Rating: 
Summary: "There's Three Men I Might Have Loved..."
Review: "The Tin Princess" is the forth book in the Sally Lockhart series - though it doesn't actually star Sally herself. Perhaps a better description of this book would be to call it a spin-off, as it is has several characters from the previous Sally books as its protagonists, and solves a mystery that has been brewing since book one. In the first book "The Ruby in the Smoke," a young street waif named Adelaide Bevan disappeared into the streets of London, and only now has she been found. Readers who may be unwilling to continue with this series due to the absence of Sally are instead rather forced to - it's the only way to find out what happened to that young girl.
Jim Taylor, the amateur detective (among other things) has finally managed to track her down, following the trail of young Rebecca Winter who has been employed in the service of a nobleman to teach a young woman in his household how to read and write. The two collide almost immediately, and soon it becomes apparent that the young woman in question is none other than Adelaide herself. But her situation has greatly changed - she is married to Prince Rudolf of Razkavia, making her a princess of that small country squished between Austria and Germany. Rebecca is appalled at the unlikelihood of the match, especially since she herself is a native of Razkavia.
And now things are about to heat up. With the assassination of Rudolf's older brother, Adelaide and her husband now find themselves heir to the thrones of Razkavia - but whoever was behind the conspiracy to topple the royal family is not going to stop till they control the country. Now with Becky as her translator and Jim as her bodyguard, Adelaide is travelling with her husband to the country she now rules - a country watched over by the Red Eagle flag. Legend says that so long as the Eagle flies over the Rock of Eschtenburg, Razkavia will always be free. Now in a strange land, with strange customs, and a plot against them, Adelaide, Jim and Becky must juggle politics, public relations, personal safety, betrayal within the court, assassination attempts and a mysterious missing member of the royal family. Needless to say (of any of Philip Pullman's books), it's a very exciting ride.
Pullman beautifully creates an entire country with vivid realness - its customs, economy, language, history, all of it comes across with perfect realism, but also a sense of intrigue that he can invoke so well: "The streets are so crooked and narrow that they have no names...the Devil went there once, and couldn't find his way out. Which means of course, that he's still there." Likewise, the characters are vivid and immensely likeable, and his themes of power and corruption (which appear in all of his books in one way or another) are in place. Of our main characters, only Becky is initially unfamiliar to readers of the Lockhart books, but she soon becomes an interesting figure, who wields her own type of power in being Adelaide's translator (often stating her straightforward opinions to Princess Adelaide in the course of conversations, or rewording Adelaide's informal slang to the listener).
But it's Jim and Adelaide that really take centre stage in the course of this story - passionate, strong, out of their league, star-crossed and determined, I have to say that I think they are Pullman's best romantic couple (disagree with me if you must, but that includes Sally/Fred and even Lyra/Will). Adelaide definitely foreshadows Lyra for the "His Dark Materials" trilogy - willful, spoilt, cunning and yet with a strange sense of innocence about her. Glancing at some of the other reviews, it's unfortunate to see she's rather unpopular - I thought she was a wonderful character, and every inch a queen.
Of those that are disappointed at the lack of Sally, there's no reason to completely despair. She is present at both the beginning and end of the story (as is Goldberg, her husband - sadly, no Harriet or Trembler) and is mentioned throughout by several characters. And in her own way, she plays a very big part in the course of the story - just watch how useful the knitted jersey she makes for Jim turns out!
Although this is not my favourite book in the series (that would be "The Tiger in the Well") it is the most re-readable, the most intriguing and the most poetic - the final passage in particular is beautifully written. I won't give it away, but I often find myself picking up the book just to read it again, and the images that Pullman invokes, especially in the escape from the old palace through the snow, are just beautiful. There is a certain amount of cynicism, but the barest touches of hope in the conclusion of the story. But whether you like it or not (because it *is* rather different from the first three books, and not just in the shift in characters) it is a necessary part of the series, to complete Adelaide and Jim's story.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good, worth your time
Review: A number of the Tin Princess reviews compare it to the Sally Lockhart books (from which it spun off) and I will too. It is actually a better book then the 2nd and 3rd SL books! The plot is fun and quick (without the hopelessness and darkness of the 3rd SL). Belief needs to be suspended a bit for the marriage... but, to be honest, the prince was most weak and unimpressive so his attachment to a strong woman (despite her background) is not too far-fetched. He was a fellow that let events lead him, not the other way around. I loved the characters... Jim, Becky and Adeliade were strong, determined and interesting. No one writes a detailed and plausible plot like Pullman... events always flow well and he keeps the reader engaged and anticipatory. I have now read 7 of his books and each one has been difficult to put down. Jim is a bulldog, as he was in the SL books, and he grabs center-stage in the plot and does a masterful job of working his way through the action. Very good.
Rating:
Summary: it was good
Review: Actually it's been awhile since I read this book but I remember it to be a pretty good book. It was adventuresome and fun. It was also nice to see the Sally Lockhart trilogy characters again. Sure some of the events were a little too convenient but I love Philip Pullman as an authur enough to forgive him. I really love the Victorian setting although this book is a little different being in Germany in all. My main purpose for writing this review though is to point out that this book is NOT part of the Sally Lockhart Trilogy as some people have said! It was in fact a follow up. The third book is "Tiger in the Well" which does tell us of Sally's new husband and the circumstances that brought them together. It was an excellent book and you should go back and read the Lockhart trilogy in order before reading this book!
Rating:
Summary: Becky, Jim and Adelaide's Story
Review: Adelaide is no normal cockney teen, she's the princess of Razkavia, a small country not far from England. After marrying the prince of Razkavia he wants her to learn how to read and write and speak German. This is when she meets 16-year-old Becky, a native born Razkavian who has lived in England for nearly all her life. But when their tutoring session is cut short buy a bomb, an assassination attempt on the Prince. Their lives are turned upside down. They meet Jim, a private detective and close friend of Sally Lockheart, who has been looking for Adelaide for the past 10 years. Suddenly they are off to Razkavia where the three Londoners will face the complicated world of royal politics and Razkavian customs. When the prince is assassinated, Razkavia suddenly has themselves a cockney queen. What will they do?The Tin Princess, a sequel book to Philip Pullman's award winning Sally Lockheart Trilogy, manages to answer most of the questions readers might have such as: What happened to Adelaide? Did Sally and Dan Goldberg ever get married? Did Sally manage to put her life back together after the horrible situations of The Tiger in the Well? Unfortunately The Tin Princess doesn't have the flair we last saw in the Sally Lockheart book. The only problem I have with Pullman's style of writing is the fact that he seems to introduce far too many characters that the book becomes confusing and most of the characters you want to learn about remain underdeveloped. He manages to get away with it in his Trilogies (Sally Lockheart, His Dark Materials) but it has a much different result in this specific solo novel. Other than that this book is great. It's faced paced and filled with exciting situations. I recommend it to fans of the Sally Lockheart trilogy.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Follow-up for the Sally Lockhart Trilogy
Review: After I had read the brilliantly written Sally Lockhart Trilogy, I wanted another book with these wonderful characters in it. A great follow up for an amazing series with a plot the will keep you reading until you are finished
Rating: 
Summary: A great ending to a great series!
Review: As a book, this is wonderful, but is a bit disappointing in comparison with the rest of the trilogy. I was irritated that Sally Lockheart was not a major character in the book, but it is all over very good -Sara Doherty
Rating:
Summary: A solid, but not exceptional, Lockhart Crew adventure
Review: At the end of "Tiger in the Well," one could tell that Phillip Pullman was becoming less interested in Sally Lockhart and more interested in her crew. With "The Tin Princess," Mrs. Goldberg disappears almost altogether, and Jim takes the stage along with the long lost Adelaide and newcomer Becky. Set in a minor European kingdom, the action of this story takes place both in the palace and the bar. Jim travels in the seedy underbelly, while Queen Adelaide takes on the court. Intrigue, plots, romance and history are all present in droves, as one has come to expect from Pullmans Lockhart books. A few of the plot points seem more convenient than natural. Jim's sudden overwhelming love for Adelaide does not suit the Jim that I am familiar with. It does, however, work for the story once it has been accepted. It is nice to reunite with Adelaide, although I always enjoyed her disappearance at the end of "Ruby in the Smoke." I saw it as Mr. Pullman's way of saying that not everything turns out well, and not all mysteries are solved. But her she is. "The Tin Princess" is not the strongest book to come out of Phillip Pullman, but the nostalgia for the characters and his enjoyable writing is enough to make it a good book, and one worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: A solid, but not exceptional, Lockhart Crew adventure
Review: At the end of "Tiger in the Well," one could tell that Phillip Pullman was becoming less interested in Sally Lockhart and more interested in her crew. With "The Tin Princess," Mrs. Goldberg disappears almost altogether, and Jim takes the stage along with the long lost Adelaide and newcomer Becky. Set in a minor European kingdom, the action of this story takes place both in the palace and the bar. Jim travels in the seedy underbelly, while Queen Adelaide takes on the court. Intrigue, plots, romance and history are all present in droves, as one has come to expect from Pullmans Lockhart books. A few of the plot points seem more convenient than natural. Jim's sudden overwhelming love for Adelaide does not suit the Jim that I am familiar with. It does, however, work for the story once it has been accepted. It is nice to reunite with Adelaide, although I always enjoyed her disappearance at the end of "Ruby in the Smoke." I saw it as Mr. Pullman's way of saying that not everything turns out well, and not all mysteries are solved. But her she is. "The Tin Princess" is not the strongest book to come out of Phillip Pullman, but the nostalgia for the characters and his enjoyable writing is enough to make it a good book, and one worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not the best
Review: First of all, id like to say that this book did NOT have too many details. If you want details read Lord of the Rings. Anyways, i couldn't believe Jim could fall for Adelaide, she was just a snobby brat most of the time! Becky was the best, and I liked the university students. One major thing that disappointed me was that Sally wasn't in it enough, two parts, thats it! Overall, it was a good book, but hes had better ones.
Rating:
Summary: Unlikely Plot, But Who Cares?
Review: Having read all three of the original Sally Lockhart novels, I was thrilled to find a sequel of sorts on the shelves of my local bookshop. Pullman takes a brave shot at writing a traditional swashbuckling adventure story, and succeeds wonderfully on many (though not all) levels. The basic plot is thus: Adelaide Bevan, the penniless waif of The Ruby In The Smoke, has resurfaced after having gone missing for ten years. And she appears with a bang: she's married to a European prince of a small country called Razkavia. The problem? Adelaide is illiterate and has no idea how to be a princess, someone is assassinating the royal family of Razkavia one by one, and the great European powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary are itching to take over the tiny country at a moment's notice. It's left to Jim Taylor (the roguish friend of Sally Lockhart from the previous novels) and new character Becky Winter to try and keep everyone safe whilst trying to prop up the future of Razkavia and its people. Implausible maybe, but Pullman infuses a nice feeling of reality into the proceedings with plenty of historical reference and accuracy. The story isn't perfect: Pullman's love of detail and an excess of rich and varied characters clutter it up, and the plot has more twists than a plate of spaghetti, but the overall story is so delightful, adventurous and well-written that this can be easily overlooked. Pullman's real strength lies in his brilliant characterisation for his three or four main characters and the interaction between them. Adelaide and Becky are appealing, likeable and strong heroines, the Germans and a number of Razkavians make wonderful villains, but the star of the book is undoubtedly the delightfully clever, crafty, courageous and somewhat dangerous Jim Taylor, who steps into the limelight in place of Sally Lockhart and never gives it back. This book is definitely worth a read if you're a Sally Lockhart fan - it's interesting to see how the characters from the original trilogy develop away from the London backdrop. Even if you're not a fan, read it - it's brilliant escapism, excellently written and well worth wading through the detail for.
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