In the summer of 2010, a book appeared on the bookstores with the intriguing title, "How to Dispel Boredom." The author is a young writer, then still a student of the philological faculty of Moscow State Pedagogical University. “How to dispel boredom” is the first book by O. M. Boldyreva, which was published in 7,000 copies by Alpha Publishing House.
What is this book about?
The content of the book reflects the title How to dispel boredom. For such thoughts, the reader finds the protagonist, the dark Prince, on whose behalf the narrative is being conducted. Bored from a long life, the hero decided to have fun and diversify his life with bright colors. The Millennial Prince finds a company of light, eager to kill the dark Prince, the idiot.
Not knowing how to dispel boredom, the hero travels incognito with them and enjoys the naivete of his travelers. Relations at the beginning of the journey are not simple, even tense. But after going through many ridiculous situations and incidents, misadventures and adventures, he deserves the attention and respect of the bright. Still, the Prince effortlessly foresees events and eliminates them.
However, not everything is subject even to him, and soon the motley company gets into such troubles that the immortal Prince becomes helpless in the face of the danger emanating from an unknown source. Apparently, someone else decided to have fun, and not just the leader of the bright Gabriel. As a result, it’s not at all up to the prince to become light, but the question of how to dispel boredom, which tormented the hero, has completely receded into the background - still, his immortality hangs in the balance.
How is it written?
The novel "How to dispel boredom" caused controversial opinions of readers: one story seems naive and thoughtless, the second, on the contrary, believe that this is what is addictive - instability and tension. The book is really good because there are no long dialogues and lengthy descriptions. The main character surprises the reader with disputes and dialogues with his inner “I”. The dynamism and lightness of the plot is what attracts in Boldyreva’s book “How to dispel boredom”. The Handbook for the Dark Prince is designed for a wide range of readers and is suitable for hanging out even for people far from the fantasy genre.
Who are the heroes?
The main character and concurrently the main villain appears before readers in the image of a provocative kid. In fact, this is a dark Prince wise by experience and eternal life. During the thousand-year-old immortality, Gabriel was tired and bored to amuse himself; he sets off on his own quest.
Alir is a valiant knight of the soldiers of the Prince of Light, ready to sacrifice his own life in the name of the victory of Darkness over the Light. In the book "How to dispel boredom," he stubbornly but unsuccessfully walks through numerous offices in search of a guide to the Black Lands. Alir, as a real brave man, desperately clings to the last opportunity and accepts as his guide in the heart of the Citadel, the servant of Darkness.
The reader will get acquainted with other heroes. Some of them are mentioned below in the summary of Boldyreva’s book “How to dispel boredom”. And with gnome Ibor, the beautiful elf Anabel, the assistant of Prince Ellie, Lady Helena and other, no less interesting characters you can meet by reading the original work.
Unexpected meeting
The book "How to dispel boredom" begins with how the dark Prince, exhausted from boredom, gathers for advice, where his first adviser, Ellie, reports that the bright people have gathered the next squad and are looking for someone who will help them get into the black lands. Alir, the leader of the Light unit, desperate to find a guide to the Black Lands, returns to the tavern, where his team gathered. For discussions about how to be now, they were caught by a perky little guy who offered his services. At first glance, it was clear that he was from the dark, but for lack of other options had to agree to his proposal.
The prince returned to his office, asked Ellie to keep an eye on affairs in his absence, and, rubbing his hands fairly in anticipation of entertainment, went to bed. As soon as dawn broke, the hero went to meet his companions. There was no one else, and he talked about the team of the bright: the leader, the dwarf, the magician, the nuns were not dangerous for him. But the girl, whom he did not really see, made him think. No wonder Ally called her a squire. Finally, everyone gathered, and under the surprised looks of the inhabitants, a strange company set off outside Riens.
Mysterious Explorer
We continue the brief retelling of the novel by Olga Mikhailovna Boldyreva "How to dispel boredom." An expensive company argued about which way to go. Alir noted that he underestimated the boy from the dark, apparently he knows the way to the Black Lands well. Perhaps the Citadel also knows. Alir drove up to the elf who did not hide her feelings and looked with hatred at the guide. Alir told her that the dark would be useful to them, that he knew the road well, and they would always have time to kill him.
At the first halt, the bright invited the Prince to his circle. He thought the world was crazy, but joined them. At least they definitely won’t stab a knife in the back. When everyone fell asleep, the elf Anabel went up to Alir and said that the dark one, although she was trying to become her own, was clearly plotting something. In the morning we went on. Dark on the way told the story of the Kingdom of Darkness, and his companions noted that he knows too much for the simple dark. But is the Prince’s heir in store?
Prince is having fun
Weeping was heard from the bushes, the bright ones immediately went to the rescue. But the dark one stopped everyone, suddenly someone wants to have lunch? He deftly jumped off his horse, picked up a large stone and threw it into the bushes. A huge scaly one crawled out and snorted in resentment that he had caught too smart a “lunch”, crawled into a ravine. Until the evening, the Prince saved them more than once from trouble. The bright ones noted that he made a good guide. And another boredom flashed on the Prince. “Well, now I'll arrange for you!” He thought.
To begin with, noticing that his companions were hungry, he forced the boar to eat poisonous grass. Then he went to the parking lot to the vampires, but got into a noose. The prince dangled helplessly in her when a vampire crept silently towards him. I had to open the aura, so as not to become a dinner for him. The vampire recognized the owner and, following the decree of the Prince, they attacked the travelers.
Strange but bold
The prince in this battle overshadowed Anabel. The Elf cried over her flattened body, and the immortal Prince lay and listened to her lamentations, as he had saved her life. At night, the vampire attacked the dark, the dwarf, waking up from the noise, saw how the Prince was going to kill a girl at all. Of course, he “saved” her, and in the morning she went along with everyone in search of the Prince of Darkness.
Soon the whole company was captured by werewolves, which even the Prince saw for the first time. Waking up on the ground with his hands tied, he realized that he was completely powerless. When he managed to escape, the Prince went to save the travelers. Wandering through the dark corridors, behind one of the doors he felt Anabel.
When he opened the dungeon door, behind his back, literally out of nowhere, a huge monster appeared, which hit the Prince so that he rolled his eyes and settled on the stone floor. The monster did not know, probably, that the Prince of Darkness did not dream. Soon the whole company managed to escape from the dream books, as the monsters unknown to the hero were called, and to take with them one of the werewolves, who helped them get out of the dungeon.
Immortal satellite
At night, the company stopped in a copse, and they were surrounded by shifters. Escaped from them in the trees. Changeling, snapping their teeth, circled around the company. But evil spirits feel their senses that there are dark ones among them, the flock has gone away.
For the second day their team made their way through the maze, the Prince guessed all the traps. But suddenly he fell into some kind of failure. Everyone thought that the dark one had crashed to death, but he turned out to be alive and unhurt. And then Alira had the thought that their companion was immortal. Despite the assurances of the Prince that sometimes such a gift as immortality is given to the dark, doubt has settled in Alir’s head.
The prince suggested that travelers check this "gift" - and everyone began to "kill" him. Gabriel had a great time and had fun. The company went further. Three days left before the Citadel. Alir increasingly recalled his acquaintance with the dark - vampires, monsters, dream books, shifters. It seems that the dark one drove them by the nose.
On the altar
A magnificent view of the city of Vilef opened from the mountain. Everyone froze with delight, and the Prince thought: "Whether there will still be in the Citadel." They stayed in a luxury hotel, splashing in the bathroom, everyone was relaxing. The prince invited the elf for a walk. An hour later, Alir started up, felt that the Prince and Anabel were in trouble. The whole company went in search of them.
The prince woke up from unbearable pain. He finally understood where he and Anabel had gone. The Northern Orcs somehow managed to create a gap in the world. Their king was Chaos, and they did not recognize the Prince of Darkness. The prince and the elf lay on the altar. The magician hesitated for a long time which of them was the first to sacrifice. The choice fell on the Prince.
The magician swung and hit him in the heart. Nothing happened, the magician was at a loss, and the Prince noticed that the gaps in the worlds began to slowly close. And then the Prince saw the smiling face of Ellie - a friend came to the rescue. Having regained his strength, the Prince took the elf in his arms and stepped into the portal. Seconds - and they were in the place where they were attacked.
In the Citadel
The novel “How to dispel boredom” by Olga Boldyreva ends with the fact that, despite the adventures, the next day and a half the Prince was exhausted from boredom. And then the "dead" appeared. Reflecting the ghost attacks, they went through the Citadel and made their way into the hall of Darkness, but the Prince’s chair was empty. Alir heard a laugh and, turning around, saw that he was laughing dark. Gabriel sat in the Prince’s chair. The team looked at him in surprise and concern. Hiding the truth was useless. The prince confessed everything, and Alir asked him a question: “Why?” “Because it's boring,” answered the Prince.
Reader reviews about the novel are completely opposite. Some are sure that this light reading matter with illustrations on how to disperse boredom will appeal to fantasy lovers. Others say it’s funny, but the book titled “How to Dispel Boredom” by Boldyreva became the most boring for them. Whether it is so or not, it is up to those who decide to have fun and go with the Prince of Darkness on a dangerous journey.