The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom

Wow I now understand the Bronson Pinchot love! All of his voices in this one are so fantastic! He made me see animation and characters in my head each one with a distinct personality, look and facial expressions he totally brought this great book to life for me! Between Christopher’s fun writing and Bronson’s narration this one will be a go to book when I am feeling down! And if you are listening to the audio make sure you listen all the way to the last second!

This is the funniest book it is so much fun! This is humorous fairytale retelling at its best. It reexamines the Prince & Princess mythos. Do you really think the prince’s name was Charming? Who names their kid Charming? Do all the prince’s have names not just The Prince and if you are a Prince must you be a hero? If you are a Princess must you always be the lady in distress can you not save yourself? And how come the bards never write songs about the witches? How come all the stories are about the princesses? These questions and many more are what this book is all about!

I just can’t say enough about how much I enjoyed this book! These princes Liam, Gustav, Fredrick, and Duncan are not quite what you’ve read before and neither are the princesses. I love the giants and the trolls and even the bad witch Zoberah (*sp audio)! These characters are so much fun and I am so excited to hear that there will be a second book. This one made me laugh out loud and smile it is just so much fun!
If you are looking for a great family vacation/roadtrip book I highly recommend this one!

If you haven’t it figured out yet I loved this book so just go get it and you will too!

5 Stars

Wow. We stumbled upon this book by doing the "if you like this, you will like that" search and what a terrific find. Both my son and I enjoyed it immensely. The story is a hilarious exposé about what happened to the princes in some of the fairy tales we THINK we know so well.

Each Prince has very definite and very funny personality traits, which lead to troubles with their princesses. (Sleeping Beauty is not the demure, angelic girl we remember.) The story is engaging and the characters we meet along the way are all memorable.

Bronson Pinchot is an incredible narrator. He does spot on voices for all of the princes. (Duncan is particularly amusing.)

We loved this book and can't wait for the second one to come out!

(review written by 12 year old boy and 48 year old mom)

The reviewer who mentioned Princess Bride was right. I bought this on a whim (and a liking for Bronson Pinchot's reading). I hated it at first - was very close to taking the return option - but I was trying to listen to it on a workday. Gave it another chance on the weekend - it is definitely a weekend or vacation or road trip book - then had trouble putting it down. It is very silly and the plot feels like it is being made up as it goes along, But its all a great romp with a reader who brings the bizarre cast of characters to life. If you like Princess Bride and/or the Jasper Fforde Nursery Crime books,or just want something very light to listen to, give this one a try.

My 9 yr old son wouldn't turn it off! He loved it and is eagerly anticipating the next book with the Princes! "It's really funny and it's really good" is his review.

Bronson Pinchot has a wonderful "bag" of voices - he's a very talented guy.

Go for it!

I thought the story would be more serious with epic battles and serious danger, so at first I was not finding the story engaging. However, when I realized that it was written more like "The Princess Bride" than "Conan the Barbarian," I found my self unexpectedly laughing out loud at some of the dialog. It does drag slightly, but I enjoyed it overall and couldn't wait to turn it back on when I got in the car.

This is a belly full of laughs and no mistake. I swear one of the princes is a Texan! The reader is also a prince of a guy, and elevates a delightful story into a howl.

In the same kind of spirit that infused The Princess Bride, this story of the actual young men behind the generic name Prince Charming is fun, funny, and unexpected. Bronson Pinchot's narration elevates this already wonderful ffractured fairy tale to the same genius level as Mandy Potenkin's Inego Montoya.

The tale not only includes the traditional witches, trolls, dwarves, etc. and action, danger, heroic deeds, etc., but clever humore with twists on all the familiar fairy tale elements. The princesses aren't all helpless maidens or even sweet and generous of spirit. The princes aren't all competent swordsmen or even temperamentally suited to the role of hero. But they all rise to the occasion and entertain heroically to the end.

As fun as the story is, Bronson Pinchot adds greatness with his accents, voices, and delivery. This performance makes it clear why he is a listener favorite.

I often found myself grinning or laughing out loud while listening. It's a story that requires the listner to go along with the premise, but it's so worth the ride.

"The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom" is a funny, light-hearted middle-grade story that delights in twisting the fairy tales it draws on. The characters are interesting and easy to enjoy, and the plot, though slightly meandering, comes together well (though readers should be warned that the last chapter is open-ended enough to allow for sequels).

What might just be a very fun and unapologetically silly children's story, however, has been enhanced by very good narration. Bronson Pinchot has developed distinct and appropriate voices for each character and the narrator, and his characterizations add depth to the characters.

This was a fun listen. I was a little tired of some of the heavier books I was listening to and just wanted something that was fun and funny. This book fit that bill perfectly. I would love this to turn into a series. More PLEASE!

Other reviewers have compared this book & narrator to the Princess Bride. I think it's a brilliant and very apt comparison. But, I think one more needs to be added — the narrator has a definite Monty Python feel.

Between the laugh-a-minute story, the humorously flawed yet oh-so-lovable characters, and the narrator's expert delivery of all the various characters (love the Arnold Schwarzenegger-esque delivery the most), I felt like crying when this book was done and I realized there was not yet a sequel available.

PLEASE CHRISTOPHER & BRONSON - Get to work! We need another and fast!