Please help me remember a book.
August 14, 2010 4:48 AM Subscribe
Please help me remember a book I read as a child/teenager.
There's this book I read as a kid, and over the past few days I've been beating myself up mentally trying to figure it out. Now, it's been years, and I can barely remember last week, so take my descriptions with a grain of salt:
-Fantasy genre.
-There's a stuck-up knight, of some sort. Or maybe a prince.
-He's off on a quest of some sort, dragging along some unwilling knave. Or squire. Or assistant. Possibly a young wizard. Or a wizard's assistant.
-Along the way, there's a woman. Perhaps she's rescued, perhaps not. The knight/prince seems convinced that she's supposed to fall into his arms or something, but his charming nature is not halfway as charming as he'd like to believe.
-There's also an old witch.
-The assistant/wizard/who knows ends up with the woman.
-At the end of the book, the knight/prince ends up with the old witch, who's ended up transformed into a beautiful woman somehow (Maybe one of the wizard's spells malfunctioned? If he was a wizard in the first place...). The witch actually does appear to find the knight/prince charming, and while the assistant/wizard/who knows and the woman are aware of her true identity, the knight/prince isn't.
...Sound familiar to anyone? It probably doesn't, but thanks for thinking, anyway.
There's this book I read as a kid, and over the past few days I've been beating myself up mentally trying to figure it out. Now, it's been years, and I can barely remember last week, so take my descriptions with a grain of salt:
-Fantasy genre.
-There's a stuck-up knight, of some sort. Or maybe a prince.
-He's off on a quest of some sort, dragging along some unwilling knave. Or squire. Or assistant. Possibly a young wizard. Or a wizard's assistant.
-Along the way, there's a woman. Perhaps she's rescued, perhaps not. The knight/prince seems convinced that she's supposed to fall into his arms or something, but his charming nature is not halfway as charming as he'd like to believe.
-There's also an old witch.
-The assistant/wizard/who knows ends up with the woman.
-At the end of the book, the knight/prince ends up with the old witch, who's ended up transformed into a beautiful woman somehow (Maybe one of the wizard's spells malfunctioned? If he was a wizard in the first place...). The witch actually does appear to find the knight/prince charming, and while the assistant/wizard/who knows and the woman are aware of her true identity, the knight/prince isn't.
...Sound familiar to anyone? It probably doesn't, but thanks for thinking, anyway.
Response by poster: I'm pretty moderately sure that's not it.
Seems like a damned interesting book, though.
posted by KChasm at 5:24 AM on August 14, 2010
Seems like a damned interesting book, though.
posted by KChasm at 5:24 AM on August 14, 2010
it *kind of* sounds like the castle in the attic by elizabeth winthrop. maybe? i dunno. do you know when it might have been published or how old you were when you read it?
posted by janepanic at 5:37 AM on August 14, 2010
posted by janepanic at 5:37 AM on August 14, 2010
Response by poster: It's definitely not either of those castle books--the book I'm trying to remember was thoroughly in the fantasy genre, and didn't intersect with the "real world" or anything. And the witch wasn't really a main character--I just spent all that time mentioning her because that whole transformation bit happens at the end of the book, which is the only part I can really remember at all.
And no, I have no idea what age I was when I read it. I could have been ten, or I could have been in high school. Sorry.
posted by KChasm at 5:51 AM on August 14, 2010
And no, I have no idea what age I was when I read it. I could have been ten, or I could have been in high school. Sorry.
posted by KChasm at 5:51 AM on August 14, 2010
The structure is similar to the Arthurian story 'The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle' - perhaps a children's retelling of the story?
posted by Coobeastie at 6:05 AM on August 14, 2010
posted by Coobeastie at 6:05 AM on August 14, 2010
OMG I totally recognize this (I think). I remember the illustrations best-- did the assistant have freckles and gingery-looking curly hair? The witch is transformed into a beautiful young woman, but I think it's by virtue of her own powers.
I'm totally blanking on the title, but I'll do some Amazon poking-about and post back here if I find it.
posted by Bardolph at 6:33 AM on August 14, 2010
I'm totally blanking on the title, but I'll do some Amazon poking-about and post back here if I find it.
posted by Bardolph at 6:33 AM on August 14, 2010
Best answer: Was it A Hidden Magic, by Vivian Vande Velde?
posted by Bardolph at 6:44 AM on August 14, 2010
posted by Bardolph at 6:44 AM on August 14, 2010
Response by poster: Holy crap, Bardolph, I'm 90% sure that's it! Heck, 95%--that cover looks way too familiar. You're awesome.
posted by KChasm at 9:57 AM on August 14, 2010
posted by KChasm at 9:57 AM on August 14, 2010
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posted by MonkeyToes at 4:54 AM on August 14, 2010