The Hero’s Guide to Being an Outlaw
by Christopher Healy
(April 2014: Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins)
Prince Liam. Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav. You think you know those guys pretty well by now, don’t you? Well, think again. Posters plastered across the thirteen kingdoms are saying that Briar Rose has been murdered—and the four Princes Charming are the prime suspects, along with Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel, and Lila. Now they’re on the run in a desperate attempt to clear their names.
Along the way, however, they discover that Briar’s murder is just one part of a nefarious plot to take control of all thirteen kingdoms—a plot that will lead them across the ocean, through a scorching desert, and to the doorstep of an eerily familiar fortress for a final showdown with an eerily familiar enemy.
Christopher Healy returns once again to the fairy-tale world he created for the last installment in his epically humorous history. Giant mongooses will be battled, brain-melting beetles will be run from, dozens of feathers will be plucked, and, perhaps, kingdoms will finally be saved, now and forever.
THE BARDS HAVE SPOKEN!
“As funny as the previous two Hero’s Guide titles, as hyper as a child after ingesting a pint of sugar, and as long as a phone book (whatever that is). Fans won’t want the fun to end, happily ever after or otherwise.” — Booklist
“Part screwball comedy, part sly wit, and all fun.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Healy’s latest foray into the Thirteen Kingdoms has more than the usual amount of wit, hijinks, princes, princesses and adventures.” — Huffington Post
“With its gender-bending stereotypes and oodles of action, this addition will be welcomed by fans of the series.” — School Library Journal
Hi!
I see you respond to these so I thought I’d make a request. Before I do though, I want to say that I really enjoyed your books! So many silly references–the best by far being Val Jeanval–and I laughed out loud far too many times today which pulled at the sutures above my lip. So, thanks? Oh, and the happy ending for Duncan’s hat reminded me a bit of Hitchhiker’s Guide–a tall compliment–and probably the biggest barrier to the incision actually healing. (That particular smile was so painful!) Anyway, here’s the feedback: what happened to the sexual tension between Ella and Liam? It kind of died, which was disappointing since they still have a thing. I was waiting for that promise of their attraction to become something and it just fizzled. I normally wouldn’t care but because you brought it to the reader’s attention at book one, I was hoping for it to have a greater bearing on their scenes together. Even with the complication (love triangle?) of Briar, there was no forward movement or even regression there. I don’t know if you’re in the process of writing the fourth book, but before you publish it, please remember that some readers might be watching for this. (I’ll admit it distracted me a bit from the general mayhem because I wanted closure or at least perceivable growth!) Thanks for reading! (Sincerely, a romance-hooked reader who enjoys romance almost exclusively in the sci-fi/fantasy genre, which includes a goofy, action-packed fantasy retelling of classic fairy tales written for tweens.) (In my defense, I really wasn’t looking before the ending of book one, but you put in my head and so I looked forward to it.) Thanks for all the laughs!