A Princess of Roumania

Sharp characterization and an unusual historical backdrop distinguish Park's charming leadoff to an intricate new fantasy series. In an alternate 18th-century world where England's been swamped by a tidal wave, America teems with blond savages and "Roumania" and Germany battle for European domination, a magic book concocted by conjuress Aegypta Schenck sends young Miranda Popescu, the "white tyger" descendant of ancient royalty and Roumania's hope of freedom from "black tyranny," to Massachusetts to escape the fiendish Baroness Nicola Ceausescu and the heinous elector of Ratisbon. With her best friend, Andromeda (turned magically into first a yellow dog and later a charismatic male Roumanian courtier), and her loyal teenage admirer, Peter ("really" the son of Roumania's bravest warrior), Miranda makes hard choices to start fulfilling her destiny. Park (Celestis , etc.) leaves some tantalizing loose ends, while the wily baroness and the necromancing elector promise dashing adventure and delicious heartbreak ahead. Blurbs from Ursula K. Le Guin and John Crowley testify to the novel's high quality. Agent, John Silbersack at Trident Media Group . (July 27)