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A Tale of Two Princes
Sleeping Beauty meets The Frog Prince in this short but perfectly formed modern fairytale re-telling. Doctor Prinze is happy in his secretive job at a very unusual hospital. He takes pride in asking unfussed questions however strange the patient seems when they get wheeled through his door, and he is content going home to his gadgets and uncomplicated quiet. His simple life is turned upside down when Dr Prinze is asked to make room on his ward for some potentially contagious visitors, and everything changes forever.
37 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 31, 2013
2 people want to read
About the author
Victoria Pearson
5 books36 followersVictoria Pearson lives behind a keyboard somewhere in rural Bedfordshire, with her husband, four children and dog. She can never find her car keys.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 17, 2014
Having read and enjoyed Victoria’s short story collections, I was pleased to discover that this latest release is told in the same writing style I associate with this author. As a reader I find the relaxed, almost conversational tone gently reels me into the story and characters. The story is told from two clearly separate points of view (not easy to do well), which added to the depth of the narrative. I particularly enjoyed spending time with the principle female character, but found I would have liked more; I just wanted to know more about her; a sign, surely of an interesting character. I also wanted to know more about the ward, and the unusual characters that reside there. It is with that in mind that I can honestly say I look forward to reading more of Victoria’s work, but hope for it to be a full-length novel where her obvious talent for characterisation can truly blossom.
May 14, 2020
3.5 Stars
Now is the perfect time for a fairy tale romance.
Both of the narrators had clear, well-defined voices. I could always tell who was speaking which is crucial when you have two narrators sharing limited space in a short story. This is definitely a good example of how to pull that sort of writing off successfully!
One thing I did want to note about this tale had to do with how the male characters reacted to a fifteen-year-old girl they found attractive. To be fair, traditional fairy tales are often filled with material like this, there were discussions about the inappropriateness of their interest in her, and she was never harmed. But this is still something I thought I should note in my review in a non-critical manner so that readers who are sensitive to this topic can decide for themselves whether it’s the right choice for their reading lists.
The plot twists were well done. There were references to several different fairy tales in the storyline, and they were all honoured while still giving a modern approach to how their adventures would play out in our era. I especially liked the way the Doctor Prinze and the rest of the hospital staff tried to find scientific explanations for the magical events that changed their patients’ lives. If only I could say more about that without giving away spoilers.
I would have liked to see more attention paid to how this hospital acquired new patients. Yes, Doctor Prinze was under strict confidentiality orders, so I could understand why that would prevent him from sharing certain world building details with the readers. With that being said, it did feel a little odd to me to suddenly hear about new patients coming to his facility without having any idea how they were discovered or who sent them there. Even a couple of paragraphs explaining how this worked would have been enough for me to bump it up by a star.
The ending was as logical as it was satisfying. I was the sort of kid who always had a million questions about why certain fairy tales ended the way that they did, especially when it came to Sleeping Beauty. The fact that the author seemed to have similar questions about the original only made her version of it better.
A Tale of Two Princes could be a good place to start if you’re looking for something that is simultaneously light and fluffy while also remaining surprisingly true to traditional forms of storytelling for this genre.
Now is the perfect time for a fairy tale romance.
Both of the narrators had clear, well-defined voices. I could always tell who was speaking which is crucial when you have two narrators sharing limited space in a short story. This is definitely a good example of how to pull that sort of writing off successfully!
One thing I did want to note about this tale had to do with how the male characters reacted to a fifteen-year-old girl they found attractive. To be fair, traditional fairy tales are often filled with material like this, there were discussions about the inappropriateness of their interest in her, and she was never harmed. But this is still something I thought I should note in my review in a non-critical manner so that readers who are sensitive to this topic can decide for themselves whether it’s the right choice for their reading lists.
The plot twists were well done. There were references to several different fairy tales in the storyline, and they were all honoured while still giving a modern approach to how their adventures would play out in our era. I especially liked the way the Doctor Prinze and the rest of the hospital staff tried to find scientific explanations for the magical events that changed their patients’ lives. If only I could say more about that without giving away spoilers.
I would have liked to see more attention paid to how this hospital acquired new patients. Yes, Doctor Prinze was under strict confidentiality orders, so I could understand why that would prevent him from sharing certain world building details with the readers. With that being said, it did feel a little odd to me to suddenly hear about new patients coming to his facility without having any idea how they were discovered or who sent them there. Even a couple of paragraphs explaining how this worked would have been enough for me to bump it up by a star.
The ending was as logical as it was satisfying. I was the sort of kid who always had a million questions about why certain fairy tales ended the way that they did, especially when it came to Sleeping Beauty. The fact that the author seemed to have similar questions about the original only made her version of it better.
A Tale of Two Princes could be a good place to start if you’re looking for something that is simultaneously light and fluffy while also remaining surprisingly true to traditional forms of storytelling for this genre.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 30, 2020
This novella was surprising in that I thought, from the cover, it would be just a romance, and although there is romance in it, and it does follow the Princess and the Frog fairytale, it is also a sci-fi paranormal. I loved it. It had elements of both Men in Black and The X-Files.
The story is told through the diary entries of two characters which I think worked really well with this story, really bringing it to life.
Definitely worth a read.
The story is told through the diary entries of two characters which I think worked really well with this story, really bringing it to life.
Definitely worth a read.
May 10, 2014
I'd love to get inside Victoria Pearson's head for a few minutes... or maybe I wouldn't! This story is both barmy and brilliant in equal measure, following a doctor in a top-secret clinic with "interesting" patients, including a man who thinks he's a frog, a family of aliens and a honest to goodness boogie man! And then there's Snoozy Suzy...
This unconventional love story is beautifully told and certainly entertains, with a satisfying conclusion that had me sighing happily. Victoria Pearson has twisted yet another fairy tale and given it a fresh kick. Five stars.
This unconventional love story is beautifully told and certainly entertains, with a satisfying conclusion that had me sighing happily. Victoria Pearson has twisted yet another fairy tale and given it a fresh kick. Five stars.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews