cover image Dragon*Princess

Dragon*Princess

S. Andrew Swann. DAW, $7.99 mass market (336p) ISBN 978-0-7564-0957-9

Frank Blackthorne returns bereft from a contract theft, having rescued a sacrificial virgin instead of the scroll he was supposed to take. Broke and stinking drunk, he takes a job offered by the shady sorcerer Elhared to rescue the Princess Lucille from a “small” dragon. Frank is too desperate—or soused—to consider that it’s probably a trap, but when a spell goes awry, he winds up in the princess’s body, and Lucille in the dragon’s. Their search for Elhared will lead them to a hidden wizard city, cunning elves, unhappy former clients, and an evil god. The start of Swann’s novel feels familiar enough to border on trite, but it soon veers off into a dark madcap quest filled with educational (and often bloody) identity crises. The tragicomedy is never deep, but it’s plenty of fun. [em](May) [/em]