At least there are loads of other powerful, competent and three-dimensional women and girls in this book. Not all of them are male dependent... to an extent. And not all of them are tragic figures with tragic female friendships... again, to an extent.
Why did I also say that there may be a few friendly spirits in 'The Queen of Blood'? They're all murderous monsters who despise humans and love bloodshed, no exception. It really is as black and white as all that.
And as I said in my original review, in acknowledging a flaw: The romance parts are side elements and add nothing important to the story in the slightest. They're not developed very well (though at least it's established early on that Daleina takes caretaker boys to her bed at the academy occasionally, before she meets her lightly-put "true love"; a subversion of the virginal YA female lead), and are just weird. Queen Fara may be a powerful and beloved queen, but it appears she still needs a man - Ven - to help her do what is right and to act as her conscience.
Still, 'The Queen of Blood' is a well written fantasy, if repetitive in places. There is wonderful worldbuilding, and I appreciate all the hard work and care that the author no doubt put into creating the novel. The ending remains a rare, effective, gut-wrenching tragedy. That part will stay with me, even if the rest of the book will not.
Maybe my knowledge of how poor and dumb the sequel will turn out to be hindered my enjoyment of 'The Queen of Blood' on the second read, as well.
Oh well.
Final Score: 3.5/5
Original Review:
"Don't trust the fire, it will burn you.
Don't trust the ice, it will freeze you.
Don't trust the water, it will drown you
Don't trust the air, it will choke you.
Don't trust the earth, it will bury you.
Don't trust the trees, they will rip you,
rend you, tear you, kill you dead."
Holy Hera, that ending.
THIS is epic fantasy and how it should be written. For someone new to writing this kind of fantasy, which is tremendously difficult for even the most experienced writers, Sarah Beth Durst did a terrific job introducing us to a new world called Renthia.
Renthia is a dangerous world where nature is key. In 'The Queen of Blood', the first book in this YA fantasy series, the majority of scenes are set in forests, and people live on tops of trees and use charms to protect themselves from vengeful spirits. These spirits of earth, fire, air, water, wood, and ice want to kill humans, but are compelled to obey the women and girls with an "affinity" to sense and communicate with them, to keep people safe from these natural disasters. Yet without the bloodthirsty spirits nature cannot continue its course and humanity will die out. The forest floor is still more deadly than up on the trees.
In 'The Queen of Blood', there are massacres, the destruction of entire villages, boarding school classes, themes of how great power comes great responsibility (and planning, not just for yourself but for helping others), and social, ethical and political intrigues on what is right and what is wrong. But right and wrong are just words; moral grey areas are fearlessly presented in this YA book, and there are no easy answers, only human ones. There is friendship, family, love, betrayal, loss, a wolf animal sidekick, and a villain spirit with a woman's body and an owl's head and feathers.
With great worldbuilding comes great characters also in this epic fantastical hero's journey. Daleina is a young girl whose treehouse village, Greytree, was destroyed by tree spirits when she was ten. She and her parents and her little sister Arin were the only survivors, thanks to her affinity with the dangerous creatures. Years later she enters the Northeast Academy, through trial and error, where she and hundreds of other girls wish to become candidates to trainers called champions, then heirs, and then one woman will be chosen by the spirits as the new queen - when the old one dies - of their country of Aratay in Renthia.
The queen alone controls all the spirits of the area and keeps the peace between the people and the supernatural beings. Daleina, the survivor, the outsider, wants to be queen so that she can prevent another tragedy like what had befallen her home village from happening again. Greytree was a fluke on the current queen Fara's part. Or was it? Is the queen losing power, or is there something else going on in the political front?
Daleina has determination and bravery matched by no other, but is being queen her right and her destiny? Especially since other girls demonstrate more power than her in their years at the academy. But what she lacks in natural talent, she excels in strategy on how to handle spirits. Instead of controlling them, forcing them to obey her, she encourages them to create, to grow, to find another outlet for their killing instincts. Maybe she'll find a few who are friendly towards her, as nothing is as black and white as she'd like to believe.
While Daleina continues to underestimate herself throughout the book, she clearly learns and develops in her abilities in a story about her and her successes and failures. She questions herself constantly, but she keeps going anyway. Academically Daleina is a top student, but when it comes to field work and summoning spirits, no matter how hard she tries, she always needs help. But that will change. She even trains while temporarily blinded, out in the world with its unpredictable forests and spirits. Nothing comes easy for her.
If there ever was a good anti-Mary Sue, Daleina is it.
I love how down-to-earth she is. She's smart, and possesses a moral compass which steers her to protect as many people as possible. Daleina knows all about bloodshed, about loss, and doesn't want others to experience them like she did. She is aware of the consequences of her actions when she is forced to make hard, grey choices for the greater good of her people. It is all part of her path to becoming queen, something Fara knows too well...
Other characters are fantastically-written and memorable. Daleina is the protagonist, but another main key player is Ven, a disgraced champion who still works to save people - he wishes to redeem himself for not making it to Greytree in time to fight the murdering spirits. He met Daleina as a child, and the two will cross paths once again, as destiny would have it. Ven is idealistic but serious, and as stubborn and determined as Daleina. He won't give up doing what is right, even with his personal, human shortcomings which involve his history with the trickster beauty Queen Fara. He has a snarky sense of humour underneath his armour, as well; making him and young Daleina a fitting team.
There are people with multicoloured skin, including green, and quirks, talents. One character, Revi, one of Daleina's female academy friends, is mentioned to have two mothers, a small but vital touch in a YA novel.
Female empowerment is another main theme in 'The Queen of Blood', as well as human empowerment and human tragedy. Daleina doesn't really make any enemies in the all-girls Northeast Academy; in fact, everyone seems to get along fine with each other. There are no "mean girls", just girls. Daleina cares about all her fellow students, even ones she doesn't know well. They all help each other out, comfort one another, go out on adventures together, learn from each other. They are a sisterhood; coming together for full support, in spite of being in competition on the path to becoming queen. The book is a giant middle finger to misogynists who want to claim that women cannot stand to be around each other as much as men do. Women are powerful and rule the world in 'The Queen of Blood'. It is a political fantasy, but it's never boring, and everything has a point to it.
Since nothing is perfect, however, the book has its flaws. The romance parts are side elements and add nothing important to the story in the slightest. They're not developed very well (though at least it's established early on that Daleina takes caretaker boys to her bed at the academy occasionally, before she meets her lightly-put "true love"; a subversion of the virginal YA female lead), and are just weird. Queen Fara may be a powerful and beloved queen, but it appears she still needs a man - Ven - to help her do what is right and to act as her conscience. The book develops Fara enough so the "women are easily corruptible and become crazy when given any power" cliche doesn't really apply here, but it comes close. The conniving owl woman is cool, however.
'The Queen of Blood (The Queens of Renthia, #1)' is unrestricted by its YA label. It contains no bad language, and sex scenes happen off-page and are only implied, but that's it. There is a lot of death here, shockingly so, especially at the end. Themes of power and sacrifice are not watered down: Characters die and the survivors feel every painful moment of it. No one is overlooked or forgotten about, even if certain deaths are not as hard-hitting as they should be for the main characters. The meaning of the story's title, 'The Queen of Blood', will hold more significance at the very end, and it is brilliant. I'm still recovering from it!
Sarah Beth Durst has created a great fantasy with a brave and resourceful heroine, with no two-dimensional or uninteresting characters. Everything about it is fleshed-out. It's a fully-realized world, where women are important and get shit done. With 'The Queen of Blood', Ms Durst has written a tragedy rarely seen with such gravitas in YA fiction. She's made up her own 'Star Wars', 'Hunger Games' (the deadly "survival" contest, and the blood-sister connection between Daleina and Arin, as well as the spiritual sisterhood Daleina shares with her school friends), 'Game of Thrones', and 'Princess Academy'.
Recommended for anyone looking for something exciting, clever and deeply emotional in the fantasy genre - YA, high or epic, it doesn't matter.
Final Score: 4.5/5
And as I said in my original review, in acknowledging a flaw: The romance parts are side elements and add nothing important to the story in the slightest. They're not developed very well (though at least it's established early on that Daleina takes caretaker boys to her bed at the academy occasionally, before she meets her lightly-put "true love"; a subversion of the virginal YA female lead), and are just weird. Queen Fara may be a powerful and beloved queen, but it appears she still needs a man - Ven - to help her do what is right and to act as her conscience.
Still, 'The Queen of Blood' is a well written fantasy, if repetitive in places. There is wonderful worldbuilding, and I appreciate all the hard work and care that the author no doubt put into creating the novel. The ending remains a rare, effective, gut-wrenching tragedy. That part will stay with me, even if the rest of the book will not.
Maybe my knowledge of how poor and dumb the sequel will turn out to be hindered my enjoyment of 'The Queen of Blood' on the second read, as well.
Oh well.
Final Score: 3.5/5
Original Review:
"Don't trust the fire, it will burn you.
Don't trust the ice, it will freeze you.
Don't trust the water, it will drown you
Don't trust the air, it will choke you.
Don't trust the earth, it will bury you.
Don't trust the trees, they will rip you,
rend you, tear you, kill you dead."
Holy Hera, that ending.
THIS is epic fantasy and how it should be written. For someone new to writing this kind of fantasy, which is tremendously difficult for even the most experienced writers, Sarah Beth Durst did a terrific job introducing us to a new world called Renthia.
Renthia is a dangerous world where nature is key. In 'The Queen of Blood', the first book in this YA fantasy series, the majority of scenes are set in forests, and people live on tops of trees and use charms to protect themselves from vengeful spirits. These spirits of earth, fire, air, water, wood, and ice want to kill humans, but are compelled to obey the women and girls with an "affinity" to sense and communicate with them, to keep people safe from these natural disasters. Yet without the bloodthirsty spirits nature cannot continue its course and humanity will die out. The forest floor is still more deadly than up on the trees.
In 'The Queen of Blood', there are massacres, the destruction of entire villages, boarding school classes, themes of how great power comes great responsibility (and planning, not just for yourself but for helping others), and social, ethical and political intrigues on what is right and what is wrong. But right and wrong are just words; moral grey areas are fearlessly presented in this YA book, and there are no easy answers, only human ones. There is friendship, family, love, betrayal, loss, a wolf animal sidekick, and a villain spirit with a woman's body and an owl's head and feathers.
With great worldbuilding comes great characters also in this epic fantastical hero's journey. Daleina is a young girl whose treehouse village, Greytree, was destroyed by tree spirits when she was ten. She and her parents and her little sister Arin were the only survivors, thanks to her affinity with the dangerous creatures. Years later she enters the Northeast Academy, through trial and error, where she and hundreds of other girls wish to become candidates to trainers called champions, then heirs, and then one woman will be chosen by the spirits as the new queen - when the old one dies - of their country of Aratay in Renthia.
The queen alone controls all the spirits of the area and keeps the peace between the people and the supernatural beings. Daleina, the survivor, the outsider, wants to be queen so that she can prevent another tragedy like what had befallen her home village from happening again. Greytree was a fluke on the current queen Fara's part. Or was it? Is the queen losing power, or is there something else going on in the political front?
Daleina has determination and bravery matched by no other, but is being queen her right and her destiny? Especially since other girls demonstrate more power than her in their years at the academy. But what she lacks in natural talent, she excels in strategy on how to handle spirits. Instead of controlling them, forcing them to obey her, she encourages them to create, to grow, to find another outlet for their killing instincts. Maybe she'll find a few who are friendly towards her, as nothing is as black and white as she'd like to believe.
While Daleina continues to underestimate herself throughout the book, she clearly learns and develops in her abilities in a story about her and her successes and failures. She questions herself constantly, but she keeps going anyway. Academically Daleina is a top student, but when it comes to field work and summoning spirits, no matter how hard she tries, she always needs help. But that will change. She even trains while temporarily blinded, out in the world with its unpredictable forests and spirits. Nothing comes easy for her.
If there ever was a good anti-Mary Sue, Daleina is it.
I love how down-to-earth she is. She's smart, and possesses a moral compass which steers her to protect as many people as possible. Daleina knows all about bloodshed, about loss, and doesn't want others to experience them like she did. She is aware of the consequences of her actions when she is forced to make hard, grey choices for the greater good of her people. It is all part of her path to becoming queen, something Fara knows too well...
Other characters are fantastically-written and memorable. Daleina is the protagonist, but another main key player is Ven, a disgraced champion who still works to save people - he wishes to redeem himself for not making it to Greytree in time to fight the murdering spirits. He met Daleina as a child, and the two will cross paths once again, as destiny would have it. Ven is idealistic but serious, and as stubborn and determined as Daleina. He won't give up doing what is right, even with his personal, human shortcomings which involve his history with the trickster beauty Queen Fara. He has a snarky sense of humour underneath his armour, as well; making him and young Daleina a fitting team.
There are people with multicoloured skin, including green, and quirks, talents. One character, Revi, one of Daleina's female academy friends, is mentioned to have two mothers, a small but vital touch in a YA novel.
Female empowerment is another main theme in 'The Queen of Blood', as well as human empowerment and human tragedy. Daleina doesn't really make any enemies in the all-girls Northeast Academy; in fact, everyone seems to get along fine with each other. There are no "mean girls", just girls. Daleina cares about all her fellow students, even ones she doesn't know well. They all help each other out, comfort one another, go out on adventures together, learn from each other. They are a sisterhood; coming together for full support, in spite of being in competition on the path to becoming queen. The book is a giant middle finger to misogynists who want to claim that women cannot stand to be around each other as much as men do. Women are powerful and rule the world in 'The Queen of Blood'. It is a political fantasy, but it's never boring, and everything has a point to it.
Since nothing is perfect, however, the book has its flaws. The romance parts are side elements and add nothing important to the story in the slightest. They're not developed very well (though at least it's established early on that Daleina takes caretaker boys to her bed at the academy occasionally, before she meets her lightly-put "true love"; a subversion of the virginal YA female lead), and are just weird. Queen Fara may be a powerful and beloved queen, but it appears she still needs a man - Ven - to help her do what is right and to act as her conscience. The book develops Fara enough so the "women are easily corruptible and become crazy when given any power" cliche doesn't really apply here, but it comes close. The conniving owl woman is cool, however.
'The Queen of Blood (The Queens of Renthia, #1)' is unrestricted by its YA label. It contains no bad language, and sex scenes happen off-page and are only implied, but that's it. There is a lot of death here, shockingly so, especially at the end. Themes of power and sacrifice are not watered down: Characters die and the survivors feel every painful moment of it. No one is overlooked or forgotten about, even if certain deaths are not as hard-hitting as they should be for the main characters. The meaning of the story's title, 'The Queen of Blood', will hold more significance at the very end, and it is brilliant. I'm still recovering from it!
Sarah Beth Durst has created a great fantasy with a brave and resourceful heroine, with no two-dimensional or uninteresting characters. Everything about it is fleshed-out. It's a fully-realized world, where women are important and get shit done. With 'The Queen of Blood', Ms Durst has written a tragedy rarely seen with such gravitas in YA fiction. She's made up her own 'Star Wars', 'Hunger Games' (the deadly "survival" contest, and the blood-sister connection between Daleina and Arin, as well as the spiritual sisterhood Daleina shares with her school friends), 'Game of Thrones', and 'Princess Academy'.
Recommended for anyone looking for something exciting, clever and deeply emotional in the fantasy genre - YA, high or epic, it doesn't matter.
Final Score: 4.5/5
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