The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle

This is not as good as [b:The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom|12969560|The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom (The League of Princes, #1)|Christopher Healy|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1334867348s/12969560.jpg|18127772], let me get that out of the way. But it's hard to stay fresh with this time of humor. Still it wasn't stale, it was still a fun – sometimes very fun – adventure and a good story for the young – or those that can act young while reading a good book.

After their last adventure, the heroes find out that even in Fairy Tale Kingdoms, you only get 15 minutes of fame. No longer hailed as greats, their loser status has been restored and their lives are pretty much what they were before they banded together. So they all jump at the chance for further excitement, even if it comes in less-than-favorable ways. This time, the band is off to steal

We get all the characters from the first book back (at least the ones that anyone would notice), plus a few new faces – most of which I want to see again. In particuar, the character of Smimf the messenger was a great addition to the cast – he's the proper mix of ridiculous and impossible. I could've used a little more of him – but not too much, I think he's one of those characters that would grow old pretty quick.

I really enjoy Healy's way of looking at the world and describing things, I know I posted some quotations last time, so I'll limit myself to just one taste from this book where he explains the origin of the very nasty Warlord of Dar:

Some peole say Rundark was born out of a mad alchemist's attempt to distill the essence of pure evil. Others claim he emerged fully grown form an erupting volcano. Although it's also possible that he was the son of a used-cart salesman from Nebbish Village – they didn't keep very good records in Dar.

[b:The Princess Bride|21787|The Princess Bride |William Goldman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327903636s/21787.jpg|992628]