The Undesired Princess
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''The Undesired Princess'' is a 51,000 word
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
novella by American writer
L. Sprague de Camp Lyon Sprague de Camp (; November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000) was an American author of science fiction, Fantasy literature, fantasy and non-fiction literature. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, both novels and works of ...
. It was first published in the fantasy magazine '' Unknown Worlds'' for February 1942. It was published in book form by
Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc. Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc., or FPCI, was an American science fiction and fantasy small press specialty publishing company established in 1946. It was the fourth small press company founded by William L. Crawford. Crawford's first com ...
in 1951. The book version also includes the 10,000 word fantasy short story "Mr. Arson", first published in ''Unknown'' for December 1941. The book (including both stories) was bound together with Stanley G. Weinbaum's ''
The Dark Other ''The Dark Other'' is a horror novel by Stanley G. Weinbaum. It was first published in 1950 by Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc. in an edition of 700 copies. The manuscript, written in the 1920s, was originally titled ''The Mad Brain''. With ...
'' in the omnibus collection ''Fantasy Twin'' by the same publisher in 1953. The title story was also published in paperback by
Baen Books Baen Books () is an American publishing house for science fiction and fantasy. In science fiction, it emphasizes space opera, hard science fiction, and military science fiction. The company was established in 1983 by science fiction publisher an ...
in 1990 together with
David Drake David A. Drake (September 24, 1945 – December 10, 2023) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy literature. A Vietnam War veteran, he worked as a lawyer before becoming a writer in the military science fiction genre. Biography ...
's story '' The Enchanted Bunny'', under the combined title ''The Undesired Princess & the Enchanted Bunny''. The first stand-alone edition of the title story was published as an
E-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Al ...
by Gollancz's
SF Gateway Victor Gollancz Ltd () was a major British book publishing house of the twentieth century and continues to publish science fiction and fantasy titles as an imprint of Orion Publishing Group. Gollancz was founded in 1927 by Victor Gollancz, an ...
imprint on September 29, 2011 as part of a general release of de Camp's works in electronic form. The product description indicates that the e-edition is based on the Baen publication, and includes the Drake story in addition to the title story; however, the Drake story is not in fact included.


Contents


The Undesired Princess

The title story concerns Rollin Hobart, a man transported to another
plane Plane most often refers to: * Aero- or airplane, a powered, fixed-wing aircraft * Plane (geometry), a flat, 2-dimensional surface * Plane (mathematics), generalizations of a geometrical plane Plane or planes may also refer to: Biology * Plane ...
whose natural laws are those of
Aristotelian logic In logic and formal semantics, term logic, also known as traditional logic, syllogistic logic or Aristotelian logic, is a loose name for an approach to formal logic that began with Aristotle and was developed further in ancient history mostly b ...
; that is, everything is either one thing or another, with nothing in between and no gray areas. Similarly, everything is limited in color and, with the exception of the inhabitants, in shape: leaves are blue or yellow and are flat, regular polygons in shape; the title character has paper-white skin and lips of primary color red. He must learn to use and master the inflexible laws of this universe in order to survive and ultimately return home. In the course of his adventures he picks up a royal local lady-love and rises to become the master of the plane, but elects to abandon both to return to his mundane life. The lady, however, has her own ideas about that...


Mr. Arson

The second story features Carl Grinnig, who accidentally conjures up a Saldine or fire-elemental while taking a correspondence course on
Nigromancy Black magic (Middle English: ''nigromancy''), sometimes dark magic, traditionally refers to the use of magic or supernatural powers for evil and selfish purposes. The links and interaction between black magic and religion are many and var ...
. The Saldine, Mr. Arson, attempts to unleash his fellow Saldines on the human world, only to find the situation complicated by humanity itself. This story is enlivened by the author's own experience with correspondence schools.


Reception

Critical response to the book has been largely favorable. At the time of its publication P. Schuyler Miller commented that "Hobart's adventures ... have the utterly reasonable brand of unreasonableness which most e Campreaders know and relish," and called the second story as "a bonus," concluding " you like humor-in-fantasy, who can afford to miss a new de Camp?"
Anthony Boucher William Anthony Parker White (August 21, 1911 – April 29, 1968), better known by his pen name Anthony Boucher (), was an American author, critic, and editor who wrote several classic mystery novels, short stories, science fiction, and radio dr ...
and J. Francis McComas called it one "of the best novels from 'Unknown,'" and stated it had "that splendid absurd rigorousness which distinguishes such other vintage de Camp items as the
Harold Shea Harold Shea is the protagonist of five science fantasy stories by the collaborative team of L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt, as well as later stories by de Camp alone, Christopher Stasheff, Holly Lisle, John Maddox Roberts, Roland J. ...
series."
Groff Conklin Edward Groff Conklin (September 6, 1904 – July 19, 1968) was an American science fiction anthologist. He edited 40 anthologies of science fiction, one of mystery stories (co-edited with physician Noah Fabricant), wrote books on home improvement ...
, on the other hand, felt the book suffered by comparison to '' Rogue Queen'', another de Camp novel published the same year, which he found much more impressive. He cited the unevenness in quality he perceived between the two books as an example of "why de Camp has puzzled and exasperated his fans." He noted that " erything in the itulartale has haywire quality of being or not being, plus a lot of pleasant de Campish plotcident and nonsense along with it." Summing up his opinion of the two stories in the book, he wrote that " th these fantasies are clever, glib, and wholly unimportant." In more recent assessments,
Everett F. Bleiler Everett Franklin Bleiler (April 30, 1920 – June 13, 2010) was an American editor, bibliographer, and scholar of science fiction, detective fiction, and fantasy literature. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he co-edited the first "year's best" s ...
reported that ''The Undesired Princess'' "is amusing and entertaining, for the first half of the story." Steven Silver, commenting on the Baen edition, wrote that " e plot of ''The Undesired Princess'' is simple, almost simplistic. Even the philosophy, as presented, is rather basic. However, the ideas behind that philosophy, which de Camp explains well enough for the reader to understand what de Camp is trying to do and follow their own conclusions regarding how it should be interpreted, is quite complex." Noting that the story "covers many of the themes which de Camp & Fletcher Pratt explored in the ' Compleat Enchanter' series," and that "these topics are not covered as well or as completely in ''The Undesired Princess''," he concludes that "the book is still enjoyable and a worthwhile read."
Don D'Ammassa Donald Eugene D'Ammassa (born April 24, 1946) is an American fantasy, science fiction and horror critic and author.D'Ammassa, Don. "De Camp, L. Sprague (1907-2000)," in D.Ammassa, Don. ''Encyclopedia of Fantasy and Horror Fiction'', New York: Facts on File, c2006, page 81.


References


Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Undesired Princess, The 1951 short story collections American fantasy novels Novels by L. Sprague de Camp Fantasy short story collections by L. Sprague de Camp Works originally published in Unknown (magazine) Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc. books