The Word Thieves by Carol Riggs; The Prince and The Pauper as Steampunk Women

 

The Word Thieves by Carol Riggs; The Prince and The Pauper as Steampunk Women

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper has been adapted and parodied for a long time.  Just about everyone from Guy Williams, Erroll Flynn, Oliver Reed, Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy,  Mary Kate and Ashley Olson, Raven Symone, Vanessa Hudgens, Mickey Mouse, Garfield the Cat, Rowan Atkinson as Edmund Blackadder, Davy Jones from The Monkees, Kimber Benton from Jem, Wishbone, Barbie, Candace from Phineas and Ferb, and many others have taken stabs at this story of a royal or wealthy person switching places with a commoner or poor person either of their own volition or because of the schemes of others. It’s a familiar story that is easily recognizable and is ripe for many to put their own stamps and interpretations of it. As with many overused adaptations, it can come across as trite and cliche. Anyone taking on a variation of such a familiar story needs to do something with it. Luckily this latest version has.

The Word Thieves by Carol Riggs takes the familiar story of The Prince and the Pauper and does some things, particularly in terms of world building and characterization that make it stand out from many of the other variations. 

The city of Noviston, is ruled by the Golden Monarch. His daughter, Eliana is concerned about an approaching threat to their city and curious about how their rules and taxes affect the common people. During a disastrous outing which almost turns into a riot, Eliana bumps into Taylen, an impoverished factory worker who resembles the princess. The duo’s striking similarities shine the proverbial lightbulb over Eliana’s head. She and Taylen will switch places for a day so Taylen can live in luxury for a while and Eliana can do her research. Unfortunately, complications ensue and the two find themselves dealing with various conflicts both within and outside of Noviston.

For a familiar story, Riggs surrounds it with a detailed and imaginative setting. Noviston is a world that hovers between Medieval/Renaissance Fantasy and Victorian Steampunk, with more emphasis on the latter. Metallurgy is an important part of their way of life. Metals are mined, prepared in the factories, and shipped out to other kingdoms. They are so important that the city is rigidly separated into districts named after them, such as the Gold District where the royals and the clergy live, Silver District where the nobles and business tycoons live, and Tin District where the workers live. This goes into the strict class system where the people from different classes live in their own world without acknowledging or interacting with others. That division makes it easier for the Gold District to do horrible things to the poorer people that they never see and allows for protestors like Taylen’s Robbing Hood group to form and fight against them.

Along with metals, Noviston is populated with what they call mechanicals. They are used as security, companionship, and other means. (Though oddly enough not menial labor. They still use humans for that). There is an army of mechanicals run by Avery, who is part inventor and part sorceress. Avery gives her mechs the ability to extract not only taxes in coin but in words. 

The mech orders their victim to say a select number of words and they mentally remove them from that person’s mind. The victims not only forget the word but any definition or concept behind it. If for example someone chooses “courage” the mechs turn that person into a nervous coward. If they remove “love” that person turns into a bitter misanthrope. The psychological horror is terrifying to imagine. The mechs leave behind a population that is forcibly ignorant and easy to control.

The consistency of mechs also plays into Taylen and Eliana’s gifts. Eliana has a talent for building and repairing mechs. All she has to do is look at something to find out what’s wrong and fix it. It’s a talent not  many women of her station would have (and those like Avery who do guard it jealously). However, it shows her as someone who is willing to get her hands dirty and do the actual work instead of sitting in the palace and waiting patiently for others to do the work for her. 

Taylen also has a unique power too, even more impressive than Eliana’s. She can mentally communicate with mechs. This telepathic ability comes in handy especially when she’s in the Golden Palace. She learns secrets about Avery, the Gold Monarch, and their real goals in fighting the upcoming battle. She also communicates with a feisty little mech pet that is able to sneak around the palace and provide intel to her and Eliana. 

Riggs also counters the hoary narration of The Prince and the Pauper adaptations with great characterization and plot points which challenge not only the narrative of this particular story but the genre in which it is in. Taylen and Eliana are both well written protagonists that gain empathy and understanding through their journey and become more effective leaders. Taylen was emotional and acted on impulsive anger. She led the Robbing Hoods to help others but mostly to stick it to a system in which she felt marginal and oppressed. Even if no one knew that she was behind it, it was a way of sticking it to those in charge. As Eliana, Taylen  learns to be a more strategic thinker and planner and recognize the long term impacts that each decision makes. She becomes more clear headed and compassionate in her approach particular offering and accepting forgiveness when a mole is discovered within the rebellion.

Eliana was involved and compassionate, for a royal. Her early involvement stemmed from naivete and a lack of understanding over how the people live. The rigid class division kept her from seeing the people let alone understanding them. It is worth noting that she suggested the increase on word taxes not realizing the impact that it would have on the people. When she offers to switch places with Eliana, she treats it more like a lark and a fun game rather than the serious situation in which they could be punished (and Taylen imprisoned and maybe executed) if caught. Her time as Taylen gives her a chance to interact with the people that she never met and understand them. She becomes more empathetic and in turn a better leader when she sees where the people are coming from.

The book does some interesting things with the framework of The Prince and the Pauper playing with and challenging the IP as well as conventions that are found in Science Fiction and Fantasy. I don’t want to necessarily say it’s better for it but it at least makes things different. For example there are early hints of an actual reason for Eliana and Taylen’s similarities but the book never really follows through with them and chalks it up to a massive coincidence. It somewhat stretches credibility that two women who look alike live in the same district and just happen to run into each other one day without there being any sort of back story to it. But in a way, that makes the plot refreshing that there doesn’t always have to be an important story to it, It just happened. 

Another interesting point is how the plot resolves itself. I don’t want to give too much away but it doesn’t end the way most novels of this type do. The emphasis is not on destruction or rebellion but on compromise and collaboration. A new world is created from the old and yes the old one shows signs of its demise. Ultimately the new world is created by separating and declaring independence from the old. Sometimes that’s the only way to gain true understanding and freedom.

The Word Thieves takes a familiar story and builds on it. In some ways, particularly in terms of setting, character, and plot, it improves it.