Review: 'Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower' by Tamsyn Muir, narr. by Moira Quirk

What makes fairy tales such a delight, including fairy tale adaptations, is the way in which its familiar elements can be moved around, swapped out, or turned upside down. One can be endlessly creative with fairy tales, if one gives it a good go. And Tamsyn Muir gives it one hell of a go in Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower, an absolutely delightful romp of a novella. 

Audible Pub. Date: 11/30/2020
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.

When the witch built the forty-flight tower, she made very sure to do the whole thing properly. Each flight contains a dreadful monster, ranging from a diamond-scaled dragon to a pack of slavering goblins. Should a prince battle his way to the top, he will be rewarded with a golden sword—and the lovely Princess Floralinda.

But no prince has managed to conquer the first flight yet, let alone get to the fortieth.

In fact, the supply of fresh princes seems to have quite dried up.

And winter is closing in on Floralinda…

Princesses quite simply have the bad luck that sometimes a witch will pick them up and place them at the very top of a tower. In Floralinda's case, she has extra bad luck because the tower has forty flights and contains all kinds of creatures and monsters. But not to worry, so the witch, because princes will come a-flocking once they find out she's up there. And they do, except none of the princes either makes it up the stairs or ... comes out again. They stop coming, eventually, and now Floralinda has to figure out her next move. Stay up there and wait, most likely to die, like a princess should, or find her own way down? Assisted by a wayward fairy, called Cobweb, Floralinda is about to find out what tales and assumptions are true. Floralinda starts the novella as a delightfully insipid princess who is a darling, but not super bright. But then, princesses aren't necessarily expected to be bright, so we can't fully blame her. I absolutely adored the way she developed throughout the story, however, as Muir manages to strike a balance where we see Floralinda actively grow, without her necessarily being fully aware of it. Floralinda wants to get out. That this might have consequences on her character is not even a thought in her mind. By having Cobweb pop up, we also get an extra perspective on Floralinda, which was really intriguing. 

Tamsyn Muir writes wickedly delightful characters, including a charming narrator in this novella who snarks away at every opportunity. It is like having your favourite, child-free, single aunt tell you a fairy tale over a glass of wine, or three. The first part of the novella does a lot to build up Floralinda's character, the way in which she is set in the archetype of a princess, but has the possibility to blossom into something else. Once she begins actively considering fighting her own way out, the pace definitely picks up. While each floor of the fourty gets described, many pass quickly but never too quickly. While this may sound repetitive, I actually really enjoyed finding out what Tamsyn Muir, I mean, the witch, had hidden away on every floor of the tower. We get all kinds of fairy tale creatures show up, each slightly different than we know it. The next bit might be a bit spoilery so skip to the next paragraph to avoid. What I also really liked was how the novella played with Floralinda's changing character, how it drew on ideas of what is and isn't a monster, of what happens when you "break character", so to say. While Princess Floralinda is only a novella, it packs a whole lot of fun into its pages and anyone who enjoys romping through fairy tales will enjoy this tale as well.

Moira Quirk is also the narrator for Muir's Locked Tomb series, which means I was already familiar with the delightful way in which she brings Muir's snarky prose into life. Quirk still surprised me, however, with the way in which she narrated Princess Floralinda, bringing both pathos and huge amounts of humour to the tale. At roughly 4 hours, it is a delightful audiobook which I will definitely be listening to again.

I give this novella...

4 Universes!

Princess Floralinda is delightful in every way. From the characterisation of Floralinda herself, to the pace, the tone, the dialogue, and the narration, I had a great time with this novella. While very different in content to the Locked Tomb series, you'll still find the same snark and attitude here for which Muir has become beloved.