A young woman goes through the battle of love and politics in an entertaining romance, writes Vesa Sisättö.
A fantasy novel
Holly Black: The Cruel Prince (The Cruel Prince). Suvi Kauppila, Finland. Karisto. 359 pp.
American by Holly Black The cruel prince are favorite works of fashionable romance literature, or romantic fantasy. The novel, originally published in 2018, was finally also available in Finnish Suvi Kauppilan translated.
The people of the air -the heroine of the novel that starts the series is 17-year-old Jude, a young human woman who lives with her twin sister Taryn and older sister Vivienne in the fairy kingdom. They live in the home of their adoptive father Madoc, the general of the High King of the fairies.
The sisters' human mother has been married to Madoc. Vivienne, a half-fairy, is their child together. But then the mother, along with the human man and Vivienne, escaped back to the human world, where Jude and Taryn were born.
When Jude and Taryn were seven years old, Madoc found the family and killed Jude and Taryn's parents. Then he took the girls back to Fairyland. However, Madoc follows the moral code of fairies and has also raised Jude and Taryn as his own children.
Later, Madoc is remarried to a fairy woman and the couple have a son. So it's about a more tense new family than usual.
However, Jude does not seek revenge on Madoc. He loves his adoptive father and is ready to follow in his footsteps to a military career.
Jude has a conflicted attitude towards the Fairy Kingdom. He wants to be part of it, but notes on the other hand: “I've wished for many things over the years, but the first wish of my heart was that none of this was true.”
Holly Black's fairies are far away Tolkien's of the lofty elves and closer to the fairy folk of British folklore. The cruel prince Fairies are mischievous and cruel creatures of nature who enjoy deceiving people with enchantments. They also kidnap people to their own kingdom as servants, playthings and to bring new blood into the pretending fairy clans.
Fairies' lives are governed by various spells, oaths, contracts and the fact that they cannot lie. The art of lying sometimes also makes humans useful to fairies.
Jude hopes to have his own position in the Great King's kingdom. It seems impossible, because fairies despise mortals. Madoc's high status could pave the way for Jude to become a knight. However, the father refuses to help.
Jude sets out to gain his position by his own means and becomes entangled in the power play of the Great King's successor. His relationships get into a similar mess. She begins dating a handsome fairy named Locke while developing an active feud with the High King's son, Prince Cardan.
Jude is a typical romance heroine. He is an independent and active actor in both love and politics, who can also solve problems with a sword if necessary.
Jude may be a little out of sorts about his feelings. The reader is often half a step ahead of Jude, especially in the twists and turns of this love life.
As a theme In The Cruel Prince is a love directed at the wrong people, or in this case fairies. How does it feel to hate loving someone?
Like beauty and cruelty, love and hate are twisted into an unnatural knot in the wondrous realm of the Faeries. In Holly Black's romance, both sides of escapism, romance and fantasy, entertain the reader quite well.
Read more: “Romance” is now the hottest genre in the book world – that's what it's all about
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