The Princess and the Goblin

"The Princess and the Goblin" is a children's fantasy novel by George MacDonald. Eight-year-old Princess Irene lives a lonely life in a castle in a wild, desolate, mountainous kingdom, with only her nursemaid "Lootie" for company. Her father the king is normally absent, and her mother is dead. Unknown to her, the nearby mines are inhabited by a race of goblins, long banished from the kingdom and now anxious to take revenge on their human neighbors. One rainy day, the princess explores the castle and discovers a beautiful, mysterious lady, who identifies herself as Irene's namesake and great-great-grandmother.

The story quietly suggests the ideas of courage and honor in every incident. It starts out as a normal fairy tale, but slowly become stranger while containing layers of symbolism similar to that of Lewis Carroll's work.©2016 Audioliterature (P)2016 Audioliterature

Great Story; Distracting Narration

I first read this book a couple of decades ago and loved it, so I was thrilled to find an audiobook version. I have seldom been so disappointed. I do not understand why the producer felt it necessary to repeat the book's title and author at the outset of every single chapter, but it was brutally distracting, disrupting the flow and yanking me bodily out of the story. The narrator was okay, though he seemed disengaged. It's a shame that a perfectly good story was ruined by poor production decisions.

Out of order

The story chapters are out if order in this audiobook. All of the sudden the book started over and then in the next chapter the princess was trying to escape. Frustrating.