07-18-2021, 09:20 PM | #1 | |
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Ruritanian romances
According to wikipedia:
Quote:
Apart from that well-known novel, I have also read Long Live the King (1917), by Mary Roberts Rinehart, a less-known but rather charming and well-written Ruritanian novel about the country of Livonia, where the old king is about to die and revolutionary conspirators want to get rid of his grandson and heir, who is still a child. It is more thoughtful and less action-filled than the Prisoner of Zenda, although it still had plenty of adventure and excitement. A more recent novel that pays homage to this genre is The Princess Bride, set in the country of Florin, which is a fond parody and homage of the classic swashbuckling Ruritanian novels. And there are also secondary world fantasy novels that are influenced by this genre. Have you read any novels in this genre? Last edited by db105; 07-18-2021 at 11:56 PM. |
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07-19-2021, 10:08 AM | #2 |
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I think even one of the Three Investigators mystery novels for children were modeled after this genre. In "The Mystery of the Silver Spider", the boys travel to the tiny European country of Varania to help the prince foil a plot to overthrow the government. The book was published in 1967.
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07-19-2021, 10:19 AM | #3 | |
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This is the plot, taken from here: For Philip, Dinah, Jack and Lucy-Ann, it seems a real bore to have the strangely conceited young foreign boy, Gussy, staying with them for the Easter holidays. But Gussy, it turns out, is more than he seems — and he and the other children are soon in grave danger. Caught up in a sinister political plot in the kingdom of Tauri-Hessia, they must find a way to outwit the villains and restore justice to the country — with the help of their new friends, the folk of a travelling circus! |
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07-19-2021, 11:45 AM | #4 | |||
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My favourite in this genre (and one of my favourite books overall) is The Henchmen of Zenda by KJ. Charles, which tells what really happened during that dramatic time in Ruritania
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A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole Quote:
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07-19-2021, 12:33 PM | #5 |
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07-19-2021, 11:20 PM | #6 |
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I found Sherwood Smith's trilogy of
Coronets and Steel Blood Spirits Revenant Eve about the small kingdom of Dobrenica to be pretty good. It's fantasy, with magic employed to shelter the country from it's neighbors during times of war. |
07-20-2021, 01:35 AM | #7 | |
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Not sure if this counts, but I enjoyed "Royal Flash" by George MacDonald Fraser.
From Amazon: Quote:
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07-20-2021, 06:50 AM | #8 | |
o saeclum infacetum
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Another fantastic read that fits with canon. In some ways I think the entire Flashman is an offshoot of the genre, obviously subverting it. Wonderful books. |
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07-20-2021, 01:01 PM | #9 |
o saeclum infacetum
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One of my favorites in this genre is the largely forgotten Graustark (1901), by George Barr McCutcheon, a variation on the basic Zenda theme with an American hero. McCutcheon is probably best known (that is, not very any more) for his 1902 novel, Brewster’s Millions, which has had a dozen or so adaptations.
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07-22-2021, 02:12 PM | #10 |
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07-22-2021, 04:19 PM | #11 | ||
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Quote:
I remembered another series for this thread: The Alpennia series by Heather Rose Jones. The first novel is "Daughter of Mystery" (there are a couple prequel short stories which I haven't read): Quote:
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