Review - Froggie Went A Sailing by Sam Burns

Crown Prince Jasper enjoys his sexual encounters with the men of the court, but those dalliances will have to end once he is married. It would be unseemly for a king to be seen cheating on the queen, even if it never bothered his father. The marriage was arranged before Jasper's older brother died, making Jasper next in line for the throne. It was a suitable arrangement for the spare heir, but now that Jasper is crown prince, his father would like to break off the engagement. Yet it's not something he can do without angering the woman's father, a powerful Lord, and Jasper refuses to break things off, even if he has no interest in women. When a witch turns Jasper into a frog, it starts an adventure that turns out to be very eye-opening for the young man.

It seems a bit odd that the frog-prince fairy tale would get multiple gay retellings, but here we are. Unlike The Prince's Frog reviewed earlier this year, “Froggie Went A Sailing” is told from the frog's point of view. It also has a more serious tone, making for a very different but no less enjoyable story.

The story is related entirely from Jasper's point of view. Curiously, the picture we get of Jasper before he's turned into a frog is not all that bad. He does dismiss a servant in a fit of pique over a perceived lack of respect, but it's not the worst royal excess you can think of. Still, if the witch doesn't turn Jasper into a frog, then there is no story, so it's best just to go with it. We get only a brief sketch of Jasper's life before the story starts, but it's enough to make him a sympathetic person. His experiences as a frog definitely give him perspective on how to be a better person.

The other significant character in the story is Nicholas, the servant that Jasper dismisses from the palace early in the book. Nicholas ends up being Jasper's rescuer when he's turned into a frog, and the one who guides the young prince back to the point where he's human again. Nicholas is clearly a very nice yet strong-willed person. We don't get to know too much about how he got that way, though.

“Froggie Went A Sailing” is available from or Amazon (commissionable link).