But in Princess Academy, her growth is only part of the story, her community of Mount Eskel also grows.

And Miri herself, yeah she grows as a character and learns something about the kings, the history, the politics of Danland. It works at first just because the story requires Miri to spend time with Timon while Peder's off doing his own thing, but the resolution between Miri and Timon I felt really weak. But Peder, somehow, like the girls, he's in the story without really being in the story, I just didn't feel the connection between him and Miri as I did before, even if he steps in at the right times for her.Īs for new character Timon, yeah, I know Hale has a tough balancing job, he can't be way better than Peder, but he can't be much worse either. Britta's the only returning character who gets much to do, and at least she shows the trust and respect she earns from Miri in the first book isn't misplaced. I miss Katar as the dissatisfied girl with the chip on her shoulder, I miss Frid and her strength despite the amputated arm, I miss vain Liana, gentle Esa, little Gerti. Princess Academy had little parts that made each of the girls feel individual, interesting, and unique, there isn’t anything here like that and I really miss it. Every one of the girls who made such a huge impression in the first book, Katar, Gerti, Esa, Frid, Liana, and Bena, they all felt like they're here in name only.

And that's one of my problems, Miri isn't Cosette, the way she goes around the city and things she does here just felt completely alien to her character from the first book, like she's swept up and deposited in a story that's not her own.Īnd for a sequel, I'm disappointed by all the returning characters except Britta. I have the feeling Hale took a lot of inspiration from Les Miserables for this sequel, from the discontented masses of urban poor on the streets of Asland to the whispers of plans to overthrow the king in salons around the city, it all makes Palace of Stone a very different book from Princess Academy, a far more mature book. Some of them are good, like Miri finding Asland not to be the shining city by the sea she's always dreamed of from poor, isolated Mount Eskel, but some not so much, like the massive amount of politics that's thrown into the story. A good book but without what made the original great.Īccording to Shannon Hale, the keyword here is revolution so I expected a lot of changes in the wind.

Part of the charm of the original Princess Academy is the innocence of the characters, these simple mountain girls being exposed to the extravagance of royalty and court life for the first time yet finding inner strength in their own simplicity, and while Miri does grow as a character here, it's just not the same. Miri and Princess Academy grow up in this sequel, and I'm not sure I really like it.

Palace of stone shannon hale