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.
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The Oddling Prince
Nancy Springer
I have to admit, I was intrigued by this book due to the cover and title but hadn’t really read much about it. One of the big things to note is that the way it is written, is not like a usual YA book. It’s very fairy tale like, and it does take some time to get used to the writing style. But this is more because of how I’m used to reading books, than an actual negative. It fits the story really well.
Based in Scotland, it doesn’t seem to have any defining features that scream Scottish lore. Which for me, was slightly disappointing. The Oddling Prince as a whole is about its characters and I felt that world building was barely a factor. As someone who enjoys vast world building in her fantasy books, this turned my attention away slightly.
An issue for me was that I didn’t particular care for the characters. Aric immediately loves his brother, Albaric, and wants to help him even though their father doesn’t care for him. But I didn’t really mind what would happen to either of them. If anything, I wanted something to happen that would drive the story more.
The story of kinship is the pivotal part of The Oddling Prince. The relationship builds between brothers, and the trust that is developed is shown really well. There’s a lot of depth to the characters, and we see each of them go through self-doubt, guilt, anger and loneliness.
It’s so character driven, that the ‘action’ part of the book only starts at about 40% of the way in. This is a solely personal preference, but I rarely enjoy character driven books and this isn’t really an exception. It’s a wonderfully magical tale, with many intriguing aspects, but it just didn’t cover what I was interested in.
I would have loved to have seen and read more about the fairy queen and her lands. A bit more magic with multiple fae would have made the book a bit more interesting for me. Plus I would have loved to incorporate some Scottish folklore into it.
Positives
+ Fairy Tale writing style
+ Character depth
Negatives
– Slow pace
– Lack of action
I received The Oddling Prince by Nancy Springer from the publisher via Edelweiss. This is an unbiased and honest review