Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower

By: Tamsyn Muir

Narrated by: Moira Quirk

Length: 4 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

When the witch built the 40-flight tower, she made very sure to do the whole thing properly. Each flight contains a dreadful monster, ranging from a diamond-scaled dragon to a pack of slavering goblins. Should a prince battle his way to the top, he will be rewarded with a golden sword - and the lovely Princess Floralinda. 

But no prince has managed to conquer the first flight yet, let alone get to the 40th. 

In fact, the supply of fresh princes seems to have quite dried up.

©2020 Tamsyn Muir (P)2020 Recorded Books

A Joy and a Delight (not for children)

I haven't laughed this hard at a book or anything (for that matter) in a long time. This book is a hilarious take on the princess at the top of the tower. But don't be fooled by the story book wall paper this is not a book for young children. But teens and YA and even Adults can delight in this raucous adventure.

The Snark Shall Flow

I loved this book! I have been unable to get into Muir's 2nd book in the Locked Tomb series Harrow the Ninth. But this book fulfilled my wishes for more books like Gideon The Ninth. And the narrator, Moira Quirk! I can't say enough good things about her.

Get this novella, read this novella, listen to Moira Quirk read this novella! I promise you, you won't be disappointed.

A darkly hilarious fairytale.

This Princess-in-a-Tower story is brought to sheer perfection by Moira Quirk's delicious narration. A lively pace, laugh-out-loud humor, and unsettling moral quandaries are beautifully woven together in a perfectly proportioned performance. In Muir's variation, the artistically minded witch (very much an auteur) booby-traps each flight of the princess' tower-prison with a different type of monster, in an all-too-successful challenge to the very hardiest of heroic fairy tale princes. We find ourselves riveted by every minute of the princess' awful confinement. Compared to the Baroque intricacies of Muir's Locked Tomb novels, this is a compact stealth vehicle: I'll be listening to it again, for the humor and for moral lessons.

Nice!

Generally speaking I don't buy things this short but I liked the authors' other works and this novella did not disappoint. It's well told and compact where it needs to be. Seriously, who needs to hear all fourty battle stories? That would grow old quickly. It's worth the read.

Fun but woke

Trigger warning: author plays with new age gender ideology. Not for children.
Otherwise lots of fun.

The best fairytale retelling ever

As with her Gideon series Tamsyn Muir delivers lots of gore and dark humor paired with an excellent plot. I enjoyed this so much!

Really?

It was certainly interesting. The characters were really interesting and humorous. Parts were really gross. I don't think I would normally have read something like this.

Not Exactly What I Expected

If you like slightly twisted fairytales, you may like this book. I'm too traditional for this one, I guess. It was wonderfully written and I adore Moira Quirk as a narrator, but this was not the sweet tale with a happy ending I'd been hoping for when I purchased it.

I was expecting a story about a princess who finds that she is stronger than she suspected herself to be. To some extent, that's what I got. Floralinda does indeed exceed her previous concept of herself and become strong. But she also lost essential parts of herself in the process.

I didn't like her much in the beginning. I kept listening partly because I wanted to see how the author would make her grow, with a hope that I would like who she became. I sort of resonated with Cobweb in later chapters, as she watched with concern as the princess descended in more ways than one, but I also really disliked Cobweb because she was partly to blame for the descent. There was not a single character I actually liked, no scene I particularly enjoyed, and nothing that makes me think I will listen to this book again.

The whole story left me unsettled and sad. I wanted so badly for Floralinda to hang on to her innocence as she grew strong. Instead she grew hard and then become part of the very system she fought to escape.

I'm sure there are people who will enjoy this book, and as my rating suggests, it is not bad and it is an interesting take on the classic trapped princess in a tower concept. But this book was definitely not for me.

A Feminist Fairy Tale

I couldn't put this away once I started it. This story turns the princess in a tower trope on its head in a delightful, fun way without ever being preachy. In classic Muir style, the characters are quirky and flawed and I loved them all because of that.

Cute quick book

if you want a quick taste of Tamsyn Muir before getting involved in the Locked Tomb trilogy, this is a quick witted taste of the author's writing style. I do also recommend the Locked Tomb as they were two of my favorites this year.
this book definitely paints the damsel in distress books of the past in a whole new light. I really enjoyed it.

Fun story

Narration was annoyingly slow, but sounded much better on 1.20x speed, so wasn't too big an issue. Loved the story.

Weird and Wonderful

First of all your children should listen to this book, but not the younglings. They may be scarred.
Second this book is fantastic and horrible all at the same time.
And lastly the fairy did nothing wrong, she was completely correct at all times.

I loved the book and Moira Quirk is just the best narrator

A great story.

I really enjoyed this. A great story from beginning to end. Great narration. Well worth a listen.

Totally recommend

Great to have a narrator that fits the story so well. Nothing jarred and her voice really enhanced the narrative. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this quirky amusing tale- echoes of Angela Carter.

AMAZING

I am now certain that I could read anything by Tamsyn Muir or listen to anything narrated by Moira Quirk and be happy, but nothing makes me quite as extatic as when the two of them come together, I hope Moira Quirk continues to narrate every single thing Tamsyn Muir writes!

A delight

A wonderful short story from an incredible author. Moira quirk does it justice as she always does! I will be re listening to this!

Absolutely loved it

I went in but not expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised. The humour of the whole story drew me in, and I loved the tone and the way it was written. I recommend if you’re looking for a light-hearted humorous fairy tale, which can be rather gruesome in the way fairy tales can be, this is the story for you.

Spoiler here:
The only thing that let it down was the ending - I do wish the witch had gotten her comeuppance and Floralinda had done away with her.

But I did love everything else, would definitely recommend!

Completely marvellous

An excellent story with great characters. Excellently narrated. Would highly recommend. A great medium length listen, would be fantastic for a holiday car-ride listen.

Better than expected

Well written, very well narrated. Very enjoyable. Quite clever too and unique. I listened whilst weeding!

Funny and interesting

A good twist on a fairytale, entertaining and funny.
Definitely worth read, fits the short format well.