Man, this series is fun. The Hero's Guide series is written in lighthearted, wry and immensely readable prose that keeps the action tripping along, and does not shy from showing us how ridiculous our heroes really are, with interesting (if broadly sketched) characters and an excellent sense of humor.
However: as great as the series is as a whole, The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle is just a little bit less fun than the first book. Part of it is the rift between Frederic, Liam and Ella: despite all the talk about friendship, we don't actually get to see the princes being friends like we did in the first book, which lessens the impact of their argument. The book in general is more ponderous than the first, too, and although Liam's existential crisis is hilarious at times, his and Frederic's angst, when treated semi-seriously, slows the whole book down.
Despite its faults, though, The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle is still very fun. The character matchups don't work precisely as well as they did in the previous book (Gustav and Frederic's friendship is golden), but Gustav and Briar's insult one-upmanship is hilarious, Ruffian's appreciation of Lila's skills is excellent and Liam and Briar's non-relationship turns unexpectedly sweet by the end of the book. Briar Rose in general is this book's stand-out star. She's a little different from the spoiled, one-dimensional villain we had in the first, but, even though she's beginning to realize her own faults, she still throws her weight around like a true coddled queen. I can't wait for her character to develop in book three.
Rating: four out of five. It's good, but suffers from sequelitis.
Turd rating: two out of five, for the Warlord, Deeb (who's as amusingly petty as always) and Briar.
However: as great as the series is as a whole, The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle is just a little bit less fun than the first book. Part of it is the rift between Frederic, Liam and Ella: despite all the talk about friendship, we don't actually get to see the princes being friends like we did in the first book, which lessens the impact of their argument. The book in general is more ponderous than the first, too, and although Liam's existential crisis is hilarious at times, his and Frederic's angst, when treated semi-seriously, slows the whole book down.
Despite its faults, though, The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle is still very fun. The character matchups don't work precisely as well as they did in the previous book (Gustav and Frederic's friendship is golden), but Gustav and Briar's insult one-upmanship is hilarious, Ruffian's appreciation of Lila's skills is excellent and Liam and Briar's non-relationship turns unexpectedly sweet by the end of the book. Briar Rose in general is this book's stand-out star. She's a little different from the spoiled, one-dimensional villain we had in the first, but, even though she's beginning to realize her own faults, she still throws her weight around like a true coddled queen. I can't wait for her character to develop in book three.
Rating: four out of five. It's good, but suffers from sequelitis.
Turd rating: two out of five, for the Warlord, Deeb (who's as amusingly petty as always) and Briar.