Book Review: Coven Queen
THE COVEN QUEEN is a dark fantasy work which follows a young woman named Jularra who is the ruler of the cursed kingdom of Acorlian. Every generation the queen is sacrificed, and her child must take over, but Jularra hasn't yet a child to take her place. This is due to an evil pact her family made with the Voidguardian. Sort of an evil god.
Worse, her kingdom is falling to pieces and on the verge of starvation. This is despite the fact they are a country with a strong military and many magic users. Because this is dark fantasy not noblebright, the solution is to invade a nearby country and take their stuff.
I appreciate this "twist" as it is not the sort of thing you normally see as the premise of a fantasy novel. Usually, we don't see a ruler, let alone a female one, decide to make an extremely pragmatic decision like this outside of grimdark. I wouldn't necessarily say this is grimdark, but it is on the more cynical side of things.
The book also makes it clear that sexism is playing a role in the way the kingdom is being treated but doesn't really make a big deal of it. The surrounding kingdoms believe that Jularra is weak and expect her to accept whatever terms they can due to the upcoming famine. This keeps them unsympathetic enough that when the tables are turned, you don't feel too bad for them. Perhaps the book is stacking the odds in the favor of ruthlessness, but I have to say that it’s nice to be taken a bit by surprise.
Much of the book is devoted to the journey of Jularra from being a hesitant and pacifist ruler to being a ruthless warrior queen. Jularra is a very likable protagonist, and her role is like Sansa and, to a lesser extent, Daenerys. The supporting cast is somewhat lacking but the angst and character building of the lead more than makes up for it. This is standalone and quite entertaining.
I'm a bit saddened by the fact that this is only a standalone because I liked the main character enough that I would have been willing to read some more books in her "voice." Still, it's good to have someone and done fantasy to read as well as the traditional epic stories. Things don't go entirely our antiheroine's way but seeing her rise the occasion is fun.
In conclusion, The Coven Queen is a pretty good example of indie fantasy and if you want to recommend trying out the genre then Jeramy Goble's book is a decent place to start. It's available on Kindle Unlimited as well and is one of the better examples of the fantasy there. Definitely worth an afternoon's read.
