Wednesday, January 14, 2009

A Posse of Princesses by Sherwood Smith

Rhis, princess of the small mountain country of Nym, has been invited to a gathering of titled peers to meet Prince Lios. She has never been a very "good" princess, as her older sister-in-law continually reminds her; she is far more interested in ballads and music than lessons in history and deportment. Now, she quickly attempts to catch up and finds that she enjoys the company of some, including Shera (her sister by marriage) and the prince's scribe, Dandiar. Some people are far less pleasant - particularly the beautiful lady Iardith. But when Iardith is kidnapped, Rhis and several other princesses band together to rescue her and must rethink many of the lessons they have learned.

It isn't terribly often that a book has multiple princesses - and all together in the same place. I really enjoyed reading this book. Rhis and the other characters seem very real and their story is a little dull in the middle, but picks up before too long. Aside from the number of princesses, the plot isn't too predictable to make up for the bit when they're all getting to know one another. I would recommend this book to fantasy readers who want something that isn't too heavy and a little different, or to those who like the books about girls who figure out how to manage on their own.

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