Hamster Princess: Harriet the Invincible

by Ursula Vernon | Children's Books |
ISBN: 9780803739833 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingGoryDetailswing of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 10/5/2020
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1 journaler for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingGoryDetailswing from Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Monday, October 5, 2020
I got this hardcover from Better World Books. It's from a children's fantasy series by Ursula Vernon (aka T. Kingfisher), whose work I've enjoyed (see Digger, a comic about a feisty wombat and her adventures in a strange underground world, and Jackalope Wives, stories set in a kind of mystical American-West surrogate).

This book's for younger readers, like her other series Dragonbreath, and deals with the adventures of Harriet, hamster princess who prefers sword-fighting!

Later: I thoroughly enjoyed this, and will hunt up the rest of the series. This book is a spin on "Sleeping Beauty", with the twist that Harriet's parents tell her about the upcoming "prick yourself on a hamster wheel and fall asleep until kissed by a prince" business when she's only 10, two years before the curse is supposed to take effect. Harriet, rather than being upset, correctly deduces that this means the magic will protect her until then so as not to spoil the curse, and as she's now invincible she can go on all the adventures she likes! Riding her war-quail Mumfrey she sets off to battle foes of various types, with some side incidents only mentioned in letters home ("She pulled a sword from a stone. Apparently there's been some confusion. They made her put it back"), and with plenty of fun along the way.

The snarky humor and amusing plot twists liven up the story - and by the time Harriet heads home to meet the curse head-on, it's hardly surprising that she finds a way to twist things in a very different direction. From there it's a new quest: now she has to find a prince who'll help wake up everybody *else*!

From the encounter with the Ogre-cat who's gone vegetarian after hearing about Harriet's treatment of the still-eating-humans Ogre-cats (and who now relies on To Serve Man-flavored Substitute - "Apparently it was a cookbook") to saving a giant from "that awful Jack fellow" to equipping Mumfrey with toilet-plunger "shoes" to scale a glass mountain, the story's full of fun, action, and nods to other fairytales. Great fun!

[There's a TV Tropes page on Vernon and her work.]

Journal Entry 2 by wingGoryDetailswing at LFL [OBCZ] - New Searles Rd, #46 in Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Saturday, May 22, 2021

Released 2 yrs ago (5/22/2021 UTC) at LFL [OBCZ] - New Searles Rd, #46 in Nashua, New Hampshire USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Guidelines for safely visiting and stocking Little Free Libraries during the COVID-19 pandemic, from the LFL site here.

I'm releasing this to my Little Free Library; hope someone enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in NH here.]

*** Released for the 2021 Royalty challenge. ***

Journal Entry 3 by wingGoryDetailswing at Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Monday, May 31, 2021
This book's no longer in the LFL; hope to hear back from it someday!

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