The Shadow Throne is the third and final instalment of The Ice Queen trilogy. I loved meeting back up with Cas and Aria, and finding out just what they had been up to. You can expect the same sarcasm that has been so prevalent in the previous two books, as well as more political machinations. However, this time, you will also have more emotions running through you than you will know what to do with them. There are not many books that have me crying by 25%, but this one managed it.

 

These characters are so well developed, so well rounded, it is a delight to read. Every situation seems thought about, from numerous angles, just to ensure it reads correctly. And situations that might have a warp on them, somehow seem to be right when done for these characters.

 

If there were any editing or grammatical errors, then I missed them. I don't think there were, but I honestly don't really care. I was that engrossed with the story, I was completely unable to put it down. So sad to finish this trilogy, but at least I can re-read them from the beginning now.

 

Absolutely and utterly recommended by me.

 

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *

 

Merissa

Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!

The first part of a series called the Serpentwar, this novel is all about a fierce campaign between the human race and the Saaur, a race of serpent/lizard creatures hell-bent on conquest. The main character, Erik, is a blacksmith who gets embroiled in this conflict against his will. Other characters abound and luckily there's a list of them at the beginning of the book if the reader can't remember them all.

There's not a great deal of fantasy elements apart from the odd show of magic and some interesting individual characters. Elves, dwarves etc.. are mentioned but do not feature greatly.

Not a bad read - and I'll plough through the rest of the series at some point - but I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped.

I'll be honest, this probably isn't a book I would have normally went out and purchased, however, I received an ARC of 'The Wish Granter', book #2 in the Ravenspire series, and sequel to 'The Shadow Queen' and I was intrigued enough to give the series a try (great marketing by Balzer + Bray). I opted to go with the audio version on audible which is my preferred format for reading high fantasy, especially book 1 in a series containing unique names and places with difficult pronunciations that would slow me down where I reading the hardcopy. The narrator, Khristine Hvam, did a good job, not a great job, I would have liked to see a bit more of a range of contrast when narrating the different characters, especially the villain, but overall she captured the essence of the story and sufficiently gave it a life and a voice. I would listen to her narration for other books in the future.

The Shadow Queen is a retelling of snow white in which Lorelai, the teenage heroine escaped the wrath of her evil aunt turned stepmother, Irina, when she was a young girl. Irina has assumed that both Lorelai and her younger brother, Leo, were killed along with their father when I Reena bewitched the kingdom and took over the crown. However, rumors of Lorelai's existence cause Irina to negotiate a blood oath with Kol - the young and newly appointed king of Elder, who has the ability to transform from human to Dragon at will -to hunt down Lorelai the rightful queen of Ravenspire, and return with her heart. The blood oath ensures that if Kol fails at this mission he will die but if he succeeds Irina has agreed to use her magic to save his people, the kingdom of Elder from the certain annihilation brought on by an opposing force that is quickly closing down upon them. To guarantee his cooperation, Irina takes Kol's human heart as collateral, leaving him with only his predatorial dragons heart, as she sends him out to do her bidding.

Will Irina succeed in destroying Lorelai, the last and only threat that could take away her crown and reclaim her birthright as the queen of Ravenspire or has Irina greatly underestimated the strength and power of Lorelai's magic and the loyalty of her friends and followers???

Overall, I rate this story with 3.5 stars. It wasn't my favorite book of all time but it wasn't horrible either. I found the characters to be a bit flat and the storyline was quite predictable, but considering this was a retelling of a fairytale I guess that was to be expected. It was entertaining enough but lacking in any real substance but I will continue to read C.J. Redwine and look forward to book 2 in the Ravenspire series, The Wish Granter, said to be a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin and from what I can tell from the synopsis, has completely different characters altogether, which is a bit of a disappointment in my opinion. I definitely highly recommend the audio version opposed to the regular print version of this book.

You can read more of my reviews on my blog
http://www.readwithme207.blogspot.com

Not a bad fantasy novel but not a good one either. The writing was professional, but the plot, the characters, and the world-building didn’t ring true. Of course, it is #7 in a series, but I’m not tempted to read the first six novels. Neither the world nor its denizens attracted me.

Bishop’s world is ruled by wizards and witches, but for some reason, she calls them Princes and Queens. They are a volatile race, with lots of magical powers but not much of humanity or decency. The story is centered on them, while simple non-magical people are hardly mentioned at all.

These Queens and Princes constantly jockey for power and dominance. Their tempers explode, their passions collide, but I wasn’t impressed. I didn’t sympathize with their plight. Instead, I wanted to puke from all their posturing. They were all repulsive. The Princes and Queens in this story were supposed to be good guys, but I disliked them immensely.

From the backstory, of which there is a lot in this book, I’m guessing that in the past six books, their power plays almost destroyed the world. This book is an aftermath. The main plotline focuses on a territory (a country, a kingdom or a village, I’m not sure) that needs a new Queen. Why? Again I’m not sure. All their previous Queens were evil bitches and were destroyed by whatever cataclysm happened in the first six novels. Now Prince Theran brings home a new Queen, Cassidy, from another realm.

Cassidy is not beautiful, nor powerful. Nobody wants her there. Nobody trusts her. She is unsure of herself, with a bunch of insecurities, and Theran despises her too. But he has to serve her. Again, why? I’m not sure. So he acts like a prick and sabotages her every move.

Theran’s cousin, Gray, is a broken man. When he was fifteen, he was captured and tortured by the evil Queens for two years before he was rescued. Now, he can only work as gardener. His mind and body are not what they could’ve been if he was whole.

Of course, Gray and Cassidy meet and fall in love. They plant flowers too. In the process, they are both redeemed, healed, yada, yada, yada. Theirs is not an original story but it is the best one this book offers. Because of their story I finished reading the novel instead of throwing it away in disgust after the first 50 pages.  

The second subplot of the book has nothing to do with the main story. It is all about other Princes (the protagonists from the previous books of the series) and it has to do with their sex lives. Multiplied by their tremendous magical powers, this subplot was distasteful to the extreme.

Overall – really blah.

The quen story was very sweet and the kind of romance I'd like to see more often. 

 

The crew side if things was intense and full of emotion.

 

Good all around.