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In this humorous and offbeat fantasy, magic is rarely perfect, heroes are rarely honorable, and you just might wake up in a body that's not your own... Frank Blackthorne's most recent heist did not end optimally. The sacrificial virgin survived, but the whole incident left Frank, a respectable career thief, on the run from a kingdom full of evil cultists eager to replace their sacrifice. So, when the Court Wizard of Lendowyn, Elhared the Unwise, comes to him intending to hire someone to save Lendowyn's princess from an evil dragon in return for riches, glory, and help with the bloodthirsty cultists problem, Frank is rightfully suspicious. Frank is also not in a position to refuse. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Frank's rescue fails--in an explosion of spectacularly misapplied magic. When the dust settles, all parties involved find themselves body-swapped. Frank is left stranded in the Princess Lucille's body, halfway across the kingdom. The understandably angry Princess Lucille finds herself inhabiting the body of the dragon. In order to set things right, they will have to team up and face down thugs, slavers, elvish bookies, knights in shining armor, an evil Queen, and the hordes of the Dark Lord Nâtalc.… (more)
User reviews
Now, S. Andrew
With Dragon Princess we have a thief pretending to be a knight, a wizard with ulterior motives, a dragon with a gambling problem, a princess who would rather be a dragon, an stuffy old knight who actually serves the Dark Lord, an awkward barbarian who is the smartest of the bunch, and some of the greediest elves you are likely to ever set eyes on.
Much of the humor here is in the storytelling, with Frank Blackthorne a self-depreciating narrator with a sarcastic sense of pessimism. It is his narration that keeps the story from exhausting the novelty factor, while the personalities of Frank (in the Princess' body) and Lucille (in the dragon's body) serve to draw the reader in and elevate the story above its bodyswap/genderswap roots. Sadly, there is nary a moment of self-appreciation, much less sexual exploration, but that is hardly surprising for a mainstream paperback.
Swann weaves a surprisingly complex story here, with multiple plots and schemes all coming together in the end, and a wide cast of characters who keep the story moving along. Quirky and fun, Dragon Princess is that rare breed of novel that succeeds as both a work of fantasy and humor. It had me smiling throughout, and even giggling aloud at times.
As reviewed by Sally at Bending the Bookshelf