Synopsis: Malva, the Princess of Galnicia, has been raised by a tutor who has instilled in her a love of freedom, but her impending marriage to a neighbouring prince seems set to put paid to any chance of a life of her own. To escape from the destiny laid out before her, she flees her home, unwittingly walking into an ambush and plunging her homeland into turmoil. Orpheus McBott, a young merchant's son, volunteers for a mission to find and rescue Malva, little suspecting that the mission will lead them both to a world beyond the boundaries of known geography and even beyond the laws of physics.

Review: The Princess and the Captain is a sweeping romance, set in a world of tall ships and exotic adventures, full of barbarian tribes, decadent empires and magical lands. It is in some ways a very old-fashioned story, full of perils and heroics and fiendish villains, yet Malva and her friends, Philomena and Lei, are thoroughly modern heroines, as forthright and determined as any of the male characters. The book, superbly translated from the French by prolific translator Anthea Bell, is also quite distinct from modern English children's literature, making it a unique read. For most of its length, the book is well-paced and exciting. The final section is slower and the build up to the, somewhat depressing, denouement drags a little. Despite this slight anticlimax, The Princess and the Captain is well-worth reading. It is a book for older children only, however. The romantic themes would be a turn-off for younger readers and parts of the story are quite dark. It is also, despite a certain amount of derring-do and buckling of swashes, as much a book for girls as for boys.