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A review by mastersal
The Born Queen by Greg Keyes
4.0
June was a slumpy (is that a word?) IRL month for me which made me not want to read. This is when I know the world is ending or something is broken in me (or both). Thankfully, I decided to give in and get this from Audible which is probably the only reason why I managed to read instead of doom scrolling.
The audio generally worked for me - the voice the narrator did for Aspar did come across as terse. The voice he did for the women in the book was a little odd in the beginning but I settled into it without really much issue.
This book also reminded me why series should be read closer together because otherwise I forget everything that happened. When I started this book I was quite confused for the first 50 pages - so I would recommend picking this up quite quickly after Book 3.
Character wise, there were too many POVs so some got short shrift. It’s as if the author dropped them to save space. It did intellectually annoy me because he should have not included these in the first place but honestly, since these were not favourites, I didn't mind too much. I was surprised as how much I liked Stephan’s POV here - he was not a favourite last time.
There was also too much romance in these series which stood in for meaningful relationships. All the characters had a love interest - some introduced at the last minute in the previous books and some here. It was all kinds of ridiculous - so much so that I went from annoyed to amused. I spent some time speculating which new character would end up with which. Quite inadvertently funny. However, I did miss other shades of relationships here. Where were the epic, ride-or-die friendships. Except Anne and Austra (thank god for them), it’s like the author forgot that other character dynamics could apply. It did keep me from emotionally investing in most of the characters as they seemed quite fake because the device of pairing them up was awkward. It didn’t raise the stakes for me or make me care.
The plotting in the book was a little frenetic as there was a lot to wrap up in the book. So much so that you really can’t pause this book at all to take a breath. Some threads were dropped and some reveals came too late in the overall arc of the series.
Even though I was not emotionally invested in any of the characters really, I enjoyed my time with the book. It was a strong adventure fantasy novel which actually WRAPPED UP (amazing!!). There were some timey-wimey elements which I really enjoyed. Also a little too much “THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP” for me not to be amused.
This is definitely a more traditional fantasy but it ticks along which I appreciate. I like what the author did and he definitely didn’t overstretch. Perhaps that is a lack of ambition but I liked the focus on telling a complete story. The ending also accelerated things and ended with a bang.
The ending really got me - it was lovely, hopeful and sad all at the same time. As a result, I am giving the book 4.5 stars. Objectively this book needed another 100 pages to flush out some of the revelations but the sucker punch in the end got me.
Also, I bought these books so many years ago and now they are finished. Good job me. Half star for that too
The audio generally worked for me - the voice the narrator did for Aspar did come across as terse. The voice he did for the women in the book was a little odd in the beginning but I settled into it without really much issue.
This book also reminded me why series should be read closer together because otherwise I forget everything that happened. When I started this book I was quite confused for the first 50 pages - so I would recommend picking this up quite quickly after Book 3.
Character wise, there were too many POVs so some got short shrift. It’s as if the author dropped them to save space. It did intellectually annoy me because he should have not included these in the first place but honestly, since these were not favourites, I didn't mind too much. I was surprised as how much I liked Stephan’s POV here - he was not a favourite last time.
Spoiler
For example, the author has sidelined the music composer POV, which made sense since that was the weakest in the previous book. In book 3 it seemed to exist only to show Robert evil on the page and give him something to do. This could have been excised from the world-building without much issue for me.There was also too much romance in these series which stood in for meaningful relationships. All the characters had a love interest - some introduced at the last minute in the previous books and some here. It was all kinds of ridiculous - so much so that I went from annoyed to amused. I spent some time speculating which new character would end up with which. Quite inadvertently funny. However, I did miss other shades of relationships here. Where were the epic, ride-or-die friendships. Except Anne and Austra (thank god for them), it’s like the author forgot that other character dynamics could apply. It did keep me from emotionally investing in most of the characters as they seemed quite fake because the device of pairing them up was awkward. It didn’t raise the stakes for me or make me care.
Spoiler
For example, the greftson falling in love with Winna - I think it was meant to make the reader care when he died but I was so glad because I found his pining over her stupid. He had no other personality - making him chivalrous would have made him more interesting. Instead, he was in love with Winna and therefore was helping. Sure - meh.The plotting in the book was a little frenetic as there was a lot to wrap up in the book. So much so that you really can’t pause this book at all to take a breath. Some threads were dropped and some reveals came too late in the overall arc of the series.
Even though I was not emotionally invested in any of the characters really, I enjoyed my time with the book. It was a strong adventure fantasy novel which actually WRAPPED UP (amazing!!). There were some timey-wimey elements which I really enjoyed. Also a little too much “THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP” for me not to be amused.
This is definitely a more traditional fantasy but it ticks along which I appreciate. I like what the author did and he definitely didn’t overstretch. Perhaps that is a lack of ambition but I liked the focus on telling a complete story. The ending also accelerated things and ended with a bang.
Spoiler
And even though a lot of the main cast survived, there was a poignancy to the ending which finally won me over in the emotional stakes. I was expecting Anne to die but I was glad she didn’t - she was a child who never got to live. Not sure what kind of life she will have but it was nice to see her with her brother.The ending really got me - it was lovely, hopeful and sad all at the same time. As a result, I am giving the book 4.5 stars. Objectively this book needed another 100 pages to flush out some of the revelations but the sucker punch in the end got me.
Also, I bought these books so many years ago and now they are finished. Good job me. Half star for that too