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Book Review
Apr. 12th, 2010 10:41 pmA Princess of Roumania
The Tourmaline
The White Tyger
The Hidden World
by Paul Park
This series is about teen-aged Miranda and her two friends, Peter and Andromeda, who are pulled into the world of Roumania, an alternate Europe with a very different history where Roumania is a world power, a kind of magic exists, and the world is still at a WWI level of technology. In this world, Miranda is the child of important political figures and somewhat of a prophesied chosen one. This makes her sought after by a variety of people for purposes both good and bad. Chief among the bad is Nicola Ceausescu, a former opera star who is now involved in both magical and political machinations in hopes of getting power into her own hands. Miranda, Peter, and Andromeda must navigate this confusing new landscape to both stay alive and unshackled and to figure out what to do. It was a fascinating series, but overall, my feelings about it were mixed.
First, the bad. It took until the second half of the third book for Miranda to figure out enough about herself, what was going on, and what she wanted to do with her situation to get some sort of direction and goals. Before that, she is oddly passive, mostly reacting to events rather than trying to accomplish anything. Miranda is also not a terribly interesting character. For most of the series, she functions more as a central axis for the other, much more fascinating characters to act and interact around. Also, the goals of many of the other characters were all too often murky as well. Although I recognize that this was the result of an admirable and mostly successful to accurately and grittily portray a country in the midst of massive political upheavals, it would have been nice to have a little more clarity here and there.
The goods were pretty good, though. I really like the way the series stands the young girl finds out she is really a princess in another, more fantastical land trope. Miranda may indeed be a princess of Roumania, but it is anything but a glamorous situation for her to be in. There's confusion and danger rather than excitement and heroic adventure. And although Miranda was not so compelling, the other characters were incredibly fascinating. Chief among them was Nicola Ceausescu, who turns out to be incredibly complex. Although I certainly wasn't rooting for her, these books practically sparkled whenever she was onstage in all her self-deceiving, scheming, fascinating glory. She really drives a lot of the story. Peter and Andromeda also turn out to be much more than they appear, which leads to some great character development for each of them.
The Tourmaline
The White Tyger
The Hidden World
by Paul Park
This series is about teen-aged Miranda and her two friends, Peter and Andromeda, who are pulled into the world of Roumania, an alternate Europe with a very different history where Roumania is a world power, a kind of magic exists, and the world is still at a WWI level of technology. In this world, Miranda is the child of important political figures and somewhat of a prophesied chosen one. This makes her sought after by a variety of people for purposes both good and bad. Chief among the bad is Nicola Ceausescu, a former opera star who is now involved in both magical and political machinations in hopes of getting power into her own hands. Miranda, Peter, and Andromeda must navigate this confusing new landscape to both stay alive and unshackled and to figure out what to do. It was a fascinating series, but overall, my feelings about it were mixed.
First, the bad. It took until the second half of the third book for Miranda to figure out enough about herself, what was going on, and what she wanted to do with her situation to get some sort of direction and goals. Before that, she is oddly passive, mostly reacting to events rather than trying to accomplish anything. Miranda is also not a terribly interesting character. For most of the series, she functions more as a central axis for the other, much more fascinating characters to act and interact around. Also, the goals of many of the other characters were all too often murky as well. Although I recognize that this was the result of an admirable and mostly successful to accurately and grittily portray a country in the midst of massive political upheavals, it would have been nice to have a little more clarity here and there.
The goods were pretty good, though. I really like the way the series stands the young girl finds out she is really a princess in another, more fantastical land trope. Miranda may indeed be a princess of Roumania, but it is anything but a glamorous situation for her to be in. There's confusion and danger rather than excitement and heroic adventure. And although Miranda was not so compelling, the other characters were incredibly fascinating. Chief among them was Nicola Ceausescu, who turns out to be incredibly complex. Although I certainly wasn't rooting for her, these books practically sparkled whenever she was onstage in all her self-deceiving, scheming, fascinating glory. She really drives a lot of the story. Peter and Andromeda also turn out to be much more than they appear, which leads to some great character development for each of them.
