The Oddling Prince
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
In the ancient moors of Scotland, the king of Calidon lies on his deathbed, cursed by a ring that cannot be removed from his finger. When a mysterious fey stranger appears to save the king, he also carries a secret that could tear the royal family apart.
The kingdom’s only hope will lie with two young men raised worlds apart. Aric is the beloved heir to the throne of Calidon; Albaric is clearly of noble origin yet strangely out of place.
The Oddling Prince is a tale of brothers whose love and loyalty to each other is such that it defies impending warfare, sundering seas, fated hatred, and the very course of time itself. In her long-awaited new fantasy novel, Nancy Springer (the Books of Isle series) explores the darkness of the human heart as well as its unceasing capacity for love.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The prolific Springer has written several pieces of Arthuriana, and this charming little book clearly uses some of the ideas and plot devices from the legends of Arthur while maintaining its own separate mythology. Aric, Prince of Calidon, is the son of King Bardaric, who is made very ill by a magical ring he is unable to take off. This causes the kingdom itself to become drought-ridden and insect-plagued, mirroring the king's malady. When the king is saved by a mysterious elf who claims to be the king's own son, Aric accepts the stranger as his friend and brother, but Bardaric cannot. The strain in the family becomes ever more intense, and the land does not return to normal. Aric must find some way of reconciling his father and his brother before starvation overtakes the country. The characters, especially the royal family, are delightful, and the plot resolves in a completely unexpected fashion, but the fuzzy, not-quite-legendary background, while pretty, is thin, and the prose is merely proficient. There is a great deal of fun to be had, but there's not much going on below the surface.
