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The Bastard Princess #1
Eldrie the Healer
Eldrie wields her sword to fight her way through enchanted forests & war-torn lands to search for the healing mage who can teach her the arts. Along the way she saves a brave huntsman, he swears fealty to her, and they pick up the search together.
237 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1989
88 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 29, 2012
I'm a sixteen year old, teenage boy and the reasons for my thinking this way may be just because of those facts, but I felt that the novel was based too strongly on the emotional aspects of human relationships and not nearly enough on carrying along the central plot line and story. That is my only complaint. I thought that the way she wrote was marvelous, I really enjoyed the ways in which she kept me reading. I do wish that there was a sequel to Eldrie The Healer, but if there is not to be then I am happy with what was. If Claudia J. Edwards really did pass away, I will forever remember her as the author who gave me the beautiful novel of romance and adventure from a local Salvation Army thrift store for a measly twenty-five cents, and I loved every bit of it.
Cheers,
Trevor Bushnell.
Cheers,
Trevor Bushnell.
March 26, 2014
I read this book a few years ago. I don't remember much of the story, only that I loved it and it was very good, especially in terms of character development. It's so sad that there won't be a second book... I read somewhere that the author died. She was truly talented.
December 6, 2010
It is so sad that Claudia Edwards died in a car accident. Her talent will be missed by all who read her books.
June 17, 2018
There are strong female characters, and then there are Strong Female Character. The former have a deep-seated resilience despite an uncaring world; the latter try to goad six men into a fight because they’re pissed.
The bastard princess—Eldrie—is the latter.
On paper that might not sound so bad: an almost anti-hero strong female character can be fun. For that to work, though, the character has to have a) a certain amount of self-awareness or b) a complete lack of self-awareness. Instead, Eldrie is often smarmy, which is the exact wrong level of self-awareness.
In other situations, her strength just comes off like that of an angry woman in an anime. In my head I could hear her shrieking “baka!” and see those red-lines of cartoonish rage striped across her cheeks.
At another point, she was hurt by something, and her strength was in the form of that straight-lipped overly-okay-with-it fashion. “Sure, no, that’s great. Good luck, I’ll never see you again and that’s cool. I don’t need you or anyone, so whatevs.”
In no way was she ever not strong, except when she couldn’t save a dying child. She got sad, then drunk (in one of the least-realistic drunk-sequences I’ve ever seen/read), and then the next day she’s back to 100% strength—both emotionally and physically. Even though she doesn’t usually drink, and was fall-down drunk, she pops out of bed without even a hint of a hangover. The dying child is behind her. She’s fine.
Her companion, Huard, is similarly poorly characterized, but almost inverse to Eldrie. He’s brutish, pushy, gentlemanly, chivalrous, level-headed—whatever gives Eldrie room to be strong. It’s weird and a bit off-putting. In a few pages he goes from acting like a rapist to understanding, and even abiding by, unwritten boundaries between men and women.
There were things I liked. I appreciated how Eldrie acted when she was alone and had nothing to prove. I liked lines and turns of phrases, and even the political posturing of the world seemed interesting and depressingly realistic in its futility. But characterization is too important to me to let both of the main characters slide.
I get the feeling that the book gets better when it starts to follow a plot, and I suspect that plot is that our bastard princess attempts to learn magical healing. It would tie down Huard and Eldrie’s characterization to a concrete goal while skipping the weird bullshit of questing without a cause, and I could see that being a story I enjoy. Alas, unless I find myself hankering to come back to this world, I won’t see this story unfurl, because I’m done. The first 50ish pages have left me unable to approach the plot with the sort of attitude to appreciate it.
Sadness. Legit sadness. I hate when I don't like a book.
I have more of Claudia Edwards’ books on my shelf. I’m very curious to see if the characterization in those novels is more realistic and consistent.
[I read old fantasy and sci-fi novels written by women authors in search of forgotten gems. See more at forfemfan.com]
The bastard princess—Eldrie—is the latter.
On paper that might not sound so bad: an almost anti-hero strong female character can be fun. For that to work, though, the character has to have a) a certain amount of self-awareness or b) a complete lack of self-awareness. Instead, Eldrie is often smarmy, which is the exact wrong level of self-awareness.
In other situations, her strength just comes off like that of an angry woman in an anime. In my head I could hear her shrieking “baka!” and see those red-lines of cartoonish rage striped across her cheeks.
At another point, she was hurt by something, and her strength was in the form of that straight-lipped overly-okay-with-it fashion. “Sure, no, that’s great. Good luck, I’ll never see you again and that’s cool. I don’t need you or anyone, so whatevs.”
In no way was she ever not strong, except when she couldn’t save a dying child. She got sad, then drunk (in one of the least-realistic drunk-sequences I’ve ever seen/read), and then the next day she’s back to 100% strength—both emotionally and physically. Even though she doesn’t usually drink, and was fall-down drunk, she pops out of bed without even a hint of a hangover. The dying child is behind her. She’s fine.
Her companion, Huard, is similarly poorly characterized, but almost inverse to Eldrie. He’s brutish, pushy, gentlemanly, chivalrous, level-headed—whatever gives Eldrie room to be strong. It’s weird and a bit off-putting. In a few pages he goes from acting like a rapist to understanding, and even abiding by, unwritten boundaries between men and women.
There were things I liked. I appreciated how Eldrie acted when she was alone and had nothing to prove. I liked lines and turns of phrases, and even the political posturing of the world seemed interesting and depressingly realistic in its futility. But characterization is too important to me to let both of the main characters slide.
I get the feeling that the book gets better when it starts to follow a plot, and I suspect that plot is that our bastard princess attempts to learn magical healing. It would tie down Huard and Eldrie’s characterization to a concrete goal while skipping the weird bullshit of questing without a cause, and I could see that being a story I enjoy. Alas, unless I find myself hankering to come back to this world, I won’t see this story unfurl, because I’m done. The first 50ish pages have left me unable to approach the plot with the sort of attitude to appreciate it.
Sadness. Legit sadness. I hate when I don't like a book.
I have more of Claudia Edwards’ books on my shelf. I’m very curious to see if the characterization in those novels is more realistic and consistent.
[I read old fantasy and sci-fi novels written by women authors in search of forgotten gems. See more at forfemfan.com]
May 30, 2025
What started out as a whimsical adventure, morphed unexpectedly into a tragedy filled with betrayal and angst. The ending is so upsetting, and the terrible twist happens within the last ten pages. I could kind of see it coming, but dang I didn't know it was going to end with the worst possible ending for the heroine. The other main character Huard, also takes a nose dive from a happy-go-lucky, shopping enthusiast hunter to a scheming bounty hunter who has no empathy for anyone involved. I feel like I was rick rolled by this book. The beginning was fun, but the ending was a slap in the face with cold reality.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 8, 2017
So sad there won't be a volume 2.
October 10, 2018
Alas, this promising series never got past the first book, apparently because Ms Edwards died.
June 22, 2019
Good paced read with an inevitable ending that you and the main character Eldrie fear...
I would love to find the rest of this series to carry on following Eldrie and her "retainers".
I would love to find the rest of this series to carry on following Eldrie and her "retainers".
September 7, 2020
Unknown if she passed in a car accident after this, or just stopped writing. Sadly, the series remains unfinished.
August 12, 2016
TFW the basic, trope-filled, first-person fantasy novel that you pick out of a box in your parents' basement for light reading actually gets kind of interesting in the end and then you discover that despite being published in 1989 no sequel has been written due to disasters with the publishing house. Oh well, at least the author didn't really die in a car accident, as the rumor has it.
This book does not start off strong. It gives off a strong wiff of fanfiction with its master-swordswoman/master-healingwoman/master-horsewoman/runaway (illegitimate!)princess heroine who is able to expertly read every person and situation she is in... save perhaps one.
But then again I've happily spent many an hour on fandom webrings and fanfiction.net back in my day. I'd recommend picking it up if you really like classic fantasy, enjoyed Clan of the Cave Bear, and don't mind intense and surprising melodrama being dropped on you out of the blue. Enjoy the last two chapters of political intrigue and maybe just enjoy the ending as . Or you could bring things full circle and write your own ending to post on the internet somewhere.
This book does not start off strong. It gives off a strong wiff of fanfiction with its master-swordswoman/master-healingwoman/master-horsewoman/runaway (illegitimate!)princess heroine who is able to expertly read every person and situation she is in... save perhaps one.
But then again I've happily spent many an hour on fandom webrings and fanfiction.net back in my day. I'd recommend picking it up if you really like classic fantasy, enjoyed Clan of the Cave Bear, and don't mind intense and surprising melodrama being dropped on you out of the blue. Enjoy the last two chapters of political intrigue and maybe just enjoy the ending as . Or you could bring things full circle and write your own ending to post on the internet somewhere.
May 31, 2016
More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/
This was a great start to a wonderful series but the author got caught in between mergers with her publisher - and the rights to the stories were lost in the merger. She's contacted Ballantine and Pageant but they don't respond to her emails. She's 65 now so I don't expect we will see the rest of the series in print.
January 9, 2017
This start of a great series had us following Eldrie and her band of rogues as she tries to escape the hunters who have followed her from her home kingdom, attempting to force her to return. She is skilled at many adventurer activities, including hunting, fighting and evading hunters, but the ones after her are merciless. The overall story is written with an eye to a continuation, so the ending is less than satisfactory, but it is well written and worth rereading!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews