Review - The Oddling Prince by Nancy Springer

Title: The Oddling Prince

Author: Nancy Springer

Synopsis:

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.

I received a free ebook copy of this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My Thoughts: 

I've seen tons of three-star reviews about this book on Goodreads. Tons. However, after reading it I feel I have to take it in my hands to do justice to The Oddling Prince because to me it didn't come across as mediocre as review writers generally make it out to be.

There are two princes in this story who share a strong bond. One of them, Albaric, is from a faraway land. He comes to Calidon to save the king's life, yet his motive for the heroic act upsets king Bardaric a good deal after his recovery. Aric, the prince of Calidon, tries to shield Albaric from his father's wrath but the king's behaviour pains the foreign saviour none the less. Still, when the kingdom is threatened by inside and outside forces alike, everyone must stand on the same side to prevent its demise.

Going into the book knowing that it is a fairy tale and a celtic one at that, I expected nothing less from the writing style than to reflect the genre and the historical quality. Ms Springer's sentences are beautifully composed and her descriptions are nothing short of poetic. It's true that some might find the style a little dense, hard to get used to, but it all depends on the person's reading history and even if it's new to someone it doesn't mean it can't amaze after getting through the initial bumps while getting accustomed to it in the beginning. 

I actually saw some reviews that say The Oddling Prince is written in 'old English'.

Old English is what Beowulf was written in, even native speakers cannot really read and/or understand it now. Talk about exaggeration...

The truth is, this is a character-driven novel and those who pick it up to read action packed fantasy fiction can be disappointed. It is not usual for a fantasy story to lean that heavily on its characters vs the plot and therefore it was a risky choice from the author, but believe me when I say that it works in this case. There is little travelling in the novel, basically there is one setting (the castle) but it feels enough (the only part when the princes left the castle seemed superfluous to me to be honest). 

There's some sword fighting though and dangerous situations at times, the book doesn't completely lack action, only it's not as important in it as the relationship of the characters.

Speaking of characters... We have a male protagonist, which is very rare in YA. Aric is endlessly kind, goodhearted and caring. He doesn't have one bad quality. Many reviewers deemed him flat, but again, we are talking about a fairy tale – the genre is not exactly famous for complex characters, since very often these tales are based on a fight between good and bad and there is no in between. Aric's one-sidedness was therefore absolutely acceptable to me. His love for Albaric warmed my heart.

The ladies of The Oddling Prince were so lovely! Aric's mother and his bride, Marissa, were both smart and wise and they understood their male companions so well. They had so much strength and insight, they were my favourites. 

As you can see I liked The Oddling Prince a lot and this was me trying to defend its merits. I just thought it deserved a champion and it might as well be me... 

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