The Princess and the Horse by Mette Ivie Harrison

The Princess and the Horse by Mette Ivie Harrison

Fierce has been an outcast in her pack ever since her mother left to be a human. As a hound she is fearless and one of the best hunters in her pack, and though she is not treated well by the others in the pack she loves the forest and her life as a hound. Then she is changed into a human by a princess looking for her precious horse. The wild magic that this princess wields so recklessly has endangered the balance of the world. Fissures form in the ground and from them come white worms that eat the life around them and then imitate it to cause destruction.

Fierce arrives at the nearest human residence to somehow make a life among humans. There she discovers Red, the boy who cares for the hounds. He wishes to learn the language of the hounds, and Fierce finds it comforting to spend time with the other hounds. As they form an acquaintance a woman comes to ask the Lord of the manor for help when the wandering princess turns her husband and daughter into animals. The Lord turns his back on her plea, but Fierce knows that this princess must be stopped and so she and Red go after her.

Convincing a spoiled princess to change her behavior is quite a challenge, as well as facing the worm creatures that are now traveling the forest and harming people. They must return them from the fissures they came from before they alter the world permanently, but such a task requires great cost from those that fight the substance. 

I am really loving the fact that authors are now independently putting up books in series that their publishers dropped, because it means I got to read another Princess/Hound book by Mette Harrison. The price recently went down to 99 cents, which is a total steal! I was so excited when the book went down to that price and snatched it up immediately. In fact, it is still at that price right now. If you are interested in the book at all you should consider picking it up while the price is still low.

I always find something that annoys me in these books, yet I always keep coming back to them because I really do love the voice of the series. This book also has that wonderful fairy tale feeling, and yet still feels substantive. The author often combines vivid emotions and profound views of human nature, but does it in a way  that comes naturally from the world and characters. It also has the interesting romance story that managed to feel the same, but still ended up having a twist that surprised me. For some reason I find the human changed into an animal or vice versa to be a very interesting romance trope in the series. The author managed to find so much tension and conflict in how such a dramatic change affects the characters and how that plays out in the romance plot line.

My complaint is that the world felt a little bit fuzzy to me. Some of the scenes felt odd in that I felt like the setting faded. A entire mob came into the forest to confront the Princess and the her entourage, but I wasn’t exactly sure how they all fit in between the trees enough to have the confrontation the author described. There were several other examples of that where I felt the author was so focused on telling the story she forgot the little background details that makes a story feel sharp and clear.

Despite that I still really enjoyed the book and really enjoyed the story and the characters. Totally worth reading if you are a fairy tale fiction fan.

Find out more about this series at Mette Ivie Harrison's Website.

The Princess and the Snowbird by Mette Ivie Harrison

The Princess and the Snowbird by Mette Ivie Harrison
"She is the headstrong daughter of the hound and the bear, heir to all her royal parents' magic and able to transform at will into any animal she wishes.

He is an outcast, a boy without magic, determined to make his way in the forest beholden to no one.

Though Liva and Jens are as different as night and day, from the time their paths first cross they are irresistibly drawn to one another. Each wrestles with demons: Liva with the responsibility that comes with the vast magic she's inherited, Jens with the haunting memories he's left behind. Separately, they keep a lookout for each other and for the immense snowbird whose appearances signify a dark event on the horizon.

When a terrible threat surfaces, Liva and Jens set out in an attempt to protect all they hold dear. Much is at stake—for while their failure could spell an end to all magic, their success could bring them together at last." (summary from publisher's website)

I have to admit that The Princess and the Snowbird was my least favorite of Harrison’s princess trilogy. As always I loved the author’s distinct, crisp prose, and how the story feels so much like a fairy tale. I also really like how her magic system is so connected to nature and animals. I still think this is a great little set of books that I would recommend to all those, who love fairy tales. I think my problem with the book was that it felt too much like the other two. One of the fun things about this trilogy is that the love stories are all unique, and have unexpected twists. But I felt like Liva and Jens’s love story wasn’t as exciting or original as the other two love stories.

Then there was the fact that I felt like the ending was a deus ex machina, and some of my questions weren’t answered. There is a stone in the book that leeches magic away from people, and it became clear that it would have to be destroyed in order for magic to survive. The book never shows us where this rock came from, how much of it there was, and how it could be destroyed. There are a couple of vague hints as to what happened, but they never really answered the above three questions.

I just sort of have to assume what I think happened really occurred, but I’m not really sure that I’m right about my assumptions. So, the lack of clarity on this plot point kind of annoyed me. The villain is really powerful and evil in this book, and I think part of the reason I didn’t like the story was because he was defeated too easily, and I wasn’t really convinced that the main characters could take him out. As a result of the villains wickedness this book is a bit more dark and sad than the first two also. I have to admit the negative view of human nature in this book sort of made me squirm a few times. I didn’t really like it.

The Princess and the Snowbird was still a pretty good read like the first two in the series with a magical fairy tale feel, and a gentle romance story, but the ending left me feeling a little bit let down. Perhaps, I built up my expectations too high, but plot line of The Princess and the Snowbird seemed weak in comparison to the other two books.

Mette Ivie Harrison's website

The Princess and the Bear by Mette Ivie Harrison

The Princess and the Bear by Mette Ivie Harrison

"He was once a king, turned into a bear as punishment for his cruel and selfish deeds.

She was a once a princess, now living in the form of a hound.
Wary companions, they are sent—in human form—back to a time when magic went terribly astray. Together they must right the wrongs caused by this devastating power—if only they can find a way to trust each other.

But even as each becomes aware of an ever-growing attraction, the stakes are rising and they must find a way to eliminate this evil force—or risk losing each other forever."*

(*summary from jacket flap)

The Princess and the Bear is a sequel to The Princess and the Hound, which I read last summer. The main characters of the last novel Prince George and Princess Marit do appear briefly, but the story is mainly about the Hound that used to belong to Princess Marit, and the Bear, King Richon. I think I enjoyed this sequel more than I did the first book, though I did feel that the tone of the first book felt more magical. I love how real Harrison makes the hound’s point-of-view feel. I love how she thinks differently than humans, and how she’s fierce, wild, and strong. Harrison also has a way of portraying humans and their foibles in an honest, intelligent way that makes you think about why we are such weird creatures. I love the animal magic. I love how Richon desires to avoid becoming who he was in the past, and we get to watch him grow into a person the really deserves the title of King. I love how the book fosters and appreciation for all those things beautiful and precious in nature. As, you can see I really loved this book—a lot. I would recommend it to all girls with a love for fantasy, animals, and nature.

Mette Harrison Author's Website

The Princess and the Hound by Mette Harrison

The Princess and the Hound by Mette Ivie Harrison

Prince George realizes at a young age that his mother can talk to animals, and she teaches him to do the same. He realizes as a young man that the ability to speak with animals should be kept secret for animal speakers are hunted down and burned at the stake. George must keep this part of himself a secret from the kingdom that he leads. He is lead by duty in all things, and with duty he will marry Princess Beatrice from the neighboring kingdom. Princess Beatrice has a wild hound that always stays at her side, and he is discovering that this odd pair has a secret of their own. Will George be courageous to free them and himself?

I liked this book, but it also disappointed me in few ways. I thought the book has a beautiful fairy tale quality to it that resonated deeply with me, and I really enjoyed that. I thought that the characters were well portrayed and the writing was overall really nice. The beginning is a little bit slow and I worried that it wouldn’t get better, but it does and I’m glad I did continue onward. I also wished the climax had been a little bit more well described, and thought in some instances that it was confusing, and just a bit predictable. I was expecting something cooler or more surprising to happen. I also felt that some passages of the book at the end were a bit forced. Less critical readers probably would not have noticed these things as I did. Overall, I do think it was a nice read and that the author did a good job with it. I think the writer still has room to get better, but that this was a very nice piece of work. If you love the fairy tale genre or Goose Girl type stories then this will be enjoyable to read.

Mette Harrisons Website: http://www.metteivieharrison.com/