Do you remember a fantasy novel where a princess describes soldiers as looking like plastic soldiers?

November 13, 2008 9:07 PM

Help me find the first book I hated. When I was about 12 years old (IIRC, it may have been a couple of years later) I read a fantasy novel that I absolutely hated. It was the first time I disliked a book for aesthetic reasons. It was a fantasy novel set in a largely magic-less faux-medieval world with a princess as the main protagonist. What I remember best is that there were a lot of completely inappropriate descriptions from the point of the view of the princess. The one that's really stayed in my memory was that the protagonist likened marching soldiers to plastic soldiers (the world of the novel had no plastics).
posted by Kattullus to Writing & Language (14 answers total)

Response by poster: I meant "inappropriate" in the sense of "not believable for the character or the world" rather than "sexual." I was a twelve year old boy. I wouldn't have minded that kind of inappropriate.
posted by Kattullus at 9:09 PM on November 13, 2008

Do you have any more information about the book? What happened to the princess in the end? You mentioned soldiers, was there a war?
posted by nikkorizz at 9:27 PM on November 13, 2008

Response by poster: I remember very little about the book. I remember that the princess had to travel. I remember there being some sort of war, or maybe the possibility of war. That's about it. The world was very generic faux-medieval but I do remember there was no magic in the world... or at least very, very little.
posted by Kattullus at 9:30 PM on November 13, 2008

The Paper Bag Princess?
posted by nikkorizz at 9:50 PM on November 13, 2008

Response by poster: No, it was more "serious" fantasy fiction. The kind of stuff you'd find in the "fantasy" section of bookstores.
posted by Kattullus at 10:10 PM on November 13, 2008

You were 12 circa when?
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 4:30 AM on November 14, 2008

Any elements of the plot that you can remember? Names of characters?
posted by mrbarrett.com at 5:06 AM on November 14, 2008

Response by poster: Well, this would have been in the early or mid-90s (I'm born in 1981) but the book might have been older (I got most of the books I read from libraries back then). I can't remember much about the plot except what I've recounted already. The princess (or, possibly, young noblewoman) has to travel. There's talk of war. There's little or no magic.

I have the vague memory that the author's name started with Ta- (e.g. Tanya, Tabitha, Tamara) but I have a terrible memory for names (example) so it isn't very trustworthy.
posted by Kattullus at 7:27 AM on November 14, 2008

Tamora Pierce, maybe?
posted by Zed_Lopez at 7:46 AM on November 14, 2008

I've read nearly all of Tamora Pierce's books, and I don't recall this book. Her worlds all explicitly have magic, and no princesses that I can remember. Her books are also targeted towards teenage-ish readers, or younger, so they might not qualify as "serious" fantasy.
posted by MadamM at 9:36 AM on November 14, 2008

Nikkorizz, The Paper Bag Princess is a picture book.
posted by brujita at 4:10 PM on November 14, 2008

Does that library still exist? Could you go there or call them... Chances are that same book is still kicking around. (Damn, now I really want to know what it is too!)
posted by mu~ha~ha~ha~har at 5:35 AM on November 15, 2008

Response by poster: The library still exists but I live an ocean away now. It's in Iceland and I'm in Rhode Island. I can look things up in its online catalogue but for that I'd need a name or title to go on.
posted by Kattullus at 6:36 AM on November 15, 2008

Response by poster: In a thread on the Blue rokusan mentioned the name Tanith Lee which sent some bells ringing. After reading descriptions of some of her books I think it was A Heroine of the World. I'll have to see if I can track down the book one day, skim through it to see if it's the one.
posted by Kattullus at 7:00 AM on November 21, 2008