Volume two of the princess saga brings us more blood again, but this time also a guy. We’ll find out how badass it is.
Contents (blurb)
From the battle… into the legends Narvila, Aiby, Decanra, Cinn and Mef were born as king’s daughters – today they are a group of tough mercenaries. With sword lances and battle axes, they face all beasts and bastards, often saving damsels in distress. But now the princesses are given the task of protecting Prytos, the great hero of the war of the gods, whose immortality has almost been used up. As bodyguards of the ever-high-handed and daring legend, Narvila and the others have to take on demons, sorcerers, dragons, sea monsters and the undead. And of course with Prytos himself…
criticism
The second volume of “Princesses” takes a different note in terms of story. Well, that’s not entirely true. The story is still told rather than detailed worldbuilding being carried out here, as was the case in the first volume. So the heroines travel to a new area, slaughter a monster and then stop off at an inn to drink. And that’s how it’s described in one or two sentences. On the one hand, this means slightly less explicit fight scenes (which are always difficult to write anyway), but on the other hand, it also leads to a slightly rushed feeling. It’s like galloping through the plot a little too quickly and ticking off a few checkpoints.
The big problem with this is, as mentioned, that there is hardly any worldbuilding. We learn a little about the heroines’ backgrounds, but what the world they live in actually looks like and what else there is is mostly left behind. And unfortunately that also applies to the character development, because the heroines are given little depth. Basically you switch from one monster hunt to the next while the princesses joke around.
This time there is even a slightly different starting point: by chance the princesses come across the hero Prytos, who has been alive for 150 years and is always looking for the next fight (or the next woman). As a result of the aforementioned coincidence, the heroines also have to play bodyguard for the poor man and occasionally clash with him. Of course, both groups have their own view of the classic hero’s journey. This contrast, with all the squabbles, is quite fun and that also sets the tone for the story: it should simply be fun.
This works for quite a while, until after 100-200 pages you ask yourself where the whole thing is actually supposed to lead. Until then you’ve just flattened one monster after another and the same conditions are slowly starting to wear out and become boring. Apparently the author noticed this too, because then the story takes a turn and it’s about nothing less than saving the world. Although monsters are still leveled in quick bursts in between, Prytos in particular is now given a little more depth towards the end.
Because he has to reconcile with his daughter as his own strength begins to weaken. Right up to his – spoiler alert – ending, he grows somewhat beyond himself and is no longer quite as mocking as before. So compared to the heroines, he goes through the biggest (and most traumatic) journey. As for the heroines themselves, they end up fighting with a near-loss. But first we should mention that between the individual chapters you can read flashbacks of the individual princesses, which show scenes from their past.
They were the strongest in the first volume, as they showed how the group came together. Here, however, they turn out to be the weakest chapters, because unfortunately there isn’t much interesting left to tell. The troops have already come together, so only further battle scenes are shown here. At least they cleverly poke fun at a few old fairy tales, but unfortunately they don’t offer any added value otherwise. Sure, the aim here is to show what makes the princesses tick, but the reader will also understand this if they follow the main adventure. And even more so when the character profiles remain as small as they do here. And anyone who has read the first volume already knows all this anyway.
As a result, Aiby’s near-death at the end leaves you a little cold. Somehow it will continue, but the story ends up with the obligatory happy ending, which is almost a shame because it leaves behind a rather standard, uniform story that doesn’t make much of itself despite some good beginnings.
2023-12-15 10:59:45
#Review #Princesses #Heroes #Demons
