Book Review: The Forgotten Princess of Mona by Guy Donovan

Synopsis

In the fifth century Welsh Kingdom of Môna, eleven-year-old Cerys is no average girl. Born mentally impaired, the orphaned daughter of King Talorcan and Queen Delwen now has only her father’s old Pictish advisor and a teenaged seamstress for company. Môna’s new queen wants nothing to do with her—doting instead on her own son, who will one day rule in Cerys’ place.

Cerys lives her life in a perpetual fog of loss and regret, wishing more than anything to be as normal as everyone else.

Then one day Cerys meets a new friend, one whose thoughts are as clear to her as speech. Her own muddled mind slowly grows clearer as well, and she learns to speak with a heretofore impossible ease. It seems like a miracle to Cerys and those few who care for her, but she can’t ever tell anyone the source of her incredible cure. If she did, she knows it would surely lead to death for her and her new friend. Like Cerys, he is unlike anyone else in the world…he is a dragon.

The Review

This story paints a wonderful atmosphere of medieval Wales and the fantasy worlds inspired by that place and era of history.

Roman Britain and the northern Pictish cultures overlap in realistic ways and I'm pretty impressed with the research that must have gone into creating this fantasy backdrop, including references to an obscure Welsh sow spirit called Hwch ddu Gwta (pronunciation is given) . Like the prequel, which I read first, the writing is elegant and draws you right into the story.

Though the main character, the princess Cerys is unable to express herself very clearly at first, her story is told through the eyes of those people closest to her. It's very artfully done. The book is over 400 pages and I have to admit the dragon takes a long time to appear, but I wasn't to be disappointed. The developing relationship between the princess and the dragon sets the tone for the continuing series very nicely and the movements and political intrigues among other characters keep this one moving at a good pace.

The various strands come together for an exciting ending that has me looking forward to reading the next book in the series. Epic Fantasy readers and High Fantasy readers will definitely enjoy this one!