The Prisoner of Zenda

140 pages

English language

Published Sept. 10, 1994 by Penguin.

ISBN:
978-0-14-062131-0
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3 stars (5 reviews)

An adventure novel, originally published in 1894, set in the fictitious European Kingdom of Ruritania. An English tourist is persuaded to impersonate the new king after he is abducted before he can be crowned. This act draws upon him the wrath of the Prince who has had the king abducted and his partner in crime the villainous Rupert of Hentzau.

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Review of 'The prisoner of Zenda' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

"The Prisoner of Zenda" by Anthony Hope is a charming, Victorian action-adventure whose exciting, pregnant premise is balanced by a thin plot and even thinner characters. The novel, published in 1894, follows the adventure of Rudolf Rassendyll, a young Englishman on a Continental excursion, who travels to Ruritania, a central European monarchy which is the home of his ancestors. When the King (whom Rudolf bores an uncanny resemblance to) is kidnapped by his villainous half-brother, Rudolf is forced to take his place and enter into a complex and exciting mix of intrigue in order to rescue the king and restore him to the throne before it is too late.

The novel's plot is simple but provides the reader with the possibility a rich world where the imagination is really the limit. But I feel that at about 150 pages, Hope did not explore the world he created nearly to the …

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3 stars