It’s a pleasure to be involved in another great Blog Tour hosted by Mother Daughter Book Reviews.
Thanks for dropping by, I hope that you find my review helpful.
Here’s a bit of a tip for you…
The blog tour includes a shared Rafflecopter
for a print copy of The Princelings of the East Trilogy
+ a $25 Amazon gift card or PayPal cash, open worldwide.
Look out for it below (after the review)
The Princelings of the East
by Jemima Pett ★★★★
The Princelings of the East is the first of a trilogy telling of the adventures of Fred and George.
When the King’s Birthday feast is ruined by an unnatural power drain, our Princeling heroes leave their scientific experiments to set out in search of answers. They encounter the enigmatic businessman Hugo, the impressive Prince of Buckmore, the wise Lady Nimrod, the irrepressible barkeep Victor, but find themselves threatened by those with vested interests.
The scene shifts from a rural, feudal setting to the towers and heights of the curious Isle of Hattan, but where, or when, are they? Time is of the essence in solving this puzzle, and our heroes must keep their wits sharp and their heads clear if they are to survive.
Suitable for ages 8 and over, The Princelings of the East is a fantasy adventure with the charm of the Wind in the Willows in a complete world reminiscent of Anne MacCaffrey’s Pern. [Goodreads]
My Review
A classical tale that is reminiscent of Beatrix Potter and Wind in the Willows.
This book introduces us to an interesting mix of quirky and lovable characters. One of the things that you’ll need to know from the start is that they’re all guinea pigs. It’s a cool concept, and as you get further into the story you soon forget that they’re all plump little critters with short stubby legs. It’s their engaging personalities that shine through and have you fully believing in their abilities and adventures.
The world that has been created by the author includes some great settings, each with its own castle full of interesting characters. Castle Marsh is from where our main characters hail. Fred is a thinker, and George is an inventor. Both are a couple of Princelings who find themselves tasked with an important mission.
A mysterious energy drain is making life in the castle and surrounds rather difficult. It’s up to George and Fred to find the cause and fix it. In a twist of events they stumble upon a secret passage within the castle that opens up a whole new world. It’s a world where time-travel is possible. What they find and where they go is an entertaining recipe for a great tale. It’s not long before they find that there are many other places beyond the confines of Castle Marsh, where the same mysterious energy drain is occurring. And so the mystery deepens.
In many ways this book reminded me of Beatrix Potter and Wind in the Willows. Childhood memories of the illustrations, characters and style of those books helped me to visualize the Princelings as they shuffled through their adventure. The complexities of time-travel also rears its head, and it’s obvious that there has been considerable thought and theorizing by the author on the subject. As we all know, time-travel is rather complicated to fully comprehend. Logic verses ideas verses reality verses theory verses fantasy. The author does a sterling job in explaining her spin on the implications of time-travel on the plot and the characters. I know there are more books in the series and they’re definitely on my to-read list. I’ve actually already read (and also enjoyed) book four, which was like a prequel to this first book.
My bottom line: The Princelings of the East reminds me of those classical tales from Beatrix Potter. I think that the characters are charming and engaging and the underlying plot is original.
Note: I don’t claim to be a pro-reviewer, I am a reader. My reviews are based on my personal thoughts around the story that the book is trying to tell. I try to focus on the story (which is the reason I read) rather than dissect the book and pass comment on typos, writing style or structure.
A free copy of this book was provided to me by the author for a fair and honest review.
All about Jemima Pett
I’ve been writing since I was about 8 years old. When my mum died in 2003, I found a small booklet in her box of treasures, written in a very childish hand, entitled The Little Stream. I’ve been writing articles and reports for newsletters and magazines ever since, but I couldn’t find interesting characters and plot for a novel!
I worked in business for many years. I wrote manuals, reports, science papers, blogs, journals, anything and everything that kept the words flowing. Finally the characters jumped into my head with stories that needed to be told, and THE PRINCELINGS OF THE EAST was born.
I now live in Norfolk with my guinea pigs, the first of whom, Fred, George, Victor and Hugo, provided the inspiration for my stories. And the picture is me with Fred. That’s Princeling Fred, of course!
Book Website: http://princelings.co.uk/
Author Website: http://jemimapett.com/
Twitter: @Jemima_Pett
Facebook: The Princelings of the East
Pinterest: Jemima Pett
Google+: Jemima Pett
Goodreads: Jemima Pett
The Princelings of the East Blog Tour Schedule (2013)
September 23
Mother Daughter Book Reviews (Launch)
Black Words – White Pages Kids (Review)September 24
Brooke Blogs (Review)
Reviews by Karen (Review)September 25
Fiona Ingram (Review)
Stitch Says (Author Interview)September 26
Amanda’s Books and More (Review)September 27
Reading List (Review)September 28
swlothian | author (Review)
Create With Joy (Author Interview)September 29
Christy’s Cozy Corners (Review)September 30
Black Words – White Pages Kids (Author Interview)
Fantasy Fun With Kirstin Pulioff (Review)October 1
Houseful of Chaos (Character Interview)
Published Bestsellers (Review)October 2
Fiona Ingram (Author Interview)
Stitch Says (Review)
Deal Sharing Aunt (Review)October 3
Donna L. Sadd (Author Interview)October 4
Magical Middle-Grade Literature (Review)October 5
Every Free Chance Book Reviews (Spotlight With Excerpt)October 6
Tales of a Bookworm (Review)
Mommasez (Character Interview)October 7
My Devotional Thoughts (Review)
The Ninja Librarian (Author Interview)
*** The Princelings of the East Blog Tour Giveaway ***
As part of the Blog Tour here is a great Rafflecopter giveaway with a prize of
a print copy of The Princelings of the East Trilogy
and a $25 Amazon gift card or PayPal cash.
Contest runs: September 23 to October 7, 2013
Open: Worldwide
Click the button below to jump over to Rafflecopter to enter.
Terms and Conditions: A winner will be randomly drawn through the Rafflecopter widget and will be contacted by email within 48 hours after the giveaway ends. The winner will then have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, a new draw will take place for a new winner. If you have any additional questions – feel free to contact Renee at Mother Daughter Book Reviews.
S.W. Lothian - Author 
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