Reading Notes : Faerie Queen, Part A

I had such a fun time reading this! The thing that got me hooked was the crossdressing female lead who, with the help of her magic weapon, went around the country knocking all sorts of men on their butts. It was really interesting to me how her motivation was just to find the man she fell in love with thanks to Merlin's magic mirror. It seems a rather foolish endeavor, to leave your title as a princess and a homely castle to find this wandering knight, but also very pure in a way. The main heroine has almost a childlike innocence to her which makes her someone the reader can wholeheartedly root for.

One particular chapter I really liked was when another fair maiden fell in love with Britomart, thinking she was a handsome knight. The whole evening, Britomart has to side step the maiden's advances. Her cover is ultimately blown when the woman descends upon her chambers at night. I was chuckling the whole time at this. It isn't written humorously, but the whole situation was so amusing. The veins of humor are situational, but made it one of my favorite chapters to read for part A. This kind of prose is extremely effective for storytelling. Despite reading it on my laptop, I truly felt like I had my nose buried in a book, eagerly anticipating what Britomart would do next. I would have like a bit more in the real of establishing the setting and characters. Background information is given and then it feels as if the reader is just thrown into the thick of things. Because this type of medieval and fantasy world can become so magical, I wanted a little more in the beginning to help with immersion. This is also just be being a huge fantasy freak and coming off a Game of Thrones high from this past weekend. Anyone else relate?

Britomart painting

Stories from the Faerie Queen. Edmund Spenser (1590), adapted by Mary Macleod (1916). Web Source.

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