Queen of the Conquered
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Description
*Named one of TIME's Top 100 Fantasy Books Of All Time
* World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, winner
On the islands of Hans Lollik, Sigourney Rose was the only survivor when her family was massacred by the colonizers. When the childless king of the islands declares he will choose his successor from amongst eligible noble families, Sigourney is ready to exact her revenge.
But someone is killing off the ruling families to clear a path to the throne. And as the bodies pile up and all eyes regard her with suspicion, Sigourney must find allies among her prey and the murderer among her peers... lest she become the next victim.
Praise for Queen of the Conquered:
"A storm of a novel as epic as Alexandre Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo." —Tochi Onyebuchi, author of Beasts Made of Night
"The book's absorbing setting, captivating lead, and relevant themes of race and class complement each other with alternating delicacy and savagery."—NPR Books
"Callender's first adult novel draws race relations, conquest, magic, and politics into an imaginative, layered story that will keep readers twisting until the end." —Library Journal
Islands of Blood and Storm
Queen of the Conquered
King of the Rising
Book Information
Posts
DNF'ed at around ~50% plus the couple of last pages including the reveal (which is also why I am giving this book a rating even though I dnf'ed it. I obviously didn't read every single page but I read a big chunk of it and skimmed over every chapter I didn't fully read, so I at least saw every page) I really tried so hard to get into this book, especially because it deals with colonialism, slavery and privilge in a Carribean-inspired fantasy setting and I really wanted to enjoy it. However, the little worldbuilding that is happening in this book is done via info dumping, and I really struggled to figure out who was who with all these similar names and islands. There is also not much happening. There is barely any action and even less dialogue, we learn about everything through recaps and streams of thoughts of the main character, but then it's also distant with out her emotions? Idk, I feel like this choice of narration was not the best, as it feels incredibly distant, and it's more of a telling instead of showing. Also, a big part of the story was supposed to be about revenge, and until I dnf'ed the book, I never felt like Sigourney was really out for revenge, we just get told she is but her actions don't match this. Because I am someone who needs closure, I obviously read the ending and yes, the plot twist was intriguing and I didn't see it coming, but again: we are just getting told everything from Sigourney's thoughts, and the way of narration just did not work for me. I wasn't intrigued enough to continue. So even though I still think the author had an amazing idea for a fantasy series, I think the execution had so much more potential with a different style of narration and better worldbuilding.
Description
*Named one of TIME's Top 100 Fantasy Books Of All Time
* World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, winner
On the islands of Hans Lollik, Sigourney Rose was the only survivor when her family was massacred by the colonizers. When the childless king of the islands declares he will choose his successor from amongst eligible noble families, Sigourney is ready to exact her revenge.
But someone is killing off the ruling families to clear a path to the throne. And as the bodies pile up and all eyes regard her with suspicion, Sigourney must find allies among her prey and the murderer among her peers... lest she become the next victim.
Praise for Queen of the Conquered:
"A storm of a novel as epic as Alexandre Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo." —Tochi Onyebuchi, author of Beasts Made of Night
"The book's absorbing setting, captivating lead, and relevant themes of race and class complement each other with alternating delicacy and savagery."—NPR Books
"Callender's first adult novel draws race relations, conquest, magic, and politics into an imaginative, layered story that will keep readers twisting until the end." —Library Journal
Islands of Blood and Storm
Queen of the Conquered
King of the Rising
Book Information
Posts
DNF'ed at around ~50% plus the couple of last pages including the reveal (which is also why I am giving this book a rating even though I dnf'ed it. I obviously didn't read every single page but I read a big chunk of it and skimmed over every chapter I didn't fully read, so I at least saw every page) I really tried so hard to get into this book, especially because it deals with colonialism, slavery and privilge in a Carribean-inspired fantasy setting and I really wanted to enjoy it. However, the little worldbuilding that is happening in this book is done via info dumping, and I really struggled to figure out who was who with all these similar names and islands. There is also not much happening. There is barely any action and even less dialogue, we learn about everything through recaps and streams of thoughts of the main character, but then it's also distant with out her emotions? Idk, I feel like this choice of narration was not the best, as it feels incredibly distant, and it's more of a telling instead of showing. Also, a big part of the story was supposed to be about revenge, and until I dnf'ed the book, I never felt like Sigourney was really out for revenge, we just get told she is but her actions don't match this. Because I am someone who needs closure, I obviously read the ending and yes, the plot twist was intriguing and I didn't see it coming, but again: we are just getting told everything from Sigourney's thoughts, and the way of narration just did not work for me. I wasn't intrigued enough to continue. So even though I still think the author had an amazing idea for a fantasy series, I think the execution had so much more potential with a different style of narration and better worldbuilding.