Customer Reviews

The Princess and the Bear

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

 

 

I had a wonderful visit in this world of magic! It was comfortably familiar as the place where Prince George came into his own. In this sequel to THE PRINCESS AND THE HOUND, we see a relationship develop between the bear and the hound who were part of George's story. This new story is enriched by the first one, but not dependent upon it. It is something more of a romance than the first, as the title characters are together throughout the book. However, much of the time they are too busy having adventures to notice their deepening relationship. Plot twists are a Harrison specialty, and this novel has no lack. The end of their quest for help turns out to be just the beginning of the true mission for the bear and the hound as they do what they can to save magic from unmagic.

I kept a tight grip on this book until I could finish it, but my son (13) and daughter (11) have already read and enjoyed it!

In an age of kings and princesses, Harrison weaves a fantasy tale of magic that links humans and animals in a surprising and unique way.

King Richon and Princess Chala continue the adventure begun in THE PRINCESS AND THE HOUND. Though I did not read the first book, I had no problems understanding and enjoying THE PRINCESS AND THE BEAR.

Richon and Chala are given a chance to pit themselves against the cat man and destroy his unmagic to save their way of life and their entire world. But will they be able to hold back the evil the cat man is spreading?

Grab a copy of THE PRINCESS AND THE BEAR and lose yourself in a world of animal magic sure to thrill you with every turn of the page.

Reviewed by: Joan Stradling

It is rare for me to say this, but I actually liked this book by Mette Ivie Harrison better than the first one in the series. That is because it has my favorite character, the bear, as one of the protagonists of the stories. Part of me was hoping this story would involve more of Princess Beatrice and Prince George but while they are mentioned in the book, they aren't integral to the story.

Not only does this book continue with the spot on portrayal of how animals think different than humans, but it showed me that dialogue isn't necessary to keep a story flowing. The chapters alternate between Chala, the hound and King Richon, the bear. While in their animal forms, there is no dialogue. The animals will act certain ways which shows their feelings or what they are thinking. Even without dialogue for good portions of the story, we still see the characters grow and develop. This story has few characters beyond Chala and Richon but the plot of the story is still strong and even more involved, I would say, than the previous book. The connecting thread of the novels is the green magic. While green magic is still not readily accepted in the land the "unmagic" is even worse. If the unmagic spreads everywhere there will be big problems so Chala and Richon try and figure out what is happening and how they can fix it.

While this book is called a sequel to THE PRINCESS AND THE HOUND it can technically be read by itself. To me this book shows the best qualities of Chala and Richon and what they are willing to sacrifice for each other and the understandings they come to both as animals and as humans.

My first impression of the book was that it was a little slower than The Princess and the Hound. Also, this book is really more of a companion novel rather than a sequel. It could definitely hold it's own. (I'd recommend reading Princess and the Hound first though, just because it's easier that way and you wouldn't run the risk of spoiling the first book).

The writing in this book is so beautiful, it's obvious that Harrison knows her stuff. It's so eloquent and smart. The character development is wonderful, and the relationship between King Richon and Chala is so well done. It grows in a way that is not only possible but beautiful.

Like I said, the book was a little slower than Princess and the Hound. Also, the writing is different than you'd find in other fairy tales. I was reading a bio of Mette Ivie Harrison and saw that she has a Ph.D. in German Literature, so her writing style heavily reflects that type of book. I find it absolutely wonderful and really cool to read, but not all readers will feel the same way as me. Have you ever read some of the original fairy tales? They are nothing like the Disney versions that we have today. Many of them are much darker and more gruesome.

I didn't feel like The Princess and the Bear was gruesome, but it certainly isn't light-hearted. The themes in the book were deep and let's face it, the cat man was just creepy. And, the book doesn't quite end happily-ever after. But, if you like the older-style fairy tale, this book is definitely for you!

I found it was impossible to follow along as a stand alone sequel. I had not read the previous book, and I was lost. I just gave up after the first 100 pages or so. I simply couldn't understand the plot line. I wish I had not bothered my time.

This is more of a romance than the first one.The relationship between bear and the hound who were part of George's story.This is a fascinating read.The relationship is so well done and the characters development so wonderfull.Can't wait for the third one.

"The Princess and the Bear" answers the question I had in "The Princess and the Hound". At the end of the first book, I was left wondering how Mette Ivie Harrison expected her readers to believe that a hound and a bear would fall in love. I was glad to see that the beginning of the book addressed this issue thoroughly, going through their misunderstandings to make the whole premise believable.

Harrison's strongest point is that when reading her story, her characters stop being animals, but become people you can relate to who just happen to be named after animals. Her voice is soothing and weaves a seamless story - much like listening to a story teller, rather than reading a book.

I have conflicted feelings about this book. I really liked both characters as animals and I did like Chala as a woman as well. But Richon, while so intriguing as the bear, became rather silly as a man. He was so emo, always crying and toward the end, some of his dialogue just sounded silly. Yes, he went through a lot and sees the suffering caused by his actions. But after awhile, it seemed like the author was writing about two women. And the author spends way too much time telling us every little feeling both characters ever have. There should have been less of that and more action. I did like the general storyline and themes. And the first third of the book, when they are both animals, was wonderful. And I felt deeply involved with the characters and action at the beginning. But the final third of the book really fell apart for me. It felt less like I was part of the action and more like the author was just telling me a story, explaining everything in a not-so interesting way.

I think I would have liked this book better if I hadn't had such high expectations, 'The Princess and the Hound' being one of my favorite books. There are parts of this book that have the same magic as the Princess and the Hound, but this book was a little choppy. I think it should have been about a hundred pages longer, I really wanted to learn more about the characters and see them develope more. We also don't see much of the characters from The Princess and the Hound aside from Richon and the hound, and we only learn that their kingdom is in turmoil. The last we see of Prince George he's injured and being helped back to the castle by his wife. Since the point of this book is that the past is changed, I assume that the future is too, so what happens to George and Beatrice? I hope this is answered in the third book.
The thing about forests and wildlife being preserved, and also human life being preserved was cool, but I think it was too blunt. Nowadays we hear so much about the enviroment that the message could have come across if it was much more subtle, which would have made a better read.
The characters were very interesting, even the very minor ones, they were all awesome, but again I think more developement was needed.
Worthwhile reading, but I really hope the third book wraps up a lot of questions.

This was a fascinating read - I haven't delved much into this type of fantasy, but it was good.