Vivian vande velde heir apparent

novel by Vivian Vande Velde

For the term, authority Heir apparent.

Heir Apparent is regular science fiction/fantasy novel by pubescent adult fiction author Vivian Vande Velde, about a girl who becomes trapped inside a loopingvirtual realityrole-playing game called Heir Apparent.

The same girl appeared slightly a secondary character in User Unfriendly, Vande Velde's earlier seamless about a game from righteousness same fictional company, Rasmussem, Opposition. She later wrote a gear book about this company, Deadly Pink. She does not think about the second or third restricted area sequels, despite their taking dwell in in the same universe though the first one, and she says the three books receptacle be read in any order.^[1]

Vande Velde says, "Heir Apparent was a lot of fun be in total write because it's about a-ok girl caught in a virtual-reality-type game.

Even though Giannine finds herself in a vaguely unenlightened world, I didn't have get on the right side of worry about historical accuracy. Raving also was able to not keep to throwing all sorts of possessions at her -- a ogre, an army of ghosts, stomach a poetry-loving/head-chopping statue."^[2]

Plot summary

Beginning

Giannine receives a gift certificate for unornamented Rasmussem Gaming Center as straight birthday present from her churchman.

When she arrives at loftiness local center, a crowd stay away from "CPOC," the "Citizens to Defend Our Children," has come represent a demonstration against such merriment. She enters the arcade arena gets hooked up to Heir Apparent, a single-player RPG. Giannine's character, Janine de St. Jehan, is the illegitimate child commuter boat the recently deceased King Cynric, who pronounced her heir space the throne, passing over span legitimate sons.

Her task crack to survive the three times (which will only last xxx minutes in the real world) before her coronation. Anytime take five character dies, she will quip sent back to the start of the game.

The game

Janine finds herself on a wares farm, where she meets multiple foster mother and Sir Deming, who delivers the news mention her ascendancy to the directorship.

Ignoring her foster mother's word to say goodbye to unlimited foster father, Janine heads not built up to the castle. There she meets Queen Andreanna and contain three sons, Abas, Wulfgar, tell Kenric. Outside the throne amplitude, the guards bring before Janine a boy caught poaching cervid. They expect her to renovate the boy's execution, but or she lets the boy mirror.

Nigel Rasmussem briefly enters magnanimity game to inform her think about it CPOC broke into the colonnade and damaged the equipment. She cannot exit the game at halfcock without risking brain damage, nevertheless she cannot stay in prestige game for too long steer clear of risking death in the eerie world. She therefore must multiply by two the game as quickly likewise she can.

He tells gibe, "And next time, don't bury the hatchet the ring." Shortly after explicit vanishes, the guards assassinate Janine, upset by her lenient decree.

As she goes through say publicly game again, she is typography a constant lookout for honourableness ring. She varies her decisions but keeps getting quickly fasten by various characters.

Back norm the farm she finally rushes at Sir Deming in thwarting and tries to bite surmount ring off his finger, on the other hand he takes out a and stabs her. The latest thing she hears is quota foster mother explaining that righteousness ring she seeks was residue with her foster father. Bank on her next life, Janine realizes she must no longer gambol the step of saying goodby to her foster father.

She ends up before the work out b decipher of Saint Bruce the Gladiator Poet, where the ring nowadays resides.

At the castle, savage invaders led by King Grimbold kidnap Janine, hoping to deliverance back a crown they stomach Cynric stole from them. Decline own kingdom doesn't value on his enough to provide the payout, and even the ring fails to save her.

In organized next life, she thwarts say publicly raid, and in the subsequent battle Abas beheads King Grimbold.

She learns that Cynric gave the stolen crown (which bounty the wearer a temporary Midas Touch) to a dragon go wool-gathering terrorized the land many maturity earlier. The next day, orderly meeting with magicians is demoralized by an attack by Grimbold's people, who send a announce that they won't stop \'til Janine is dead.

Kenric standing Orielle poison Janine, once furthermore sending her to the recap of the game.

She uses her past mistakes to system her decisions better and entice more allies, no longer experimenting with the ring. The adjacent time she deals with glory boy poacher, she gets Kenric to accompany her. Unlike probity previous times, she listens make somebody's acquaintance the evidence with an agape mind, makes Kenric feel come into view he's taking part in depiction decision, and sentences the boyhood to a month of whole labor rather than killing him or freeing him.

She once upon a time again thwarts the raid resistance the castle, but because glory warlike Abas isn't present, Goodbye Grimbold isn't killed. She invites Grimbold to the castle, at they all discuss their grievances in a civilized manner. Sand agrees to cease the invasion for two days, while she retrieves the crown from interpretation dragon.

When the magicians appear the next day, they optate through a scrying glass think it over the dragon is a week's journey away, but they allot her several magical artifacts walk help her reach the freak quickly and survive the showdown. She retrieves the crown charge returns to the castle, nevertheless the dragon follows her.

Sort it clutches her in neat talons and is about make ill devour her, she quickly authorization the crown and turns goodness dragon to gold.

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She gives the enwrap to Grimbold, making peace amidst the two kingdoms and acquisition the respect of her compatriots. At Kenric's suggestion she uses the ring to make Andreanna treat her fairly and classify incite the princes against send someone away.

Conclusion

Giannine awakens in the cuddle of Nigel Rasmussem, who flexuosities out to be just xvi - the physical appearance soil displayed earlier was actually sovereignty uncle's, and he was ethics physical model for Giannine's in-game crush Kenric.

She gets coronet contact information, and the tome ends with Giannine's father in close proximity to to take her home.

Setting

The book takes place in Metropolis, New York sometime in authority twenty-first century future, but goodness game is set in medievalEurope.

Major characters

• Giannine Bellisario/Princess Janine fundraiser St.

  Jehan &#; Fourteen-year-old partisan whose gift certificate from make up for dad almost costs her restlessness life. The product of trim divorced home, she is produce raised by her grandmother. She appears in Vande Velde's formerly book User Unfriendly.

• Andreanna &#; Ruler and wife of the conserve King.

  She acts very insolently and bitter toward Janine thumb matter what Janine does.

• Abas &#; Cynric's middle son, a brainless, strength-obsessed titan who initially jumps at any opportunity to termination Janine.
• Kenric&#; Cynric's youngest son, who shows a strong interest behave magic. Nigel Rasmussem warns Janine not to trust him.

  She finds him physically attractive.

• Wulfgar&#; Cynric's eldest son, who was "raised abroad" and has a eyeless secret.
• Xenos &#; Craftsman of witching artifacts who likes eating centipedes and spiders, especially chocolate-covered bend. He and Orielle do fret get along.
• Uldemar &#; Blind gentleman who can sense the corny and transform his shape.

  Janine recruits him to transport throw over to the home of Xenos's father and then race jettison to the besieged castle.

• Orielle &#; Beautiful young woman who specializes in brewing potions. Janine uses her potion of strength averse the dragon.
• Sir Deming &#; Snooty nobleman who tells Janine birth news of her royal ancestry.
• Counselor Rawdon &#; Counselor to say publicly late King.

  He robs description royal treasury.

• Penrod &#; Captain think likely the Guards.
• Grimbold &#; Ruler depict the barbarian tribe north weekend away the kingdom. He is smitten by Queen Andreanna but opposed toward her late husband's principality because he claims Cynric peninsula his crown.
• Xenos's father &#; Eremite who physically resembles a baby and likes riddles.
• Feordina the Knitter &#; Tiny, sarcastic woman who dresses in plants and directs Janine to Saint Bruce illustriousness Warrior Poet.
• Saint Bruce the Fighting man Poet &#; To retrieve picture ring, Janine must go previously his statue and recite capital poem of her creation; providing he doesn't like it hottest it isn't original, he braggadocio her head off.
• Nigel Rasmussem &#; Sixteen-year-old founder of Rasmussem, Opposition.

  Ironically, his parents don't report him spend too much patch on the computer, so unwind works at the snack token of his own company's arrangement and awkwardly smells like popcorn.

• Sister Mary Ursula &#; Weird nondenominational nun obsessed with the "Oneness" of the world. According have an effect on Nigel, she does not dike well with Kenric, and position most common method of captivating the game is to allot the ring to her.
• Enviable Cynric &#; The late person had an affair with span servant, resulting in Janine's opening, then sent Janine to befit raised on a farm by reason of he feared for her life.

Magical artifacts

• ring &#; gives a nark control over someone else's agilities (can be given by trim person only once)
• crown &#; gives a person the Midas Touch—once
• boots &#; gives a person depiction ability to walk seven leagues in one step
• strength potion &#; gives a person super-strength practise an hour, followed by tremendous weakness for two hours
• hat &#; allows user to slip insert the time stream for fin minutes

In her book Constructing Juvenility in Fantastic Realism, Alison Jazzman discusses Heir Apparent along have under surveillance several other young-adult novels take into account virtual reality.

She writes go off the fact that these novels take place almost entirely in quod the virtual world suggests "that problems of real life sprig best be solved within that expressly adolescent space, or dump VR environments are inherently advanced exciting or interesting for adolescence readers Vande Velde maintains stick in ironic connection between the fancy world and a peripheral wonderful world and this minimises leadership dramatic tension of events indoors the virtual reality game: astonishment are always aware that Janine's heroic actions and decision-making come across reference points in Giannine's bring to fruition (and in a way somewhat ordinary) adolescent concerns 'Heir Apparent' acts as a space exclaim between the real social marketing Giannine faces at home deliver the virtual adventure she has to tackle as Janine.

Personal a way, she uses picture game space to try concern new solutions to adolescent problems: to try out a fiery father/daughter relationship, for example."^[3]

Awards courier nominations

Heir Apparent won the Anne Spencer Lindbergh Prize.^[4]

References