The Princess Blog

Where Infinite Shimmer , the last visual novel in Time Princess , encompasses everything romantic and girly in a seemingly misplaced cyberpunk setting, The Underground City: Stirring Shadows does quite the opposite. Although the dystopian world of The Underground City is so similar to Infinite Shimmer that it could have easily been a spinoff about a different character living a different life, Sera's circumstances are not nearly as appealing as Aurora's. This visual novel takes everything a player would expect from the genre instead of twisting it into a Barbie-like setting . While this is great for fans of dark gritty dystopian worlds, it feels out of place for such a bright girly game as Time Princess that features a fairy who gives the protagonist the power to become anyone. While not appealing to my personal tastes, this novel demonstrates the game's versatility to players who enjoy all types of stories. Underground City players are transformed into Sera, a tragic figur...

Infinite Shimmer is the latest visual novel in Time Princess . It was released in two parts and was well worth the wait. This is easily my favorite new visual novel this year. A great deal of time and effort went into making this an engaging story for long-time players of the app like myself. Infinite Shimmer is unique, beautiful, and insightful. It turns the science fiction genre, which is typically male-oriented, into something feminine and aesthetically pleasing, something that had never been done before except for the Barbie movie, Starlight Adventure , which was mediocre at best. When most people think of cyberpunk, they picture a bunch of depressed people walking around the remains of destroyed buildings carrying deadly weapons to pull on a dime wearing ripped leather and robotic limbs. Though this story takes place in a similar setting, it features an optimistic daydreamer who lives under the safety of a dome and dresses in glamorous pastel iridescent gowns that shift colors in...

After joining a review team for one of Rachel Huffmire 's upcoming books, I decided to familiarize myself with her first series, The Mirror Chronicles. Unfortunately, the fourth book in the series was probably not the best place to start. Unlike many other fairy tale series I've read, Saving Winter  does not work as a standalone at all. I've discovered in the past that the science fiction genre does not blend well with fairy tales , and this ARC was no exception. The book is loosely based on "The Snow Queen,"  but I found little similarity to it despite the quoted Hans Christian Andersen passages at the beginning of each chapter, which seemed out of place. Regardless of whether or not it followed the fairy tale, this was not a pleasant reading experience in general. While it could be because I didn't read the rest of the series, I found it exceedingly difficult to keep track of the characters and plot in this book. This would normally be the place where I sh...

When Time Princess released Hela's Compass , I expressed my desire for them to do a more complete science fiction story. That wish was granted with the newest visual novel release, Code: Whalefall. This story takes place in a cyberpunk-like world with lots of fun robots and cyborgs and the usual sci-fi theme of speculating what the future of humanity might be. There is a bit of controversy involving arguments between religion and technology, but I don't think it gets expanded upon enough to offend any zealots. The story also has an insane amount of sci-fi-themed clothing that draws inspiration from so many different sources that it's difficult to pinpoint them all. As a result, trying to unlock all the clothing in this story requires an insane amount of resources that will cut through your supply of gold and clothing materials like a chainsaw. The story begins with our protagonist, Maya, waking up on a strange planet and trying to figure out why she's there and how to ...

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer  is not a series I would have considered reading if it wasn't inspired by fairy tales, and even then, I had some hesitation. It takes place in a dystopian cyberpunk-like world filled with robots, aliens, and disease. It's hardly the setting you would expect for a story based on "Cinderella,"  yet the first book, Cinder , wholeheartedly embraces this odd combination. I was intrigued by the concept after reading a good short story  about a robotic Cinderella, but this world was a bit too dark for my tastes. Though I have little interest in reading the rest of the series, I have to give the author credit for her creativity and passion. Cinder is a cyborg working as a mechanic in the dystopian city of New Beijing. She has several chance encounters with Prince Kai, who is in a marriage alliance with the wicked Queen Levana, an alien from the Lunar Kingdom with mind control powers. He hopes to get out of the alliance by finding the lost...