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Day One Hundred Fourteen:  Friday, April 26, 2013

A Few of MY Favourite Things Series #3:  Book I read in my Adolescence that Influenced Me

Heir Apparent – Vivian Vande Velde

I read this book in sixth grade while reading Harry Potter, and although Harry Potter remains the most influential books of my life ( 8) ) I think Heir Apparent sticks out a little more in the way that influenced my own writing, my own view on life, and ultimately the books that I read after. 

If you’ve never heard of this book before I recommend reading it even if you are university aged or older, just because it was that good.  Bear in mind I haven’t read it in over eight years, so it could be the worst book in existence, but it really shaped the way I think now.  It is set in the future and a girl takes a gift card she got from her dad to play a virtual video game and she is thrust into this world where she is trying to become a princess, but then the game breaks and the only way for her to get back to reality is to beat it, and every time she dies she has to play the game again.  The game is essentially set in Medeival Times, so this book is basically super PG Game of Thrones, the main character is a Khalisci of sorts, and it is fabulous.

There is magic, princes, villains, and above all the ability of a GIRL to come up against all odds and get off her butt every single time the game puts her back to start.  It’s so hard for her, but she keeps going.  I loved this book because it was about a girl going through the things that I had previously read in Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, and she wasn’t the best at it but she kept going.  She didn’t need a Sam to push her towards Mount Doom, she didn’t need a Ron or Hermione to be at her side, although she did have help she ultimately conquered alone, and well, and it was written in a way that appealed to me as a young girl struggling with her own identity.

I don’t remember why I started reading it, but I’m glad I did.  It really was a fantastic book for a young lady to read at a time in my life when I needed that little boost to come out of my shell and pursue my own adventures.  Thanks to this book I still go out looking for adventure, and ended up writing many maaaany fantasy fanfictions, stories…memoirs, etc.

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