Customer Reviews

Bad Prince Charlie

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Damask is a poor country with doubtful resources. It was once joined with a more prosperous kingdom on the other side of the mountains. But currently it is an independent drought-ridden nest of corruption. With the death of the king a plot is formed to put an undesirable on the throne to cause a revolt and have the neighboring kingdom take over. All they have to do if create a regent and get him to alienate the rest of the country, nobles and peasants alike. The king's illegitimate son Charlie (nicknamed Bad Prince Charlie) is the choice for regent.

But Charlie is no sooner in power than things begin to go awry. Charlie has no trouble alienating the nobles as he discovers the corruption that is strangling the kingdom. Rain has been scarce so he knows there will be hunger. Public works programs are brought in. But then Charlie discovers that the real reason for everything is a supposed weapon of magical destruction, WMD for short. Although the possibility of such a device is probably wishful thinking as magic has never been strong enough everyone seems sure that it actually exists. If it does exist Charlie must keep it out of everyone's hands and destroy it. But while searching he has to feed the hungry, deal with romance, fight intrigue, save his own skin, get overthrown, deal with traitors, face prophesies, and that's just the beginning.

John Moore takes a slightly different direction with this one although it is still pure comedy. Classic fantasy and medieval politics combine to create an original tale. At first one wonders if this will be another take on Hamlet (there is ear-poison here) but it really isn't. Moore shows that he is quite familiar with more than just fairy tales and heroic fantasy. If you have enjoyed his other novels, then this one should do the same. If you are unfamiliar with Moore but like Terry Pratchett, you will see some influence. Check it out.

Another in the growing genre of fantasy parodies, this book is loosely anchored in Hamlet but covers everything from the Oracle of Delphi to bland American beer and Starbucks coffee shops. It is full of "meta-humor" -- jokes about itself and the genre it is part of. Most of them work, but none of them are as shockingly funny as those in a Chris Moore or Douglas Adams book.

As a typical example, consider the scene where Charlie meets the ghost of his murdered father (the former king). Charlie dislikes his dad and is glad to tell him that he is working with his father's murderers. He also warns him that he is not interested in listening to the ghost's story, because he knows the ghost will vanish at dawn just before he reveals some crucial information. And, of course, several pages later, that is exactly what happens, just after the ghost has finally convinced Charlie that he should pay attention to the problem he is worried about.

The humor and the characterization are well done, but unfortunately the plot is a little bit underbaked. It is slow and overly complicated (which could also be said of the plot of Hamlet). The jokes and the plot keep fighting with each other over which element gets to take center stage (unlike, for instance, Patricia Wrede's Enchanted Forest books, where they are much more symbiotic and complementary).

The book is written for adults and older teens -- younger readers (and those unfamiliar with Hamlet) will miss many of the jokes.

Of Moore's 3 latest books, this is by far the least entertaining.

The book gets off to a sluggish beginning which I pushed myself to read through (Moore had built up a lot of good-will points from his previous books, and many were spent at the outset of this one) even though my instincts warned me to STOP READING. The pace of the novel did pick up shortly thereafter, but from time to time bogged down once again. In his previous outings Moore used dialogue and action to move the story along, but in this book there are numerous long descriptive passages that add little to the story or humor*. About 1/2 way through the book I recognized that my enjoyment of the book was enhanced if I simply passed the descriptive passages and went to the next bit of dialogue. The story itself is full of double-dealing people playing the Game of Thrones, and there are moments of good humor.

If you're looking for good fun, I recommend reading Moore's other two books first, and then reading this effort.

*Moore's use of footnotes was enjoyable, and if he were to have used more I probably would have enjoyed the book more.

I'm giving this a 4 star, hesitantly, because I enjoyed much of the humor in it (microbrews, Starbucks, WMD) but the story itself was just okay for me. I found it enjoyable enough and liked the subplots and subterfuge going on; however, I also found it highly predictable. I liked the characters presented and yes it is a parody on Hamlet with other stories thrown in but then "Unhandsome Prince" was the same way with fairy tales and I enjoyed it much more. I'm not going to run down the plot as other reviewers have done that for us. The book is good enough to read and doesn't require much thought processing. I loved the cracks on footnotes ala Terry Pratchett, et al. As fantasy parody, it's good enough but the market will continue to draw others into it so Moore needs to step up what he's doing. Of the three John Moore books I've read, 'Heroics for Beginners' is my favorite.

Overall, good enough to read and enjoy even for the average $7 price tag at your local bookstore.

What if Hamlet didn't want to become king of Denmark? If Polonius was really on the side of the prince? And Fortinbras had nuclear weapons?
In Bad Prince Charlie Moore does a riff on the Hamlet story, with his tale of a reluctant prince who has to take over the kingdom in order to get work-study credit at college. Along the way the author pokes fun at everything from Kahil Gibran's The Prophet to microbrewed beer. It's a fast and funny story and, in my opinion, his best work so far. While the other stories were inherently predictable (because they were based on fantasy cliches) this one kept me guessing right to the end.
What I particularly like about the 20 Kingdoms series is -- they are not a series! Each one is a stand alone novel. I have grown so tired of discovering a new fantasy author only to find I'll have to wait seven years to learn how his book ends. Or buying volumes one, four, and five but finding that two and three are out of print. Moore is a delightful writer than I don't have to commit myself to.

"Bad Prince Charlie" is a good diversion from the real world for an afternoon or so. It doesn't ask much of the reader, just to be entertained, and for that it provides very well.

Bad Prince Charlie (whose nickname was obtained in a rather silly way) is the illegitimate son of the recently deceased king, chosen to reign as Prince Regent until he can alienate enough of the country to have it be taken over peacefully (and profitably, for his uncles) by the larger country just over the mountains. While the premise is basic enough, there is a twist thrown in - there are rumors of a WMD in Charlie's small country. Yes, a Weapon of Magical Destruction has been created and is hidden somewhere in Damask. After this discovery, Charlie is determined to make sure that, no matter who is ruling the country, the weapon never falls into the hands of either his uncles (who probably murdered his father) or the leader of Noile (who has plans for expansion). Along the way he receives help and hindrance from a beautiful woman he's locked in a tower, a High Priestess (literally), a Faithful Family Retainer, and a cast of other various castle regulars.

I would recommend this book to fans of medieval/fantasy novels who are looking for something with a little more comedy than the average story.

This is perhaps John Moore's second-best comic fantasy, second only to The Unhandsome Prince Actually, it almost qualifies as science-fiction.

Playboy Prince Charlie is maneuvered into place as ruler so he can do such a bad job that the people will hate him and thank his greedy uncles to take over, but Charlie just can't seem to help doing good instead of bad. He ends up saving the kingdom, and his uncles get their just desserts, and Charlie abdicates to be happy ever after, but elsewhere. Great fun.

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I thought BPC was a bit weak compared to Moore's previous efforts, but that's just me. The Unhandsome Prince remains his best book, in my opinion. Still, BPC was an amusing way to spend a couple days and Moore's brand of comic fantasy is a refreshing change of pace from Martin, Hobb, Jordan and the doorstop fantasy authors. Thanks also to Ace Books for printing Moore's Twenty Kingdoms series; I'd like to see a few more in print like him. If you're reading this and you're not familiar with Moore's stuff, by all means give BPC a try. Then go get his other books.

I had read the Unhandsome Prince and I liked it. I thought I would like this as well but I was mistaken.

First of all, it just wasn't funny. It is funny in the way of an acquaintance trying to tell a joke and you smile politely. Storywise there's not much to tell. Bad Prince Charlie gets pulled into the plot by his uncle. He gets tricked by the evil greedy Catherine or whatshername. Him ignoring his ghostly father. Going to the oracle. Things just sort of happen and you go along with it but it's not like you're rooting for him like in a very good book or jeering at him and tossing the book away because it was so bad. The conclusion got wrapped up and I was left dissatisfied. That woman got away with it all. I didn't like her and I didn't like Charlie for helping her get away with it. What kind of guy does that? She tried to trick him for money then tried to get him kill to be in the good graces of the enemy.

All in all, I was able to finish reading the book but I had to push myself because it just wasn't that great. If I had had another interesting book at hand, I'm not sure I might not have been tempted to leave it unfinish.