The Warrior Maiden

By: Melanie Dickerson

Narrated by: Jude Mason

Length: 8 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

A reimagining of the classic Mulan tale in medieval Europe, where both love and war challenge even the strongest of hearts.

When Mulan takes her father’s place in battle against the besieging Teutonic Knights, she realizes she has been preparing for this journey her whole life - and that her life, and her mother’s, depends on her success. As the adopted daughter of poor parents, Mulan has little power in the world. If she can’t prove herself on the battlefield, she could face death - or, perhaps worse, marriage to the village butcher.

Disguised as a young man, Mulan meets the German duke’s son, Wolfgang, who is determined to save his people even if it means fighting against his own brother. Wolfgang is exasperated by the new soldier who seems to be one step away from disaster at all times - or showing him up in embarrassing ways.

From rivals to reluctant friends, Mulan and Wolfgang begin to share secrets. But war is an uncertain time and dreams can die as quickly as they are born. When Mulan receives word of danger back home, she must make the ultimate choice. Can she be the son her bitter father never had? Or will she become the strong young woman she was created to be?

This is a novel in the Hagenheim series by New York Times best-selling author Melanie Dickerson, but it can be listened to as a stand-alone.

©2019 Melanie Dickerson (P)2019 Thomas Nelson

Meh

WHAT IT'S ABOUT
Mulan isn’t afraid to pretend to be a son and assume her father’s soldier duties in war. But what happens when the handsome son of a duke discovers her secret? When Wolfgang discovers his former rival and reluctant friend Mikolai is actually a girl, he is determined to protect her. But battle is a dangerous place where anything can happen — and usually does.

When Mulan receives word that her mother has been accused of practicing witchcraft through her healing herbs and skills, Mulan’s only thought is of defending her. Will she be able to trust Wolfgang to help? Or will sacrificing her own life be the only way to save her mother?

MY TAKE
It was all right. This was my first Dickerson book, and I confess to being a little underwhelmed. I found the shifting of Mulan from China to 1400s Lithuania to be an interesting take on things. I liked Mulan and Wolfgang (hated the nickname Wolfie lol).

There were elements of the story that worked well. The way Wolfgang and Mulan are thrown together and then become first friends and then fall in love were fine. I'd probably have given it 4 stars if not for some inconsistencies.














<spoiler>The first was Stefan, Wolfgang's brother. Like the bad guy, Stefan was portrayed very harshly in the beginning, angry and bitter. In the end, even though Stefan was a POV character, his transition happened too quickly.

The knights they're fighting against are shown to be ruthless and heartless. If they take prisoners they torture them. In the beginning of the book, a young man is brought home after in terrible condition and missing an eye, all from torture. The knights are ravaging the countryside, stealing and pillaging and burning. Yet when Mulan goes to the bad guy's castle where the knight monks are housed, Stefan comments that they're really mostly good men. O_o

And the ending is rather lame. The bad guy (can't remember his name) is portrayed all through the book as this horrible vicious (and supposedly righteous man) who snuck into the castle of the duke Mulan's fighting for and tried to kill him when he was a prayers. Then the bad guy sends his men all the way to Lithuania to kidnap Mulan's mother so he can try her as a witch and draw Mulan to his castle. When the trial by battle doesn't go his way, he's like. Oh, well I must have been uninformed. You're free to go. Just don't wear men's clothes in my castle. Again O_o</spoiler>

Awesome storyline!

The author Melanie Dickinson delivered once again!! The storyline was amazing and true to the Mulan story. The strength and weaknesses of the characters were so real and believable. I truly enjoyed the story and can’t wait for the next installment in the series.

A veritable of stolen and twisted legends

I'm quite frankly annoyed with this author. The main character is a legend from another culture that's been stolen, re-written and then bastardized.

This book is almost literally taking the legend of Mulan (not the Disney tale) and placing her in middle ages Europe. It then foists upon her being an illegitimate child, transplanted by force and ousted as she grows older.

Disney did a better job of stealing the story of Mulan.

Nice & simple read

Great book for easy bedtime or early morning listening .

Lovely addition to the series ! Bravo

Excellent Fairytale Remake

I’ve been devouring this series. Each book has been well-written with delightful characters. This is no exception to that. It’s a remake of Mulan. I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it as much, but I did. There’s plenty of action and of course a love interest who is a son of the Duke and Duchess of Hagenheim.

Enjoyable twist

I enjoyed this story, with all of its interesting twists and developments. Melanie did a good job as always. Thank you! I consider it worth the time and money.

Delightful book

This book was thoroughly entertaining, a creative retelling of the story of Mulan. The narrator did a great job of changing her voice for each character. I highly recommend this to anyone, whether or not they are familiar with Mulan’s tale.

not as good as he others but still worth listening

not as good as he others but still worth listening to it. I had high hopes for it as I love Mulan, but it just seemed to drag on.

Modern take on the story of Mulan

While I liked the story line and the plots, it was good for the first 20 chapters or so, then I kept waiting for it to end. Some of what happened was just plain unlikely to happen, even in fiction. Mulan is a strong female character who doesn’t feel as if she has to be a man in order to serve her country. That and the character of Wolfgang carried the whole book.

loved it!

unique twist on the story of Mulan... wonderful. I do love a beautiful sorry filled with adventure and excitement all wrapped up in a lovely romance. This was a very enjoyable piece.

Powerful and Beautiful 💕

I loved it! Not a damsel in destress, a strong female lead, but still feminine and kind. I liked how the declarations and proposals were a bit awkward and that they saved each other.