- This was a finalist for the 2011 INSPY awards.
I recommend:
- Beauty by Robin McKinley
Summary from Goodreads:
The Dragon King Seeks His Princess–
Who Dares to Stop Him?
Princess Una of Parumvir has come of age and will soon marry. She dreams of a charming prince, but when her first suitor arrives, he’s not what she’d hoped. Prince Aethelbald of mysterious Farthestshore has travelled a great distance to prove his love–and also to bring hushed warnings of danger. A dragon is rumored to be on the hunt and blazing a path of terror.
Una, smitten instead with a more dashing prince, refuses Aethelbald’s offer–and ignores his cautions with dire consequences. Soon the Dragon King himself is in Parumvir and Una, in giving her heart away unwisely, finds herself in his sights. Only those courageous enough to risk everything have a hope of fighting off this advancing evil.
My Review:
Out of the five finalists for the INSPY Speculative Award for this year, this one was my least favorite. While it wasn’t nearly as awful as another book I recently read, it still walked a very fine line between preaching (and the subsequent talking down feel) and storytelling.
I had high hopes – dragons, princesses, strange names – all were in abundance and can usually equal the ingredients for an interesting, if not thrilling story. Instead I got a very tame fairy-tale that seemed to be catering to 12 year old girls and not the adults it appeared to be marketed for.
There are so many issues today with Christian fiction. With the exception of a few authors, most books are like this – watered down stories that instead of conveying a powerful message, instead give a simplified message for fear of offending one of the readers.
Bring on the offense – I crave strong reactions that test my belief and make me constantly examine them to determine whether they are made up by myself or truly beliefs given to me by God.
Check out these review(s)!
