Queen of Shadows
2015
- magic
- ya
- high fantasy
- fiction
- romance
- fantasy
- royalty
- court
- rebellion
- assassins
The story
Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she's at last returned to the empire-for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past... She has embraced her identity as Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen. But before she can reclaim her throne, she must fight. She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die just to see her again. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen's triumphant return. Celaena's epic journey has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions across the globe. This fourth volume will hold readers rapt as Celaena's story builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.
What it’s like
Lush, theatrical prose full of candlelit halls, velvet and steel, sun-baked desert roads, and cold mountain air, with a steady ember of romance running under the danger. The voice is close and emotional, with long interior passages, dramatic dialogue, and scenes that swell into set-piece confrontations before settling into quieter moments of grief and longing. The mood is fierce and yearning, tilting toward heartbreak. Violence is present and sometimes harsh, including imprisonment, torture, and battle deaths, but it is written at emotional rather than anatomical length, and sensual scenes between the leads are fairly frank without being graphic. The pace is brisk within chapters and shifts between several viewpoints, so the story keeps moving across multiple threads. It suits a late-night read, a long weekend with a cup of tea, or a comfort reread for anyone who likes sprawling fantasy with a strong romantic pull. It is for readers who want an epic, operatic story of a fiercely determined heroine, rebellion, and divided loyalties, and who are comfortable with dark turns and emotional intensity.
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