Customer Reviews

How to Rescue a Dead Princess

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

 

 

Using every familiar plot device and cliche imaginable, Jeff Strand creates a world where the unthinkable is not only possible but probable. Want a believable plot? Read another book. Want genuine laughs in the manner of Monty Python? Read on. Pure escapism, chuckles and groans await the reader with sufficient courage to follow Jeff into the zany world of his imagination. Need a change of mood? This is the book for you.

This was an amazingly funny book. I usually read mystery/horror
books and now I am reading to try more unusual topics.

While Strand is known for his humor in most of his novels, I would have to say that this book is his best from a pure enjoyment factor. The story follows Randall, a clumsy squire escorting a Princess on her journey. Unfortunately she winds up dead. However since it is a fantasy story, there is a witch in it. And witches can often bring back the dead, so that becomes Randall's new task. Strand has fun with the novel by poking fun at the usual elements and bringing his usual sharp and sarcastic wit. Even the sub-headers for each chapter are incredibly amusing. This book should be required reading by everyone with even the slightest bit of a sense of humor.

Having just finished a very dark and somewhat unpleasant book by another author, I needed something light and humorous. The author that easily came to mind was Jeff Strand.

I've read nearly everything of his that has seen print and have never been let down. Even in his darker and more serious works, you can always count on some of his quirky humor to slip through. In his earliest books, however, he hadn't really tried much for the horror element, instead going with outright comedic tales, this one somewhat in the style of Monty Python's Flying Circus. If at one point early on in the story you don't find yourself thinking about the Dead Parrot sketch, it is only because you never saw the Dead Parrot sketch!)

This book has been on my TBR list for far too long, so I decided to read a few chapters to lighten the mood, and I haven't been able to put it down!

The characters are amusing stereotypes of themselves, and the dialog is full of witty anachronistic humor. The not-quite-so-intrepid adventurers find themselves getting in deeper and deeper, and you continue to wonder what else could possibly go wrong.

If you want to read something for pleasure that has nothing with which to offend and is just simply fun to read, grab a copy of this book. You won't regret it.

Reviewed by Ellen Hogan for Reader Views (1/07)

This is the story of a squire named Randall, who along with Sir William, was to escort Princess Janice on a diplomatic journey of the utmost importance. However, on the way Princess Janice gets killed and Sir William gets incapacitated. So, it is up to Randall to find a way to bring Princess Janice back to life and get his friend Sir William hail and hearty. In the Realm of Mystery, Randall meets Grysh who tells him if he gets the Necklace of Power she will be able to return Janice back to life. But besides the necklace she will need the breath of a sleeping maiden, the toenail of Jestina the Ogre and the eyebrow of the legendary berserker Shreddriff.

Off goes Randall in search of the necessary items to help his friends. Along the way he meets a bug who helps him in his quest. Then he is taken in by four men who are trying to kill the King. Rick, Maverick, Frederick and Roderick of the two daggers decide that Randall can help them by getting close to the King and gaining his confidence. Randall wants no part of their dastardly deed. Randall does meet the King and relays that the Princess and Sir William are lost in the Forest of Death. After some misunderstandings Randall was on his way once more to help his friends.

Randall meets Jack and after his debacle with the beanstalk went along with him. They meet a maiden Yvonne at a brothel and take her with them too. So, they now have the maiden's breath. Through the rest of the story Randall, Yvonne, Jack and Bug travel to get the other things needed to save Randall's friends.

The characters were very likeable and quirky. You could not wait to see what they were going to get into next because there was a disaster just waiting to happen to them. Through it all though, everything would come right in the end. "How to Rescue a Dead Princess" was humorous and cute and a very lighthearted read. I enjoyed it very much. Would I recommend it? Yes, it was quick and very entertaining.

Received book free of charge.

Having read a few other books (mostly his horror works), I knew that Strand had a strange sense of humor. The synopsis of the book sounded like it was a mixure of Terry Pratchett, Monty Python & Mel Brooks. After reading it I can say that it tries to channel those successful elements & occasionally it succeeds.

The story surrounds a somewhat reluctant squire by the name of Randall as he's commanded by his knight & liege to escourt Princess Janice to a neighboring kingdom. After botching an attempt to rescue the Princess from a gang of thieves, the Princess is charbroiled. The only person who can help is a witch (of course) who demands that Randall go about collecting the spell ingredients, none of which are that easily retrieved.

Overall I have to say that I did enjoy the book. The humor in it is cute, but the humor is also the thing that tends to grate on the nerves after a while. It's not that the scenes aren't funny, it's just that every. single. paragraph. has a joke in it & there's really not enough non-joke parts of the book to really level it out. There's no "straight man" or it's equivalent in this comedy book & as a result the book's humor tends to get a little old after a while. (If you are unaware of the term "straight man", it's a term used in comedy.) The author does seem to resemble Pratchett a bit, but the thing is that Pratchett's humorous Discworld series works because it doesn't overdo it on the jokes. This book does & at times I yearned desperately for a more serious scene to balance out the rest of the humor.

Even so, the book is still fun to read. Fans of the above mentioned people would probably like this, although I do recommend that they flip through it a bit first. I'm not trying to discourage people from reading this book (far from it), but people who are looking for something a bit more serious humor-wise might not like it. (I do have to say that this would probably make for an interesting movie if anyone was to adapt it- much of the humor here would probably work better in a visual context than literary.)

After reading a few reviews on another site, I bought this hoping for an amusing read. I really wish I'd read an excerpt. A few paragraphs is enough to get an idea. The author is trying very hard to be funny, and I feel that he probably could be if he eased off a little. As it is, it's so tiresome, I would really hate to have to read this whole book. If you're interested, read a few pages first and see if it's your style, or you may be very disappointed.