestly, he wasn’t nearly as awesome as he had been in The Changeling Prince). So, the main point I’m trying to get across with The Conjurer Princess is: don’t read this book. Don’t. You will regret it. I promise.
So, if you’re an author, and you’re reading this, it is a warning. If you ever decide to write a prequel to a book you wrote ten years ago, don’t. No matter who you are, or how good you think you were at writing ten years ago, your style will have changed within the last decade (hopefully on the improving side -- but really, it goes both ways). If you’re not careful, you could end up with this disaster happening to you, and the next time someone writes a review like this, it will be about your book series. Be warned.
Request The Changeling Prince by Vivian Vande Velde
And, if you care to risk ignoring Amanda's sage advice, borrow an interlibrary loan copy of The Conjurer Princess
-- Our thanks to teen volunteer Amanda for her fantastic reviews!
No comments:
Post a Comment