This first book in a series chronicles the many adventures of Cinderella’s prince as he undergoes his baptism of fire in the Battle of Paris, is charmed by Cinderella at a masquerade ball, and sets off on a quest to find her after she flees the ball at the midnight hour. The quest takes him through strange lands supposedly inhabited by ogres, pixies, hobgoblins, man-eating plants and giants, and peopled by extraordinary characters that include an epileptic bard, a bean counter who wagers his gold tooth in a dice game, a merchant who can never be too prosperous, a little girl who has a running feud with three bears, pilgrims that argue over who is the most pious and a beggar who has been cursed with leprosy for committing all the cardinal sins. Be on the look-out for a bit of Chaucer-like satire in this adapted fairy tale.
Two Ladies of Very Different Temperaments
Two days later Henry had another tete-a tete, this time with the daughter of the Viscount of Montreuil. The second he saw her he knew she was not who he was looking for because she was too tall. Disappointed, he made some polite conversation and then said he had to be going on his way. Tears welled up in her eyes.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
“Why must you leave so soon? Did I say something to offend you?” she asked.
“No,” he said.
“I did, didn’t I. I’m sorry; I just say the stupidest things sometimes. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I get so nervous when I’m around men and I try too hard to compensate for being so tall.”
“You didn’t say anything stupid and you’re not too tall,” he said diplomatically.
“I’m taller than you and being taller than a prince is never a good thing.”
“I don’t know about that. I think tall women are very alluring,” said Henry.
“You do,” she said, brightening up.
“Yes,” he said.
“Even if they tower over you like I do?”
“The taller the better,” he said.
“Well I don’t think you will ever find anyone taller than me, so why are you in such a hurry to leave?”
“Because you are wrong about that; there is a woman taller than you and I am on a quest to find her.”
“Really?” she asked.
“Really,” he answered.
“That’s so romantic. How tall is she?”
“She’s taller than you by a head,” Henry said.
“Then you must be on your way to find her.”
“Thank you for understanding,” he said, rising to his feet.
She rose to her feet too, looked down on him, bid him farewell and told him she would never forget him and that she hoped he would succeed in his quest to find the very tall lady and live happily ever after. He thanked her, made his way out of the Viscount’s residence and rejoined Guy, who was standing outside holding the palfreys and mule, and feeding his goat a carrot.
Review
I’m rather fond of all things fairy-tale retellings and inspired, so when Ardennia crossed my desk, I jumped on it. Off the top, this was a humorous and fascinating read. Calhoun has great comedic timing and a way with words that either leaves you chuckling or forces you to stop, think, go back, reread, and then laugh out loud. There’s a fair amount of wordplay and literary style to this, and I enjoyed watching it unfold.
I could call this a quick read. It is fairly short and didn’t take very long. On the other hand, I feel like there are many layers and that I could find something new with each reread. While I ultimately enjoyed this, it didn’t quite strike me as a book I’d read and read again. I may go back to it at some point to inspect those layers I mentioned, but I can’t say when.
All in all, I recommend to fans of fairy tales, literary pros, and subtle but dedicated humor. This is evidently first in a series, so if you enjoy this one, there’s more to come.
Working passage on a tramp freighter, fending off White Tipped oceanic sharks on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, filming lowland gorillas in Africa, capsizing a sailboat in the Bermuda Triangle, mushing sled dogs in Alaska, teaching marine biology in Puerto Rico, exploring the Amazon, founding Save the Rainforest in 1988, and writing an award winning play, an autobiography and Ardennia are but a few of the highlights in my life. Currently I am serving as president of Save the Rainforest and living a rather sedate life in Southwestern Wisconsin with my beloved wife.
Find Bruce online at https://www.literaryworksbrucecalhoun.com/novels.html
All the opinions expressed in this review are my own. Read the full disclosure here.