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A review by seanpatricklittle
Queenslayer by Sebastien de Castell
5.0
In the last few years, Sebastien de Castell has become one of my favorite authors. His Greatcoats series is a masterpiece. His Spellslinger series up there, too. Geared more toward a YA crowd, the adventures of Kellen Argos is a fun romp, well worthy of reading. With the penultimate installment of this series, you can see the plane is landing, but you don't want the flight to be over.
Kellen finds himself in Darome, a country that exists inside of an intricate series of royal court machinations. Who is lying? Who is your friend? Who is your enemy? In Darome, the answer to those questions are Everyone, No One, and Everyone.
One of the things that de Castell does better than almost any author I've ever read is torture the protagonist. In almost every book he's written, de Castell invents some new method to lower his protagonist to a breaking point, and then somehow get him out of it in a clever and heroic method. Falcio Val Mond in the Greatcoats started this habit of his, but Kellen carries the torch of enduring abuse from the author quite well. At one point in QUEENSLAYER, I remember putting the book down and trying to think my way out of the predicament that Kellen found himself in, and I figured he was done. He was defeated, totally and utterly. In my mind, there was no way out of the trap that de Castell had thrown him in, but somehow Kellen figured out a way to beat the odds and punish the people who needed to be punished.
I love this series. I'll be sad to see it end. However, when it does when the sixth book comes out, it will be a series that will stand the test of time. This book is well worth your attentions.
Kellen finds himself in Darome, a country that exists inside of an intricate series of royal court machinations. Who is lying? Who is your friend? Who is your enemy? In Darome, the answer to those questions are Everyone, No One, and Everyone.
One of the things that de Castell does better than almost any author I've ever read is torture the protagonist. In almost every book he's written, de Castell invents some new method to lower his protagonist to a breaking point, and then somehow get him out of it in a clever and heroic method. Falcio Val Mond in the Greatcoats started this habit of his, but Kellen carries the torch of enduring abuse from the author quite well. At one point in QUEENSLAYER, I remember putting the book down and trying to think my way out of the predicament that Kellen found himself in, and I figured he was done. He was defeated, totally and utterly. In my mind, there was no way out of the trap that de Castell had thrown him in, but somehow Kellen figured out a way to beat the odds and punish the people who needed to be punished.
I love this series. I'll be sad to see it end. However, when it does when the sixth book comes out, it will be a series that will stand the test of time. This book is well worth your attentions.