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emtees's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I did enjoy this one, just not as much as the previous two books in the series. The biggest problem I had was that, like in The Reluctant Queen, there are two protagonists with two parallel stories, and here they just didn’t seem well balanced.
In the aftermath of The Reluctant Queen, Aratay now has two queens: Daleina, young, well trained and dedicated solely to the nation, but weaker in magic, and Naelin, a powerhouse whose focus always remains divided between her position and her children. Daleina and Naelin have come to a good balance in their partnership, but that is ripped apart when Naelin’s children, Erian and Llor, are kidnapped by Merecot, queen of the rival nation of Semo. In her rage at the loss of her children, Naelin takes control of Aratay’s spirits and unleashes devastation. Though Daleina manages to restore balance, the peace in Aratay is shaken. Naelin sets off with Champion Ven to rescue the children and hopefully put an end to the threat of Semo, while Daleina is left to rule Aratay, figure out a solution to the ongoing problem of their lack of heirs, and try to keep the spirits in check.
First, the good: the world building continues to be superb. This book really expands the world of Renthia beyond what we’ve seen before. We get glimpses into the other nations, and also visit the Untamed Lands, regions with no queens, where the spirits create and destroy unrestricted. We also get a lot more of the mythology of this world that has only been hinted at in the previous books, and delve into the nature of the spirits and their history with humanity. The plot is complex and twisty like always, though without quite as many surprises as in the previous books. And I loved that we got to spend time with Merecot; she made for a fantastic antagonist.
The problem for me, though, was that there were a few plot lines going on here, and they were clearly not all of equal importance. The main plot line involved the kidnapping of Naelin’s children and her quest to see them returned - and to save Aratay from the threat of Semo, though it is very clear that for Naelin, that is a secondary concern. Naelin continues to be a character who is defined almost entirely by her love for her children. I appreciated that we saw the ways this wasn’t always a good thing - Naelin proved unable to maintain the emotional control necessary for someone with a whole bunch of destructive spirits linked to her when the children were threatened - but it still got repetitive. I still really like Erian and Llor themselves, and I enjoyed the family scenes and seeing the way they were adjusting to their parents’ divorce and Naelin’s relationship with Ven. And the actual plot in Semo was quite good; it was great that Hanna, now an Ambassador, got to be part of it despite her injuries in the previous book, and as I said, Merecot was fantastic.
Meanwhile, Daleina, my favorite character, was stuck in what felt like a side plot, or really a series of make-busy plots. For much of the story, Daleina seemed to be just reacting to what was going on in the Naelin plot. Naelin’s emotional breakdown made room for Daleina to step up and take control of their spirits, and there was some interesting stuff with how her attitude towards the spirits has changed since the beginning of the trilogy. But for the most part, Daleina was just making time until she could become relevant again for the climax. There was a subplot about her quest for new heirs that went literally nowhere, some amusing stuff with Garnah (the murderer who for some reason is still living in the palace), and a lot of receiving messages from Naelin and deciding what to do about them. From what I’ve read, it looks like the story was always meant to focus more on Naelin than Daleina but the fact that she was the protagonist of the first book makes her minimized role here feel odd. Add in to that that Ven, her former Champion, and Bayn, Best Dog Ever, are now fully part of Naelin’s plot even though they started out in the first book as Daleina’s companions, and it really feels like Durst would rather have left her out of this one altogether.
There is also a subplot for Arin, Daleina’s sister, that unfortunately feels really half-baked. It’s awkwardly paced and very underwritten. It’s too bad, because that story, especially the romantic arc, had potential, but it ultimately felt like the author couldn’t really fit it in and just gave us brief glimpses of what would have been a really great story.
Finally, the climax of the book, while it raises a lot of fascinating concepts and expands the world and its lore even further, is also kind of a mess. Without getting into spoilers, I was really disappointed and found the ultimate ending anti-climactic. It wasn’t bad enough to ruin the book for me, and there were things, especially some of the character development, that I liked, but it still wasn’t great. Still, I love this world enough that I’m going to read the next book in the series, a stand-alone set in the same world, and look forward to Durst’s other work.
In the aftermath of The Reluctant Queen, Aratay now has two queens: Daleina, young, well trained and dedicated solely to the nation, but weaker in magic, and Naelin, a powerhouse whose focus always remains divided between her position and her children. Daleina and Naelin have come to a good balance in their partnership, but that is ripped apart when Naelin’s children, Erian and Llor, are kidnapped by Merecot, queen of the rival nation of Semo. In her rage at the loss of her children, Naelin takes control of Aratay’s spirits and unleashes devastation. Though Daleina manages to restore balance, the peace in Aratay is shaken. Naelin sets off with Champion Ven to rescue the children and hopefully put an end to the threat of Semo, while Daleina is left to rule Aratay, figure out a solution to the ongoing problem of their lack of heirs, and try to keep the spirits in check.
First, the good: the world building continues to be superb. This book really expands the world of Renthia beyond what we’ve seen before. We get glimpses into the other nations, and also visit the Untamed Lands, regions with no queens, where the spirits create and destroy unrestricted. We also get a lot more of the mythology of this world that has only been hinted at in the previous books, and delve into the nature of the spirits and their history with humanity. The plot is complex and twisty like always, though without quite as many surprises as in the previous books. And I loved that we got to spend time with Merecot; she made for a fantastic antagonist.
The problem for me, though, was that there were a few plot lines going on here, and they were clearly not all of equal importance. The main plot line involved the kidnapping of Naelin’s children and her quest to see them returned - and to save Aratay from the threat of Semo, though it is very clear that for Naelin, that is a secondary concern. Naelin continues to be a character who is defined almost entirely by her love for her children. I appreciated that we saw the ways this wasn’t always a good thing - Naelin proved unable to maintain the emotional control necessary for someone with a whole bunch of destructive spirits linked to her when the children were threatened - but it still got repetitive. I still really like Erian and Llor themselves, and I enjoyed the family scenes and seeing the way they were adjusting to their parents’ divorce and Naelin’s relationship with Ven. And the actual plot in Semo was quite good; it was great that Hanna, now an Ambassador, got to be part of it despite her injuries in the previous book, and as I said, Merecot was fantastic.
Meanwhile, Daleina, my favorite character, was stuck in what felt like a side plot, or really a series of make-busy plots. For much of the story, Daleina seemed to be just reacting to what was going on in the Naelin plot. Naelin’s emotional breakdown made room for Daleina to step up and take control of their spirits, and there was some interesting stuff with how her attitude towards the spirits has changed since the beginning of the trilogy. But for the most part, Daleina was just making time until she could become relevant again for the climax. There was a subplot about her quest for new heirs that went literally nowhere, some amusing stuff with Garnah (the murderer who for some reason is still living in the palace), and a lot of receiving messages from Naelin and deciding what to do about them. From what I’ve read, it looks like the story was always meant to focus more on Naelin than Daleina but the fact that she was the protagonist of the first book makes her minimized role here feel odd. Add in to that that Ven, her former Champion, and Bayn, Best Dog Ever, are now fully part of Naelin’s plot even though they started out in the first book as Daleina’s companions, and it really feels like Durst would rather have left her out of this one altogether.
There is also a subplot for Arin, Daleina’s sister, that unfortunately feels really half-baked. It’s awkwardly paced and very underwritten. It’s too bad, because that story, especially the romantic arc, had potential, but it ultimately felt like the author couldn’t really fit it in and just gave us brief glimpses of what would have been a really great story.
Finally, the climax of the book, while it raises a lot of fascinating concepts and expands the world and its lore even further, is also kind of a mess. Without getting into spoilers, I was really disappointed and found the ultimate ending anti-climactic. It wasn’t bad enough to ruin the book for me, and there were things, especially some of the character development, that I liked, but it still wasn’t great. Still, I love this world enough that I’m going to read the next book in the series, a stand-alone set in the same world, and look forward to Durst’s other work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Minor: Death of parent and Ableism
Fantasy violence. Some secondary characters lose a parent. Fear of losing a child:
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