Prince of Ill Luck

This is book one of the "Warhorse of Esdragon" series, which is a prelude (though written later) to "The Winter King's War", which introduces us to the fabled Valadan - the aforementioned warhorse of the Dukes of Esdragon.

Leith is a Prince of the Isles, but is self-styled Prince of Ill Luck, because disaster seems to continually follow him and afflict those around him. He unintentionally wins the hand of Kessalia - who is the daughter of the Duke of Esdragon, and who does not want to be won - riding Valadan. She would rather search for her father, the duke, and her mother, a witch, so Leith agrees to help her, in the hopes that the witch can lift his curse.

I like the way Susan Dexter writes. She makes you empathise with her heroes and show more heroines without pitying them, however bad their luck; you really want them to win, and you cheer for them when they do. Her descriptions are lyrical, and her plots do go in some delightfully unforeseen directions. And she does seem to know a lot about horses (as far as I can tell - since I don't)

(May 2010)
4.5 stars show less

I loved most of this book.

The writing is excellent. The characters, even the hateful Kess, are well-drawn; I couldn't hate Kess with such a passion if she hadn't been given life by the writing. The plot never does just what is expected, which is good, and the story as a whole is lovely, weaving fairy tale elements into a realistic and heart-felt tale. If only the female lead wasn't a sadist.

Longer version on my blog.

Still Susan Dexter. If you look at this book and see a quote from Marion Zimmer Bradley saying how this is one of the most delightfully funny books she's ever read, ignore it; with all due respect to MZB, either she was thinking of another book or she had an odd sense of humor. It is funny, in spots; Dexter's writing has a dry tone, and she has a lovely way with words, but this isn't Terry Pratchett.

The Prince of Ill Luck is Leith, and is he ever. Born with mismatched eyes, he was taken as a demon by his father, who dropped him, stomped on him, and stabbed him (see what I mean about not being so funny as all that?). He lived, did Leith, but his life has been clouded by an apparent curse that brings ill luck, some small - like falls, show more scrapes, bruises for him - and some large - like earthquakes, fires, shipwrecks ... (Rip-snortingly funny!) It's aimed, I think, at young adults, so nothing too graphic happens, but "ill luck" is a bit of an understatement.

He's a good character, and if he's a bit meek and down-trodden, it's no wonder. show less

Reviews on the internet kept mentioning what a good book this was and how funny it was.So when I finally decided to buy from an used book site this was a given.

I was sorely disappointed though.

I am not sure wich humor the reviews were refering to,sure there is a lot of wording that makes you go "that was cleverly put" But still it doesnt make it humorous.

The world building was a bit sparsely described and I didnt connect with the characters.

I could have felt for more for the characters if they were a bit more wellrounded and I could have immersed myself more into the world if I had gotten to see more of it.

It all felt a bit thin.

Its not among the worst books Ive ever read its just that it was all a bit bland.

A young, ill-lucked prince, Leith, is shipwrecked, finds the enchanted horse Valadan and goes on a quest to save the Princess Kess from her own headstrong travels.

Der Widerspenstigen Zähmung trifft auf Blitz, den schwarzen Hengst (nun ja, Valadan, den schwarzen Hengst), der wie die Companions in Valdemar in der Lage ist, gedanklich zu kommunizieren. Auch wenn der Hengst Valadan im Mittelpunkt der Reihe steht, wird die Geschichte in diesem Band linear fast ausschließlich aus der Sicht des Prinzen Leith erzählt - der Hengst ist einfach als intelligentes, mit besonderen Kräften ausgestattetes Pferd mit dabei. Die Rolle des Hengstes hätte sicher noch ausgebaut werden können und die zu Grunde liegende Romanze war absehbar - insgesamt zwar mal nett zu lesen, aber nicht wirklich begeisternd. Dazu plätschert die Erzählung dann doch allzu geruhsam vor sich hin, und bis auf die Tatsache, dass Kess show more eine heiratsunwillige, magiebegabte Zicke ist und Leith ein vom Unglück verfolgter, aber charakterstarker Tolpatsch wird in Bezug auf die Hauptcharaktäre wenig deutlich und schon gar nichts entwickelt. show less