The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle by Christopher Healy {Blog Tour & Giveaway}

The second League of Princes book, The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle, has finally hit shelves, much to the joy of fans everywhere. Today at The Hiding Spot, I'm hosting a blog tour stop with more information about this hilarious sequel to The Hero's Guide to Saving the Kingdom and a chance to win your own copy of the book or a $200 gift card to the bookstore of your choice (SCORE!). Keep reading to meet Lord Rundark, one of the characters from Healy's books, find out more about the League of Princes books, and how to enter for your chance to win these great prizes!

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Getting to Know Lord Rundark

Occupation: Warlord

Affiliation: Supreme Ruler of the Armies of Dar

Kingdom of Origin: Dar (which, being ruled by a warlord, is technically not a kingdom)

Current Residence: The burnt out, ransacked fortress of Dar’s previous warlord

Parentage: Unknown

Longtime Foe: Anyone who stands in his way

Likes: Death, destruction, power… Absolute POWER!

Dislikes: Laziness, cowardice, villains who don’t take their evil seriously

Signature Move: The Raging Backbreaker

Quote: “Pray that the armies of Dar do not pass through your town, for wherever I tread, I leave in my wake wagons reduced to splinters, houses burned to nothing but mere cinders, bottles of milk left uncapped and free to go sour in the warm air.” 

Little Known Fact: Likes ducklings. 

About the Book

Prince Liam. Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav. You remember them, don't you? They're the Princes Charming who finally got some credit after they stepped out of the shadows of their princesses - Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, and Briar Rose - to defeat an evil witch bent on destroying all their kingdoms. 

But alas, such fame and recognition only last so long. And when the princes discover that an object of great power might fall into any number of wrong hands, they are going to have to once again band together to stop it from happening - even if no one will ever know it was they who did it. 

Christopher Healy, author of the acclaimed The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, takes us back to the hilariously fractured fairy-tale world he created for another tale of medieval mischief. Magical gemstones, bladejaw eels, a mysterious Gray Phantom, and two maniacal warlords bent on world domination - it's all in a day's work for the League of Princes.

Upcoming Fun!

Twitter Chat: Join New York Times Bestselling author Marissa Meyer and Christopher Healy for a Twitter Chat on fractured fairy tales on Monday, June 3rd at 9pm ET. 

Hashtag #talesretold. There will be giveaways!

Win It! 

The first THREE entrants today will receive signed copies of THE HERO’S GUIDE TO STORMING THE CASTLE and EVERYONE who enters is eligible to win a $200 gift card to the bookstore of his or her choice. 

You will need this SECRET CODE to enter the giveaway: Prince Charming. 

Enter here.

Exclusive Artwork Reveal: Flimsham from The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle

The second League of Princes book, which follows The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, will be hitting shelves soon! But I have a special sneak peek for fans: an exclusive artwork reveal featuring the character Stanislav Flimsham! You'll find the reveal and information about Flimsham below, as well as a chance to win a framed print of the illustration (signed by the illustrator Todd Harris!) and a copy of the new book, The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle!

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The Flimsham Brothers Circus was founded generations ago by Jacques and Dmitri Flimsham, twin boys who entertained houseguests by making their younger brother, Rufus, jump through a hoop with a ball balanced on his nose—and tossing him a small fish afterward as a reward. As word spread, the Flimshams added more acts and began charging admission. They built themselves some homemade stilts, brought in a neighborhood girl who could climb tall lamps, and even trained the tiny fishes to jump into Rufus’s mouth on their own. Eventually, this bit of weekend entertainment turned into a full-fledged traveling circus.

But it didn’t became a huge hit until years later, when the circus was under the management of the slick and stylish Stanislav Flimsham, who also served as ringmaster. It was Stanislav’s love of sparkle and dazzle (or “sparzle,” as he put it), combined with his knack for finding truly unusual acts (like his famous jousting chickens or El Stripo, the tiger that spat human babies into the audience), that made the Flimsham Brothers’s show the most renowned circus in the Thirteen Kingdoms.

Children all over would gather along the roadside to watch the circus caravan roll by: twenty glittering, rainbow-colored wagons driven by burly, heavily sequined men. The kids would keep their eyes trained on the passing windows, hoping for a glimpse of a shimmery top hat, a bouncy clown wig, or a flickering striped tail. Duncan had giddily done so several times in his own youth.

About the Book

Prince Liam. Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav. You remember them, don't you? They're the Princes Charming who finally got some credit after they stepped out of the shadows of their princesses - Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, and Briar Rose - to defeat an evil witch bent on destroying all their kingdoms.
But alas, such fame and recognition only last so long. And when the princes discover that an object of great power might fall into any number of wrong hands, they are going to have to once again band together to stop it from happening - even if no one will ever know it was they who did it.
Christopher Healy, author of the acclaimed The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, takes us back to the hilariously fractured fairy-tale world he created for another tale of medieval mischief. Magical gemstones, bladejaw eels, a mysterious Gray Phantom, and two maniacal warlords bent on world domination - it's all in a day's work for the League of Princes.

The Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Artwork Copyright © 2013 by Todd Harris - Text Copyright © 2013 by Christopher Healy

Review: The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy

Prince Liam. Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav. You've never heard of them, have you? These are the princes who saved Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel, respectively, and yet, thanks to those lousy bards who wrote the tales, you likely know them only as Prince Charming. But all of this is about to change. Rejected by their princesses and cast out of their castles, Liam, Frederic, Duncan, and Gustav stumble upon an evil plot that could endanger each of their kingdoms. Now it's up to them to triumph over their various shortcomings, take on trolls, bandits, dragons, witches, and other assorted terrors, and become the heroes no one ever thought they could be. 

Debut author Christopher Healy takes us on a journey with four imperfect princes and their four improbable princesses, all of whom are trying to become perfect heroes--a fast-paced, funny, and fresh introduction to a world where everything, even our classic fairy tales, is not at all what it seems.

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Unique, funny, and fresh are all appropriate words to describe Christopher Healy's The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom. I seriously could not get enough of this fast-paced Middle Grade title!


Lots of little girls wish they could be princesses and plenty of girls and women wish for their Prince Charming to come riding to their rescue, shiny and dashing and heroic, but princesses and the perfect Prince Charming is no where to be found within these pages. Instead, the princesses are either spoiled or more heroic than the princes that are supposed to sweep them off their feet. Prince Charming is a generic name used to describe every prince in every tale... princes that are sometimes dashing and sometime heroic, but often flawed and more often terribly silly. In an endearing way of course.


I can't fully describe how much I adore this novel. The characters are vivid and each have a distinct voice. I'd much rather be a princess like the sort in The Hero's Guide... one who is happy to have a prince by her side, but is more than capable of taking matters into her own hands. 


The princes are a motley crew and never fail to entertain. I loved that each had a specific strength or skill so that when the four came together, usually in rather comedic circumstances, they achieved their goal. I have to say, Prince Duncan was my favorite of the princes, the Prince Charming of Snow White's tale.  Duncan refers to every animal he comes across by name... names he makes up on the spot. His oddities and personality never failed to make me laugh.


I highly recommend The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom. Yes, it's a MG title, but I can imagine readers of all age enjoying the characters and their quirks. And I hear the characters will be reunited in a second installment and they'll be joined by a few more interesting individuals... I, for one, can't wait!

Walden Pond Press, May 2012, Hardcover, ISBN: 9780062117434, 419 pages.