Customer Reviews

The Decoy Princess

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This fun book reads much like Robin Hobb's outstanding Farseer series; not quite as great but solidly above the mainstream nevertheless. All the elements of a great heroic fantasy are found within these pages. There is plenty of political intrigue, lots of captivating characters, rousing action, terrific pacing, and a solid albeit not horribly original plot. Tess, the heroine, is pretty believable as a somewhat spoiled princess who was tricked by her mentor Kavenlow into learning the skills necessary to escape Prince Garrett's evil clutches, outwit guard captain Jeck, and do what is necessary to survive as a royal decoy on the run. Were it not written in first person I doubt the author could have plausibly pulled all that off. Tess's level-headedness after the murder of her parents, the Misdev occupation, and her flight to freedom strikes the right balance to affirm her skills and potential without coming across as overdone or trite. I enjoy characters that rely more on their brains than their brawn and Tess has a charming way of finding practical uses for skills like shopping to as great extent as she does with blowguns and poison darts. She is quick-witted and alluring. Duncan, the card shark, makes a likeable sidekick/distraction. I really like the "players" concept too. It builds another level of intrigue and excitement.

Overall this is a fine fantasy. Not superlative, but very well worth reading nevertheless. I'm eagerly awaiting the sequel, Princess at Sea.

Lawrence Kane
Author of Blinded by the Night, among other titles

This is one of those books that gets better with every turn of the page. Although enjoyable to begin with, The Decoy Princess steadily became more intriguing the farther on I read. I was so wrapped up in the story that I simultaneously didn't want it to end, but couldn't wait to see how it concluded such that I had to force myself not to skip ahead.

The Decoy Princess is about Tess, the unwitting apprentice to a man who rules the kingdom so adeptly that not even the King and Queen realize they are merely pawns in his game. Although she is raised believing she is the Crown Princess, Tess must quickly adjust to her new circumstances when a neigboring Prince, her betrothed, betrays them all and attemps to take over her kingdom. Tess spends the book on the run to save her own life, the real Princess's life and the lives of all the people in her Kingdom. Dawn Cook does an amazing job developing Tess from self absorbed girl to a strong and resilient player in a very large game of chess. The Decoy Princess is a continually surprising book and a thoroughly satisfying read. I definitely recommend it.

I didn't like this book at first. I've read all of the Truth books, and really enjoyed them. Just like "First Truth," "The Decoy Princess" is sort of a slow start.

"The Decoy Princess" is a pretty easy read, and at first the storyline seems really simple and straightforward. If that was all there was to this book - beggar girl saving the kingdom - I would have listed it for sale shortly after finishing it.

But then I got to around the middle of the book, where the author hits you with her surprise twist. And then I couldn't put the book down!

Somewhere in the midst of the "I've heard this before" story the author comes up with this fascinating reason for why the main character is the way she is and was put in the situation she faces. It's great world-within-a-world building and was just one of the most creative elements I've read in awhile (and I read a lot!) I can't spoil it, as much as I'd like to, but for that element alone, I found "The Decoy Princess" worth reading and keeping.

Plus, it will make the rest of the series really interesting. I can't wait for the sequel.

She grew up believing she was Princess Contessa of Costenopolie, but when her betrothed Prince Garrett, second son of the King of Misdev, arrives unannounced, her "parents" tell her the truth that she is not a royal only a foundling. They admit that their real daughter is safe in a monastery while Tess has grown up as the target of assassins. Garrett, coveting his own kingdom, kills Tess' parents and sends his men to assassinate the real princess and Chancellor Kavenlow, who has helped keep Tess safe all these years.

Tess escapes to a tavern where she wins a stake at cards that she hopes to use towards warning Kavenlow whom she loves like a father and the real princess about the danger Garrett poses. One of the card players, Duncan is a cheat, but with no options, Tess teams up with him until Garrett's man Captain Jeck captures her with instructions to bring her back to the castle. She escapes and meets up with Duncan again. Together they warn Kavenlow; who confesses that he and Jeck are the real powers behind the thrones and that he raised Tess to be his apprencice. However before she can make any plans for the future, she and her allies must dispose preferably without killing Garrett.

Dawn Cook is one of the brightest new stars in the fantasy genre. Her characters are believable which insures her otherworldly settings feel real too. There is plenty of action once Garrett sets in motion his devious plot, a touch of romance, and a ton of intrigue throughout the delightful THE DECOY PRINCESS. The feisty protagonist is determined to make her own decisions while doing what she believes is right for the people of Costenopolie. Readers will respect this fine woman while also anxiously waiting what happens next to the unroyal target.

Harriet Klausner

It's rare that I will put a book down without finishing it, and I hacked my way through three-quarters of the novel before I dropped this one. At that point I was only reading it to see if she got together with The Guy, but it was becoming apparent that the author had lost interest in that storyline so I gave up. The prose is clunky and overblown, with every single hand gesture being described in vivid detail as if we are watching a movie instead of reading a book. Her curls, for example, are described again, and again, and again. Every man has the habit of rubbing his beard, because we need to be reminded over and over again that they are hairy. Because of all this description, the plot pacing is extremely slow. The decoy spends most of it out on the road, camping. How facinating.

I started reading (and gave my review an extra star) because of what I thought was an interesting premise: instead of someone discovering that they are The Chosen One, she starts out thinking she is The Chosen One and finds out she's not. The Real Chosen One was kept safely hidden out in the country, while our heroine was raised in public to take assassin's poison for the princess. Think of all the interesting places that could go! Think of all the non-traditional paths that could take! She could be an anti-heroine! She could run away! She could take the throne herself!

The author takes none of them. Sure, the decoy toys with some of these ideas, but not seriously enough that we are fooled into thinking she will do any of the above. Instead, the former princess resolves to avenge her "parents" deaths, spends most of her time seeking out the real princess (so she can slap her, apparently, which is what she does when she finds her), meets a handsome rouge, and finds out that she IS A Chosen One - one with more power than a mere princess. Sound familiar? Yeah. All in all, a big disappointment, especially when she decides to use her new-found powers to dispose of the evil invader and put the rightful heir on the throne. Isn't that far more interesting than seeing something fresh and different?

Well when i first started this book i was pretty skeptical.. but i kept reading. I was like what the heck how typical..Then i got further in it and i was like whoa this is so crazy!! This was one of those books that you start and you just can't put down!! I am so excited that the sequel is coming out so soon!
This book is about a princes who thinks she will be getting married soon, however she is just a decoy for the real princes. She does learn however that she is an apprentice to her body guard for the "players" who really control the kingdoms. She plays cards, cheats, learns some of her talents with her apprenticeship, and is chased by scary guys who want to kill her. She meets the real princess her sister and helps install her as queen, this book is too awesome you should read it!!!

I picked up "The Decoy Princess" at a used bookstore after its cover caught my eye and its premise charmed me. I finished the book within a day and have sat around for a month trying to figure out if I liked it.

"The Decoy Princess" does not have a particularly inventive or ingenious plot, but it is a classic and have endured worse treatment. As many have noted, "The Decoy Princess" has a little bit of everything, and serves as a good introduction to fantasy. What perplexes me is that I have constantly found this book in the general Science Fiction/Fantasy category, and seems much more suited to a Young Adult novel.

"The Decoy Princess" is not particularly challenging, with clearly presented plotlines, but it lacks the detail I have come to expect from fantasy novels. Considering its reading difficulty and general plot, I continue to expect "The Decoy Princess" and its sequel in the Young Adults section, not alongside Tad Williams and George RR Martin.

Furthermore, I have yet to shake the feeling that "The Decoy Princess" shares too many qualities with mediore fanfiction for me to be comfortable calling it "well written". Tess treads far to closely to Mary Sue territory at times. If I have to read one more description of Tess' curls, I may scream. True, it is very much a part of her character to care about clothing and looks, but there are only so many variations one can have of curls piled into a tight topknot. Tess' loveability also borders the implausible, as the only person who dislikes Tess turns out to be THE EVIL VILLAIN. Is she so wonderful that she's a human evil detector (if you read the sequel, the answer appears to be "yes")? No person is universally liked, and no character should be either.

Cook's ability with characterization is surperb. The main character, Tess, is spoiled, self-centered, and silly. (a typical princess type) Yet, the reader has the pleasure of watching this character develop through and from circumstance into a loyal, honest, and strong independent woman. All of which was realistically done. I love and am jealous of Cook's abilty in doing this.

Tess, the above mentioned Priness, discovers that she is not the actual princess of the kingdom, but a decoy. In place since baby (one of three--she's the only one who survived the assassins) in order to protect the real princess. Meanwhile, the real princess is being brought up in a nunnery. Unfortunately, Tess learns all this just before the only parents she had ever known is murdered right in front of her. Her father, the king, being killed in a last effort to save her life. Tess goes on the run. She's determined to find the one man who knows her secret and had, in an unobtrusive way, taught her everything she knows, and the real princess.

Great adventure, love, and fantasy story all wrap up into one.
Happy Reading!

This is the first of Dawn Cook's books that I have read, and I was kind of cautious going into it. I was afraid it would be like all of the other "blah..." Fantasy books that are unoriginal and don't give the reader anything worth reading. No! This was nothing like that!

The Decoy Princess was amazingly well-developed, and the plot kept me turning the pages! It was so hard to put down to go to sleep that I decided I needed to finish it before I turned the light out!

Princess Contessa is a princess under a prophecy. This brought her into danger at an early age, and the Chancellor Kavenlow made sure that she would not fall prey to any assassin that would come her way. I really don't want to ruin the experience for any future readers, and that is what I would do if I told any more of the storyline. Of course, Contessa is actually a decoy princess (hence the title of the book), and she goes on a journey to "reclaim" her kingdom.

It was a real find, and it will be one of the books that I keep in my library for a long time.

I picked this book because of an Amazon recommendation, but once I got it, I put off reading it. I wasn't sure what to expect. The beginning of the book sets a great scene about Tess, a strong-willed and a smart young woman who is princess and destined to rule her people. It suddenly switches gears when we discover she is merely an orphan bought off the streets to be a decoy so the real princess can be protected from assassination attempts. Sounds like an interesting premise, but where to go from there? Well, the author does amazingly well with the premise when you realize that it's just a way to begin a story, not what the story is really about.

Tess, brought up as a princess, is tutored by the High Chancellor, Kavenlow, who not only teaches her proper royal etiquette, but teaches her skills to defend herself, to withstand assassination attempts, to observe, and to employ stealth. Most of these skills have been taught in a way a child learns games, so she's unaware of her true destiny and skills. When the princess' betrothed arrives, her parents tell Tess the truth of her parentage. Her betrothed attempts a palace takeover, and Tess escapes to search for the real princess and end the reign of terror. As she travels across the kingdom, she realizes that she does have great power and will be the only one that can stop the coup. Her true skills come out and she understands her true and very powerful place in the kingdom--more powerful than the king and queen.

At first reading, it's a great adventure that you can't put down. Then, you realize there is an underlying story of "Kings and Theives"--the "chess like" game that Tess loves to play. The entire story is a real-life game of chess where different people are either pawns, knights, or kings.