You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by alanaellsworth
The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald
3.0
I was expecting to enjoy this story more than I did. While I love, and still really love, the character of Curdie, I found this book took a completely different turn from The Princess and the Goblin.
The Princess and Curdie is set a year or two after the previous book, during which Princess Irene and her father go to the town of Gwyntystorm and Curdie has remained with his parents. One day, Curdie kills a pigeon while hunting which leads him to find Princess Irene's great-great-grandmother. She gives Curdie an ability to feel what the true form of a figure is (what kind of beast or human they are on the inside) by touch and sends him on a special quest. He is also accompanied by the atrociously ugly yet faithful, Lina, who Curdie supposes to previously be one of the goblin's horrible pet-creatures. Curdie sets out to Gwyntystorm for himself and finds out his true mission is to aid in saving the king from being poisoned by his "doctor."
This plot felt so different from the previous plot of the heroic Curdie saving the Princess from being forcibly married to a goblin. It felt a bit clumsy and random, and none of the questions I previously had with The Princess and the Goblin, such as the true identity of the great-great-grandmother, were answered. The characters felt very different as well. Princess Irene is very aloof and suddenly acts like an adult even though she was described as playing with toys in the last book, which was supposed to have occurred only two years ago. Curdie, though still likable, is just a bit more bland when he was previously a cute and heroic miner boy. This book was not at all bad, in fact it was still enjoyable and will not dissuade me from reading George MacDonald at all, but I felt it differed so much from the The Princess and the Goblin in tone that it should have perhaps been executed with different characters.
The Princess and Curdie is set a year or two after the previous book, during which Princess Irene and her father go to the town of Gwyntystorm and Curdie has remained with his parents. One day, Curdie kills a pigeon while hunting which leads him to find Princess Irene's great-great-grandmother. She gives Curdie an ability to feel what the true form of a figure is (what kind of beast or human they are on the inside) by touch and sends him on a special quest. He is also accompanied by the atrociously ugly yet faithful, Lina, who Curdie supposes to previously be one of the goblin's horrible pet-creatures. Curdie sets out to Gwyntystorm for himself and finds out his true mission is to aid in saving the king from being poisoned by his "doctor."
This plot felt so different from the previous plot of the heroic Curdie saving the Princess from being forcibly married to a goblin. It felt a bit clumsy and random, and none of the questions I previously had with The Princess and the Goblin, such as the true identity of the great-great-grandmother, were answered. The characters felt very different as well. Princess Irene is very aloof and suddenly acts like an adult even though she was described as playing with toys in the last book, which was supposed to have occurred only two years ago. Curdie, though still likable, is just a bit more bland when he was previously a cute and heroic miner boy. This book was not at all bad, in fact it was still enjoyable and will not dissuade me from reading George MacDonald at all, but I felt it differed so much from the The Princess and the Goblin in tone that it should have perhaps been executed with different characters.