The Undesired Princess
Encyclopedia
The Undesired Princess is a 51,000 word fantasy
novella written by L. Sprague de Camp
. It was first published in the fantasy magazine Unknown Worlds
for February, 1942. It was published in book form by Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc.
in 1951. The book version also includes the 10,000 word fantasy short story "Mr. Arson", first published in Unknown for December, 1941. The title story was also published in paperback by Baen Books
in 1990 together with David Drake
'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
by Gollancz
's SF Gateway 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.
whose natural laws are those of Aristotelian logic
; 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...
or fire-elemental while taking a correspondence course on Nigromancy. 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.
commented that "Hobart's adventures ... have the utterly reasonable brand of unreasonableness which most [de Camp] readers know and relish," and called the second story as "a bonus," concluding "[i]f you like humor-in-fantasy, who can afford to miss a new de Camp?" Anthony Boucher
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 series." Groff Conklin
, 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 "[e]verything in the [titular] tale has [a] 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 "[b]oth these fantasies are clever, glib, and wholly unimportant."
In more recent assessments, Everett F. Bleiler
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 "[t]he 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."
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
novella written by L. Sprague de Camp
L. Sprague de Camp
Lyon Sprague de Camp was an American author of science fiction and fantasy books, non-fiction and biography. In a writing career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and notable works of non-fiction, including biographies of other important fantasy authors...
. It was first published in the fantasy magazine Unknown Worlds
Unknown (magazine)
Unknown was an American pulp fantasy fiction magazine, published from 1939 to 1943 by Street & Smith, and edited by John W. Campbell. Unknown was a companion to Street & Smith's science fiction pulp, Astounding Science Fiction, which was also edited by Campbell at the time; many authors and...
for February, 1942. It was published in book form by Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc.
Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc.
Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc., or FPCI, was a science fiction and fantasy small press specialty publishing company established in 1946. It was the fourth small press company founded by William L...
in 1951. The book version also includes the 10,000 word fantasy short story "Mr. Arson", first published in Unknown for December, 1941. The title story was also published in paperback by Baen Books
Baen Books
Baen Books is an American publishing company established in 1983 by long time science fiction publisher and editor Jim Baen. It is a science fiction and fantasy publishing house that emphasizes space opera, hard science fiction, military science fiction, and fantasy...
in 1990 together with David Drake
David Drake
David Drake is an American author of science fiction and fantasy literature. A Vietnam War veteran who has worked as a lawyer, he is now one of the premier authors of the military science fiction subgenre.-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
E-book
An electronic book is a book-length publication in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, and produced on, published through, and readable on computers or other electronic devices. Sometimes the equivalent of a conventional printed book, e-books can also be born digital...
by Gollancz
Victor Gollancz Ltd
Victor Gollancz Ltd was a major British book publishing house of the twentieth century. It was founded in 1927 by Victor Gollancz and specialised in the publication of high quality literature, nonfiction and popular fiction, including science fiction. Upon Gollancz's death in 1967, ownership...
's SF Gateway 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.
The Undesired Princess
The title story concerns Rollin Hobart, a man transported to another planeParallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
whose natural laws are those of Aristotelian logic
Term logic
In philosophy, term logic, also known as traditional logic or aristotelian logic, is a loose name for the way of doing logic that began with Aristotle and that was dominant until the advent of modern predicate logic in the late nineteenth century...
; 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 SaldineSalamander (legendary creature)
The salamander is an amphibian of the order Urodela. As with many real creatures, pre-modern authors often ascribed fantastic qualities to it , and in recent times some have come to identify a legendary salamander as a distinct concept from the real organism. This idea is most highly developed in...
or fire-elemental while taking a correspondence course on Nigromancy. 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 MillerP. Schuyler Miller
Peter Schuyler Miller was an American science fiction writer and critic.-Life:Miller was raised in New York's Mohawk Valley, which led to a life-long interest in the Iroquois Indians. He pursued this as an amateur archaeologist and a member of the New York State Archaeological Association.He...
commented that "Hobart's adventures ... have the utterly reasonable brand of unreasonableness which most [de Camp] readers know and relish," and called the second story as "a bonus," concluding "[i]f you like humor-in-fantasy, who can afford to miss a new de Camp?" Anthony Boucher
Anthony Boucher
Anthony Boucher was an American science fiction editor and author of mystery novels and short stories. He was particularly influential as an editor. Between 1942 and 1947 he acted as reviewer of mostly mystery fiction for the San Francisco Chronicle...
and J. Francis McComas
J. Francis McComas
Jesse Francis McComas was an American science fiction editor. McComas wrote several stories on his own in the 1950s using both his own name and the pseudonym Webb Marlowe....
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 series." Groff Conklin
Groff Conklin
Edward Groff Conklin was a leading science fiction anthologist. He edited 40 anthologies of science fiction, one of mystery stories , wrote books on home improvement and was a freelance writer on scientific subjects as well as a published poet...
, on the other hand, felt the book suffered by comparison to Rogue Queen
Rogue Queen
Rogue Queen is a science fiction novel written by L. Sprague de Camp, the third book in his Viagens Interplanetarias series. It was first published in hardcover by Doubleday in 1951, and in paperback by Dell Books in 1952...
, 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 "[e]verything in the [titular] tale has [a] 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 "[b]oth these fantasies are clever, glib, and wholly unimportant."
In more recent assessments, Everett F. Bleiler
Everett F. Bleiler
Everett Franklin Bleiler was an 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" series of science fiction anthologies, and his Checklist of Fantastic Literature has been called...
reported that The Undesired Princess "is amusing and entertaining, for the first half of the story." Steven Silver
Steven H Silver
Steven H Silver is an American science fiction fan and bibliographer, publisher, and editor. He has been nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer ten times and Best Fanzine three times without winning....
, commenting on the Baen edition, wrote that "[t]he 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
The Compleat Enchanter
The Compleat Enchanter: The Magical Misadventures of Harold Shea is an omnibus collection of three classic fantasy stories by science fiction and fantasy authors L...
' 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."
External links
- "The Undesired Princess" - a book review by Steven H. Silver