As long as you are in the castle, you will be known as Prince Inge, champion of the people, slayer of monsters, adopted son of the honorable King Halvard, and betrothed of the lovely Princess Signe.

Such an enjoyable read! There was a distinct old-school vibe here to me; I can't quite place a finger on it, but the novels strongly reminded me of all those fantasy books I kept borrowing from the library in my teens and devouring by the dozen without bothering to commit the author names and titles to long-term memory. Just this overall strong sense of adventure and surprises and high stakes that will turn out all right at the end.

I really enjoyed how the plot was crafted here. The first half of the book is packed with surprises and reveals: every time I thought I had a sense of what was going on with Inge's predicament as the King's adopted "son," a new fact about her background came to light, like a puzzle piece seamlessly falling into a gap I wasn't aware was there. And then the second half was all about untangling those threads and tying them into a reasonably neat knot at the end.

I guess I would have appreciated a little bit more depth to the characters and the romance arc, but overall, I enjoyed what I got. Inge was a likable and relatable protagonist, and each of her siblings was memorable enough on their own, despite there being a lot of them and the lot only showing up now and then. I was intrigued by the King's apparent madness and the agenda hidden behind it, and I sympathized with the prince. And my favorite character here is definitely Raske: exactly the kind of good guy with hidden depths I tend to like.

The worldbuilding was rather sparse now that I look back at it, but it also contained enough exciting things like magic and monsters to keep me entertained without detracting from the interpersonal relationships and palace politics at the heart of the tale. There were just enough fantasy elements to support the story being told, and I honestly can't call this a bad thing.

Overall, this was a nice, warm-hearted read that prevented me from tittering over the edge of a reading slump that has been threatening to consume me lately. :)