The Perfect Princess

This novel starts when Tab Vidler of the Dung Brigade is caught sneaking into a theatre to watch the rehearsals for a play. When she asks the manager how he spotted her, he says irritably, ‘I could smell you, of course.’

After she’s kicked out of the theatre, Tab is caught up in the Battle of Begonias (from Lucy Sussex’s novel). She finds herself marooned behind a statue of her heroine, the Perfect Princess, with a mysterious stranger called Azt Marossa, who’s very interested in the history of the Duelphs and the Nibellhines – and of Quentaris in general. Charmed by the discovery that Azt has no sense of smell, Tab relaxes more than usual and starts telling him the plots of all her favourite plays.

After much adventure and humourous action, we learn Tab is the child of the Perfect Princess and an idealistic Nibhelline… But whether she is cut out for administering Quentaris is another matter.