In an alternate 18th-century world, America teems with blond savages while "Roumania" and Germany battle for European domination. A magic book concocted by conjuress Aegypta Schenck sends young Miranda Popescu, a descendant of ancient royalty, and Roumania's hope of freedom from dark tyranny, to Massachusetts to escape the fiendish Baroness Nicola Ceausescu and the heinous Elector of Ratisbon. With her best friend, Andromeda (turned magically into first a yellow dog and later a charismatic male Roumanian courtier), and her loyal teenage admirer, Peter, Miranda must make hard choices to start fulfilling her destiny. 'A quietly and profoundly original novel. To compare Paul Park with Philip Pullmann or John Crowley gives a hint of the kind of satisfaction his fiction provides' Ursula K. Le Guin
Industry Reviews
"Paul Park knows fairy tales, contemporary and classic fantasy, and literary science fiction, and he borrows tropes from all these genres. So readers will find, as they enjoy this long novel (the first volume of two or more), that it provides the pleasures of the familiar--indeed, the archetypal--without neglecting some twists and enigmatic variations all its own. At times, though, it's bound to remind you of the Harry Potter books, Phillip Pullman's novels about Lyra Belacqua and even Gene Wolfe's recent "The Knight "and "The Wizard," as well as such older classic as The Wizard of Oz, Joan Aiken's Dido Twite chronicles and even Philip K. Dick's classics as "The Man in the High Castle," But then all these works draw from the same well of fantasy, the same pool of dreams and nightmares." --Michael Dirda, "The Washington Post Book World" on "A" "Princess of Roumania" "In less-capable hands, the plot of the missing princess would seem trite, but Paul Park makes "A Princess of Roumania" unique. . . .The result is a powerful novel that should appeal to adult and sophisticated young adult audiences. . . .the stage is set for a terrific series. I can't wait for the next installment." -"Rocky Mountain News," Grade A- "Elegantly imagined and densely poetic novel . . . . we may be looking at one of the major fantasy works of the decade." Gary K. Wolfe, "Locus "on "A" "Princess of Roumania" "Could become one of the most engrossing fantasies ever written. . . .The opening pages have a sustained brilliance it is extremely difficult to convey; they comprise perhaps the most taxing and densely intricate exegesis yet put to paper. . . .The story so far of "A Princess of Roumania "is intense, contorted, distorting, hypnotic; it seems deeply though-and felt-through--as far as we are allowed to follow it. It is a book . . . to read in a deep silent room, so you don't miss a word." --"Interzone" "It's a journey almost as gratifying as the magic trick pulled off by Park, who should be knighted for breathing life into an oft-tired genre." -"Entertainment Weekly" on "A Princess of Roumania""Complex, elusive, haunting, written in a transparent prose that slips you from one world to another with prestidigitous ease, "A Princess of Roumania" is a quietly and profoundly original novel. To compare Paul Park with Philip Pullman or John Crowley gives a hint of the kind of satisfaction his fiction provides."--Ursula K. Le Guin "Many of those of enjoyed the works of Philip Pullman or Madeleine L'Engle will be thrilled to discover "A Princess Of Roumania,""--Kim Stanley Robinson "Immediately appealing in all the ways that the heart-tugging matter of high fantasy ought to be. A huge achievement."--John Crowley on "A" "Princess of Roumania"
