Warrior Princess by SpindleTop was just posted this past week, and I think it's a story that deserves your attention.
It's a story set during the period of the seven warring states of England at the end of the 9th century AD, when the Vikings terrorized the coasts and threatened to take over the scattered petty kingdoms even as they fought amongst themselves.
Frankly, it's very rare for me to come across such a well written piece of fiction on LitE. Usually the calibre of writing here is not enough to stand on its own unless it is there to amplify sexual/romantic tension, as to make the ensuing love scenes hotter.
When I do find the a story that's good enough to read on its own merits, I toss any expectations of sex to the wayside. If there's good love scenes, then all the better, and there certainly is a sizzler in this one.
Spoilers follow below, so go ahead and read the damn thing already and give it a rating
***SPOILERS AHEAD***
From a critical perspective, I find very little to fault with this story, and much to praise.
There is romantic tension established at the very beginning with the Heroines attraction to the male lead. I find that it's important to establish this in any story on Lit(and also in general if you're writing a Romance), to keep the readers interest especially if you have a lot of plot to go through.
The villains are also introduced right away, as well as the obstacles that lie in the way of our heroine. It all conforms well to Brandon Sanderson's rule about good writing being about promises and payoffs.
There's a lot of political intrigue involved, and though I'm not knowledgable about the history, it's clear the author SpindleTop has done his fair share of research and the sense of geography is conveyed convincingly.
I like that the story focuses mainly on our heroine and hero, without getting bogged down with any other characters. Too many long-form stories get in the readers way with throw-away characters that I personally often find myself skipping through.
Alfred, our hero and romantic interest, has many likeable qualities. From his acknowledgment of the heroines martial abilities to his cunning use of his wits to both goad the villain to defeat and solve a hostage situation at the same time.
I especially liked the part where he missed the target in an archery contest with the heroine intentionally. This is first gratifying to the heroine, then she may have resented being coddled, but then may have realized that this was done in consideration of her feelings, and so furthered romantic tension.
The "twist" concerning Alfred's true identity was admittedly obvious right from the get-go when he was mentioned. It's also kind of obvious to anyone who knows the history given that King Alfred the Great is the stuff of legends.
The only real flaw I have personally is when the heroine realizes Cedric's disguise. She goes through a very quick sharp U-turn in her attitude towards Cedric, only to quickly turn right back again. It can be a bit confusing to the reader, and I thought we would have been better served with some more paragraphs to show us how her thinking of him changed. Why exactly did she think that Cedric was on "her side"?
Overall, I'm off to read the rest of this guys writings. I think I learned more than a few tricks myself from reading this story. Please give SpindleTop credit where it is due
It's a story set during the period of the seven warring states of England at the end of the 9th century AD, when the Vikings terrorized the coasts and threatened to take over the scattered petty kingdoms even as they fought amongst themselves.
Frankly, it's very rare for me to come across such a well written piece of fiction on LitE. Usually the calibre of writing here is not enough to stand on its own unless it is there to amplify sexual/romantic tension, as to make the ensuing love scenes hotter.
When I do find the a story that's good enough to read on its own merits, I toss any expectations of sex to the wayside. If there's good love scenes, then all the better, and there certainly is a sizzler in this one.
Spoilers follow below, so go ahead and read the damn thing already and give it a rating
***SPOILERS AHEAD***
From a critical perspective, I find very little to fault with this story, and much to praise.
There is romantic tension established at the very beginning with the Heroines attraction to the male lead. I find that it's important to establish this in any story on Lit(and also in general if you're writing a Romance), to keep the readers interest especially if you have a lot of plot to go through.
The villains are also introduced right away, as well as the obstacles that lie in the way of our heroine. It all conforms well to Brandon Sanderson's rule about good writing being about promises and payoffs.
There's a lot of political intrigue involved, and though I'm not knowledgable about the history, it's clear the author SpindleTop has done his fair share of research and the sense of geography is conveyed convincingly.
I like that the story focuses mainly on our heroine and hero, without getting bogged down with any other characters. Too many long-form stories get in the readers way with throw-away characters that I personally often find myself skipping through.
Alfred, our hero and romantic interest, has many likeable qualities. From his acknowledgment of the heroines martial abilities to his cunning use of his wits to both goad the villain to defeat and solve a hostage situation at the same time.
I especially liked the part where he missed the target in an archery contest with the heroine intentionally. This is first gratifying to the heroine, then she may have resented being coddled, but then may have realized that this was done in consideration of her feelings, and so furthered romantic tension.
The "twist" concerning Alfred's true identity was admittedly obvious right from the get-go when he was mentioned. It's also kind of obvious to anyone who knows the history given that King Alfred the Great is the stuff of legends.
The only real flaw I have personally is when the heroine realizes Cedric's disguise. She goes through a very quick sharp U-turn in her attitude towards Cedric, only to quickly turn right back again. It can be a bit confusing to the reader, and I thought we would have been better served with some more paragraphs to show us how her thinking of him changed. Why exactly did she think that Cedric was on "her side"?
Overall, I'm off to read the rest of this guys writings. I think I learned more than a few tricks myself from reading this story. Please give SpindleTop credit where it is due
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