The 13 Clocks

She wore serenity brightly like the rainbow.

The 13 Clocks is a fun fairy tale. It reminds me of The Princess Bride (perhaps PB was modeled after 13 Clocks?) A prince arrives at the castle of a mean, mean Duke, incognito, to find a way to win the hand of the Princess. The Duke sees through his disguise (via his secret spies) and sends the prince off, as he has many other princes in the past, on an impossible mission. But the prince has a helper, the Golux, who is helpful, though he often makes things up.

I have no idea why or how I ended up putting this one on hold. One of those random librarian moments I guess. Considering it was small, I hung on to it thinking I would get to it eventually. When Bout of Books came up, I knew it was a perfect time.

I haven't read much fairy tales but even I could see this was full of fairy tale tropes. The prince in disguise, the impossible task, the evil uncle...all these plus more made this like a giant “find the trope” read. A quick read by an author I haven't read and a book that I want to give to my nephew to enjoy in a few years.