Review of "Three Kisses: A Royal Breakfast" by Henry Szabranski

"Three Kisses: A Royal Breakfast" by Henry Szabranski, the sequel to "Three Kisses:  Defenders of the Crystal Casket" (which appeared in Daily Science Fiction and was reviewed in Songs of Eretz January 22, 2013), was offered by Daily Science Fiction on January 23, 2013.  "A prince hacks through a barrier of thorns and enters the cursed castle of Sleeping Beauty in order to do the usual thing."

I must say that Mr. Szabranski writes beautifully, and grammatically correctly with the exception of one glaring misuse of "her" instead of "she."  He knows how to move a story along and how to make his characters come alive.  As with "Defenders," he knows how to write a good swashbuckling scene too--no easy task to do well.

I only wish Mr. Szabranski would offer something original.  His re-telling of Snow White in "Defenders" and Sleeping Beauty in "Royal Breakfast," while beautifully told, are, in the end, re-tellings.  The "surprise," tacked-on endings in both tales are just not enough to make his stories compelling.  2 out of 7 rocket-dragons, I'm afraid.