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A review by fallingletters
The Dragon Egg Princess by Ellen Oh
4.0
Brief thoughts originally published 29 December 2020 at Falling Letters.
The first thing that stood out about this book to me is that it’s set in an uncommon time period for this kind of (secondary world middle grade) fantasy. Joson, the Korean analogue kingdom where the story takes place, seems medieval while other kingdoms have computers and assault rifles. Joson still has magic, though, while those kingdoms do not. The conflict begins when another country wants to destroy the massive magical forest at the center of Joson to take advantage of its resources.
Anyone who’s watched a Studio Ghibli film will recognize similarities between their stories and The Dragon Egg Princess. Indeed, even the April 2018 rights report makes that comparison. The main commonalities are the characters of the hero and heroine, the pseudo-historical East Asian fantasy setting, and the environmental messaging. Definitely hand this book to kids who enjoy those films.
The princess (who is at least 13 years old) reads really juvenile to me. She’s kind-hearted but extremely naïve, stubborn and silly. Maybe that can be attributed to being cut off from human society for five years? Seems a stretch to me… she does read more like a young child than a younger teenager.
It took me awhile to settle into the prose. It feels scripted, but if I’m being generous, in a sort of legendary way, like you might experience when someone tells you an old tale. There’s a lot of describing actions rather than eliciting emotions. While I don’t prefer this style, I imagine it makes an epic fantasy story accessible to younger readers or those who haven’t read a lot in this genre.
The first thing that stood out about this book to me is that it’s set in an uncommon time period for this kind of (secondary world middle grade) fantasy. Joson, the Korean analogue kingdom where the story takes place, seems medieval while other kingdoms have computers and assault rifles. Joson still has magic, though, while those kingdoms do not. The conflict begins when another country wants to destroy the massive magical forest at the center of Joson to take advantage of its resources.
Anyone who’s watched a Studio Ghibli film will recognize similarities between their stories and The Dragon Egg Princess. Indeed, even the April 2018 rights report makes that comparison. The main commonalities are the characters of the hero and heroine, the pseudo-historical East Asian fantasy setting, and the environmental messaging. Definitely hand this book to kids who enjoy those films.
The princess (who is at least 13 years old) reads really juvenile to me. She’s kind-hearted but extremely naïve, stubborn and silly. Maybe that can be attributed to being cut off from human society for five years? Seems a stretch to me… she does read more like a young child than a younger teenager.
It took me awhile to settle into the prose. It feels scripted, but if I’m being generous, in a sort of legendary way, like you might experience when someone tells you an old tale. There’s a lot of describing actions rather than eliciting emotions. While I don’t prefer this style, I imagine it makes an epic fantasy story accessible to younger readers or those who haven’t read a lot in this genre.