The Two Princesses of Bamarre

Author: Gail Carson Levine
Genre: fiction, young adult, fantasy
Publication info: HarperCollins, 2001
Pages: 241


This one may seem a little out of place among the other books I've reviewed so far, especially considering who I am: a twenty-something male college student. Throw into the mix the fact that I like to do much of my reading while I'm riding a stationary bike at the gym. Imagine, if you will, a tall young man striding into the weight room, dressed in gym clothes, a towel draped over his neck, with a water bottle in one hand and The Two Princesses of Bamarre in the other. Yeah. I had fun with this one.

In my defense, I picked this one up at my girlfriend's recommendation. I also had had some exposure to Levine's work before. In high school it seemed like all of my friends who were girls named Ella Enchanted as their favorite book, so I borrowed it from my sister and read it to see what the deal was. More recently, Levine came to my university for a science fiction and fantasy convention and read some of her latest work. I enjoyed both experiences, so I felt like I knew what I was getting into with this book.

And like Ella Enchanted, for the type of book that this is, it is pretty good. As you might guess, it tells the tale of two princesses in a place called Bamarre. Meryl, the older of the two, is the outgoing, adventurous type, always looking forward to the day when she can go on a quest and fight the monsters that constantly threaten their kingdom. Addie is her complete opposite---timid, introverted, and desiring only to live a safe and secure life. But when the mysterious and fatal illness called the Gray Death strikes, it's up to Addie to find the cure to save her sister and, incidentally, all of Bamarre.

It's a fun little story, but I have to admit it is rather predictable. From the first few pages I had a pretty good idea how the whole thing was going to play out. To Levine's credit, the author does a good job of preparing you so nothing seems to come out of nowhere, but maybe she's just a little too good at foreshadowing. On the other hand, the ending brings an unexpected twist.

I also had a problem with her sparseness of description. Now I myself am a fan of minimal description. The detail found in The Lord of the Rings is a little too much for me. Let the reader imagine as much as possible, I say. But in this book I didn't know how to imagine some things because the author doesn't describe them at all. As a reader not well versed in fantasy, I had only Shrek as an image of an ogre, which probably isn't what Levine had in mind. But she never really describes the monster. This isn't a huge hindrance to the story, but it might have been a little more alive to me had there been just a bit more description.

Still, I stand by what I said before: It's a fun little story. A nice escape from the humdrum of everyday life. And wouldn't some of those gifts Addie receives be nice? I would love to have a pair of those seven-league boots.