Product Description

Days after she witnesses a mysterious explosion in 19th-century London,

16-year-old Becky Winter is on her way to a small country In Central Europe, as

a companion to Adelaide, a Cockney commoner who'd rather play board games than

be a princess. But after an assassination makes Adelaide ruler of Razkavia, she

rises to the occasion and her new station, gleefully playing international

politics with the help of Becky and Jim Taylor, a dashing young detective.

"Fans of Pullman's writing should find much to enjoy here."--Booklist.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #543446 in Books
• Published on: 1996-03-19
• Released on: 1996-03-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 304 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In a starred review, PW characterized this "action-packed romp" as "a breathtaking blend of Saturday matinee cliffhanger and Viennese light opera." It features characters from Pullman's popular Sally Lockhart trilogy, The Ruby in the Smoke, Shadow in the North and The Tiger in the Well, all of which are being simultaneously reissued in paperback. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 8 Up-A complex tale of romance, intrigue, and adventure. Adelaide, Mrs. Holland's maid, vanished towards the end of The Ruby in the Smoke (Knopf, 1987). Now, 10 years later, in 1882, detective Jim Taylor tracks her down. Beautiful, tough, and illiterate, 22-year-old Adelaide has secretly married Prince Rudolf of Razkavia. When his brother is shot, the couple travels to that tiny European country. Jim accompanies them, as does Becky Winter, 16, Adelaide's tutor and interpreter. In rapid succession the old king dies, Rudolf is crowned and assassinated, and Adelaide becomes queen. Surprisingly, she's remarkably good at the job. She's not without enemies, though, and Becky and Jim have their hands full as they try to stay one step ahead of the schemers. Pullman writes fluently and descriptively, and his wealth of detail brings the period alive. The unexpected twists and turns will grip readers and make it difficult to set the novel down. At times, the large cast and numerous subplots needlessly complicate matters, and the introductory list of names and family tree are more a distraction than a help. Pullman's habit of shifting perspective (from Becky to Jim to assorted others) can also be annoying. Still, this book stands above most YA novels of its type due to its richness, its fascinating characters, and its story that, while sometimes far-fetched, is firmly rooted in reality.
Ann W. Moore, Schenectady County Public Library, NY
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 9-12. Employing some of the same characters introduced in the Ruby in the Smoke trilogy, Pullman offers a swashbuckling adventure story set in the tiny kingdom of Razkavia, nestled between the hungry jaws of Germany and Austria, and filled with deception, political intrigue, and romance. The coheroines are Cockney Adelaide, former prostitute and now unlikely queen of the country, and her companion and translator, Becky Winter. Then there's Jim Taylor, consulting detective, who has long loved Adelaide but is loyal to her husband, the king. Pullman's passion for details gets in the way of his story; there are too many names and places and plot twists for readers to keep track of properly. But when he zeros in on his main characters, the story takes off, and it's their complex relationships that hold attention. Fans of Pullman's writing may have to stretch a bit in trading Victorian ambience for Germanic saber rattling, but they should find much to enjoy here. Ilene Cooper

Customer Reviews

A solid, but not exceptional, Lockhart Crew adventure
At the end of "Tiger in the Well," one could tell that Phillip Pullman was becoming less interested in Sally Lockhart and more interested in her crew. With "The Tin Princess," Mrs. Goldberg disappears almost altogether, and Jim takes the stage along with the long lost Adelaide and newcomer Becky.

Set in a minor European kingdom, the action of this story takes place both in the palace and the bar. Jim travels in the seedy underbelly, while Queen Adelaide takes on the court. Intrigue, plots, romance and history are all present in droves, as one has come to expect from Pullmans Lockhart books.

A few of the plot points seem more convenient than natural. Jim's sudden overwhelming love for Adelaide does not suit the Jim that I am familiar with. It does, however, work for the story once it has been accepted. It is nice to reunite with Adelaide, although I always enjoyed her disappearance at the end of "Ruby in the Smoke." I saw it as Mr. Pullman's way of saying that not everything turns out well, and not all mysteries are solved. But her she is.

"The Tin Princess" is not the strongest book to come out of Phillip Pullman, but the nostalgia for the characters and his enjoyable writing is enough to make it a good book, and one worth reading.

"There's Three Men I Might Have Loved..."
"The Tin Princess" is the forth book in the Sally Lockhart series - though it doesn't actually star Sally herself. Perhaps a better description of this book would be to call it a spin-off, as it is has several characters from the previous Sally books as its protagonists, and solves a mystery that has been brewing since book one. In the first book "The Ruby in the Smoke," a young street waif named Adelaide Bevan disappeared into the streets of London, and only now has she been found. Readers who may be unwilling to continue with this series due to the absence of Sally are instead rather forced to - it's the only way to find out what happened to that young girl.

Jim Taylor, the amateur detective (among other things) has finally managed to track her down, following the trail of young Rebecca Winter who has been employed in the service of a nobleman to teach a young woman in his household how to read and write. The two collide almost immediately, and soon it becomes apparent that the young woman in question is none other than Adelaide herself. But her situation has greatly changed - she is married to Prince Rudolf of Razkavia, making her a princess of that small country squished between Austria and Germany. Rebecca is appalled at the unlikelihood of the match, especially since she herself is a native of Razkavia.

And now things are about to heat up. With the assassination of Rudolf's older brother, Adelaide and her husband now find themselves heir to the thrones of Razkavia - but whoever was behind the conspiracy to topple the royal family is not going to stop till they control the country. Now with Becky as her translator and Jim as her bodyguard, Adelaide is travelling with her husband to the country she now rules - a country watched over by the Red Eagle flag. Legend says that so long as the Eagle flies over the Rock of Eschtenburg, Razkavia will always be free. Now in a strange land, with strange customs, and a plot against them, Adelaide, Jim and Becky must juggle politics, public relations, personal safety, betrayal within the court, assassination attempts and a mysterious missing member of the royal family. Needless to say (of any of Philip Pullman's books), it's a very exciting ride.

Pullman beautifully creates an entire country with vivid realness - its customs, economy, language, history, all of it comes across with perfect realism, but also a sense of intrigue that he can invoke so well: "The streets are so crooked and narrow that they have no names...the Devil went there once, and couldn't find his way out. Which means of course, that he's still there." Likewise, the characters are vivid and immensely likeable, and his themes of power and corruption (which appear in all of his books in one way or another) are in place. Of our main characters, only Becky is initially unfamiliar to readers of the Lockhart books, but she soon becomes an interesting figure, who wields her own type of power in being Adelaide's translator (often stating her straightforward opinions to Princess Adelaide in the course of conversations, or rewording Adelaide's informal slang to the listener).

But it's Jim and Adelaide that really take centre stage in the course of this story - passionate, strong, out of their league, star-crossed and determined, I have to say that I think they are Pullman's best romantic couple (disagree with me if you must, but that includes Sally/Fred and even Lyra/Will). Adelaide definitely foreshadows Lyra for the "His Dark Materials" trilogy - willful, spoilt, cunning and yet with a strange sense of innocence about her. Glancing at some of the other reviews, it's unfortunate to see she's rather unpopular - I thought she was a wonderful character, and every inch a queen.

Of those that are disappointed at the lack of Sally, there's no reason to completely despair. She is present at both the beginning and end of the story (as is Goldberg, her husband - sadly, no Harriet or Trembler) and is mentioned throughout by several characters. And in her own way, she plays a very big part in the course of the story - just watch how useful the knitted jersey she makes for Jim turns out!

Although this is not my favourite book in the series (that would be "The Tiger in the Well") it is the most re-readable, the most intriguing and the most poetic - the final passage in particular is beautifully written. I won't give it away, but I often find myself picking up the book just to read it again, and the images that Pullman invokes, especially in the escape from the old palace through the snow, are just beautiful. There is a certain amount of cynicism, but the barest touches of hope in the conclusion of the story. But whether you like it or not (because it *is* rather different from the first three books, and not just in the shift in characters) it is a necessary part of the series, to complete Adelaide and Jim's story.

OK only....
I didn't like this book as much as I did all the Sally Lockhart books. The plot was pretty interesting. I loved Jim and I wished there were more of his points of view. I wish there was also more Sally in the book. I also would have loved to see a scene with both Sally and Dan together to see how they're getting along. One of the things I loved best about the Sally series was the wonderful relationship between her and Jim. The scene that moved me the most was when Sally showed up near the end of the book to see Jim. I really liked Becky as well. She was such a spirited and interesting character. If only her character was expanded a little more. The one character I could not like was Adelaide. I understand that she had a tough childhood and everything, but I just couldn't get used to the fact that she was queen and all that. I didn't like her attitude or her personality. I found it unbelievable that Jim would be in love with her forever, because the last time he was in real contact with her was when she was about 9 and he was about 13 or 14. Who falls in love that young and only knowing each other for a few days? But I liked the whole Razkavia thing and I loved the parts with Sally in it. So if you want to continue on with some beloved characters it's worth reading.