1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A fast-paced and lighthearted adventure, January 5, 2007
This review is from: Scrapped Princess Novel 1: A Tale of Destiny (Paperback)
Imagine your father Yuma's death. You know you were adopted (after all, you are blond and your family is raven-haired) but you also feel totally secure in the love of the only family you ever knew. So you are sad as you attend Yuma's cremation in the border town of Manurhin, in the kingdom of Linevan, but you have no reason to expect that your life won't go on as usual, arguing with your grouchy older brother Shannon and being cared for by your wiser older sister Raquel in lieu of the mother who died long ago. Shannon and Raquel will take over the weapons shop, and you'll continue going to school on Sundays with the other kids, as well as your daily battle-for-eggs with the family hen.
Such is the situation for Pacifica Casull, the 15-year-old heroine of this first of 13 fantasy novels from TOKYOPOP, which has teamed up with HarperCollins to bring manga and anime-influenced books to American teens. SCRAPPED PRINCESS (which includes nine full-page illustrations) introduces Pacifica as she and her siblings discover (from a letter left them by Yuma) that she is the princess ordered destroyed by the 5111th Oracle of Saint Grendel. The book's short prologue depicts five priests of the Mauser religion delivering their bloody prophecy: if the princess lives to age 16, she will bring on the destruction of their entire civilization.
For all these years, most of the people of Linevan have believed that the king and queen dispatched the princess, as they promised. But rumors of the "scrapped princess" abound, and now that Yuma is gone, assassins like Big Shot and Sinner are coming out of the woodwork. Luckily, Shannon has inherited the fighting skills, weapons and armor of his father and Raquel is one heck of a sorceress. They vow to protect Pacifica, although they are reminded, first by the local Duke and then by the various assassins, that if she lives to be 16, the prophecy says that millions of innocent people will die.
A lighthearted, self-mocking tone enlivens this almost-corny adventure story. Yuma, in his letter to Shannon and Raquel, charges them with their important mission and then jokes, "Your mother and I gave you life for this very day. You know, I took your mother in my arms, one thing led to the next, and pretty soon your mother was saying 'Oh stop! No, you brute, no!' Oh my, what's that feeling? Oh, oh, YES! Don't stop!' You know." The assassins are good villains --- some utterly evil and loathsome (Big Shot), some loathsome with reasons (Sinner), another (Chris) so handsome and intriguing that you suspect he may show up in future volumes. Showdowns abound --- in abandoned castles, on the road in a wheeled fortress masquerading as a nondescript horse-drawn caravan --- and when Shannon falters with his sword, Raquel saves the day with a spell. And when things get really bad, Pacifica is not above stepping in with a brick and clonking someone on the head herself.
Predictable but fast-paced, this story will keep you turning the pages until the end of book one --- and then, to whet your appetite, give you a taste of book two.
--- Reviewed by Eileen Zimmerman Nicol
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very good book, April 18, 2010
This review is from: Scrapped Princess Novel 1: A Tale of Destiny (Paperback)
It's a very interesthing book, much better that the cartoon itself. The book explain thins that happend before the first episode of the anime an a litle bit of the Casull sibilings after the adventure trip. I will buy also the second book. But, it's a shame that there isn't a book 4.
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0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's not easy when everyone wants you dead!, December 3, 2006
This review is from: Scrapped Princess Novel 1: A Tale of Destiny (Paperback)
The birth of a princess presages the end of the world, or so say the prophets of the Kingdom of Linevan. Thus, regardless of her royalty, Pacifica Casull must be "scrapped." But the babe survives and grows up to live a hidden, quiet life with her adoptive parents and siblings. Of course, she also battles fierce chickens and the mundane with equal ferocity along the way. That is, until her adoptive father's mysterious death.
Not long after her father dies, two greasy assassins--Sinner and Big Shot--begin their pursuit of Pacifica. And once these two hit the scene, the cat's out of the bag, the chicken's laying eggs, and Pacifica is on the run from pretty much every assassin in the land. Fortunately, she's under the protective custody of her older brother, a great warrior in his own right, and her older sister, a sorceress.
Poor Pacifica. It's not easy being alive when everybody wants you dead!
Scrapped Princess has all the goods: scheming skankbags, thrills, chills, and goofball moments. That is to say, this story was really good about giving me the heebie-jeebies one minute, as in Sinner's freaky; and a good case of the giggles the next, as in Pacifica's a big doof.
Recommended reading for those who like highflying adventure twisted by a wily sense of humor.
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