The Lost Prince

By: Frances Hodgson Burnett

Narrated by: David Thorn

Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

"In every nook and cranny, high and low, they sought for him¿He had vanished as a star vanishes when it drops from its place in the sky."

From the author of such children's classics as The Secret Garden, Little Lord Fauntleroy, and A Little Princess, The Lost Prince is the enchanting story of a young boy discovering his true destiny. Twelve-year-old Marco knows he is being trained for something, but he isn't sure what. All his life he has traveled with his father in secrecy, learning many languages and the ways of a gentleman, but forbidden to speak about their country of origin, Samavia. Samavia has been fraught with war for the last 500 years, ever since the prince mysteriously disappeared. But now, there is hope that peace may come at last, as it has been rumored that a descendant of the lost prince may have been found.

©2006 Alcazar AudioWorks (P)2006 Alcazar AudioWorks

I can see why I’d never heard of this one

Being a fan of The Secret Garden and the Little Princess, and Little Lord Fauntleroy, I was excited to find a title of which I had never heard.
It was interesting, mostly as a picture of a completely foreign worldview. In this world, people are very much divided into classes, and you can tell by their bearing, and even facial features which are born to be leaders. Halfway through it became an evangelistic pamphlet for some kind of transcendentalism maybe? Where there is a great Thought who is the author of all life, and if one is just still, he can mend the chain between the great Thought and one’s own thoughts. I slogged through, mostly because I liked the main characters and was cheering them on to their obvious ending.

The narrator is great, does a nice job differentiating the characters, but it’s too bad they left in the disc announcements. The music was odd too, it came in random spots and didn’t match the tone of the story at all inmho.

The Lost Prince

What a surprise treasure from one of my favorite children authors!

Great read

Marco is a young man traveling the world with his Father and their man servant. They lead an usual life of moving in the night to new places and learning new languages. His father and the man servant spend much of their time training Marco in many skills but Marco is unaware why. When I’m England, he meets a young crippled boy who has the same passion as he does about Samrovia, a country of his heritage. When they are sent on a journey with secret messages, his destiny begins to unravel.

The audible is from older versions of cassette tapes and hasn’t been updated. The story will be interrupted to change the tape. This really needs to be deleted and updated. Also, the narrator has strong pronounced, whistling “S” that should also be addressed.

TRULY A CLASSIC

I’m 77 years old and had heard of the classic The Lost Prince but never read it. Now I understand why it’s a classic and I’m so thankful I lived long enough to read it.

Amazing book

I love this book its so well written a must read. totally recommend it.

Fascinating!

Listened with children agreed 4-11, teens 16&18 power in from time to time. All enjoyed it. Thought the descriptions were beautiful. Healthy relationship between Marco and his dad was loving but firm. Enjoyed seeing the That's character arch as someone who behaved to match the way he was treated. Harder vocabulary made it good to discuss things. Inferences to self control (telling your mind when to wake up, watching your thoughts, reacting angry, etc) were well illustrated. Lots to discuss in this book. Interesting that when this came out around 1910 (before WW1) Europe was already dealing with the idea of Russian spies "living among us in plain sight". We loved this book and the even handedness of the narrator. Highly recommended for all ages, great for homeschoolers.

Good

It is a very good story. But the production needs improving. Get rid of the "Disc number..." stuff.

Excellent read. Keeps you on your toes.

The Lost Prince seems like a natural progression after Little Lord Fauntelory for children, family, or teenage reading. During the first of part of the Lost Prince, you think you have it all figured out but then . . .what's real is not and what's not is real.

The Lost Prince

What an amazing story. I was completely captivated until the last word. David Thorn’s performance was magnificent.

Unlikely Heroes

David Thorn performed this tale as if he had written it; a once upon a time, gritty, long, long ago and definitely not a Shirley Temple version. His voice has a grand log fire, rocking chair, candlelight, weathered quality to it. One can hear the smile in his tones. I changed my mind a few times about this book. I finally settled on liking it, but it is not on par with "The Secret Garden" or "A Little Princess". However, many books I enjoy fall short of the merits of those works. In any case, Frances Hodgson Burnett was no sentimentalist.

The story is set before WWI shook the foundations of many royal houses of Europe in a time of secret societies, assignation plots and counter plots. After showing themselves up to the task, the heroes, two young boys are sent on a mission carrying a secret message which signals the start of a revolt against a bloody tyrant of a small country. A bit surprising considering the period, one of the boys is a cripple, from polio I surmise. I don't recall another such in the role of hero from literature of the time.