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Murphy, C.E. - The Queen's Bastard
Mon, Nov. 24th, 2008 03:26 pmBecause I did not find out until the last page, which made me decidedly grumpy, I will let you all know right off the bat that this is the first book in a series, not a standalone.
This is another Elizabethan fantasy, only in a vaguely alternate world with magic. Belinda Primrose is the illegitimate daughter of Lorraine, Queen of Aulun, (Elizabeth of English analogue) and her spymaster Robert Drake. She has been assassinating and spying for her unacknowledged mother ever since she was twelve, and now, Robert wants to send her to Gallin (France) to try and find evidence of Sandalia, Princess of Essandia (Spain), nominal queen of Lanyarch (Scotland), and regent of Gallin, planning to assassinate Lorraine. In the process of insinuating herself into the Gallic court, Belinda as Lanyarchan noblewoman Beatrice Irvine befriends Sandalia's son, Prince Javier, and discovers her latent talent for magic.
All my knowledge of European history is from high school, long ago, so I am not sure how much Murphy has changed. I very much like that the power structure in her world is among female monarchs; even though they are all pitted against each other, they share similar experiences of trying to keep power in a male world (the others are Sandalia of Essandia/Lanyarch/Gallin and the princess of the Russia-analogue).
I particularly love Belinda, who hits all of my female spy buttons. She is ruthless and cold and smart, and though I was afraid of how she would end up, so far, Murphy has taken her directions that I enjoy. My favorite bits are how the book is exploring power and the effects of wielding power and how those effects are different for women as opposed to men, and how they are different for women of different classes as well. Belinda's not the most sympathetic character—she is a spy and an assassin after all—and she does some especially unsavory things with her new-found power, but despite being turned off by some of what she did, I liked that her edges weren't smoothed over.
The book itself has a lot of sex in it, very little of it pretty, and a lot of court intrigue and politicking. It feels more fantastic than Turner's Attolia series or Wein's Lion Hunter series, largely because we mostly just see royal politicking and not things like trade negotiation or diseases, but contrarily, it also feels darker and grittier because of the added sex and magic. I don't think everyone will like it, but it's definitely recced for people who want cold female spies with very little romance and a lot of intrigue.
This is another Elizabethan fantasy, only in a vaguely alternate world with magic. Belinda Primrose is the illegitimate daughter of Lorraine, Queen of Aulun, (Elizabeth of English analogue) and her spymaster Robert Drake. She has been assassinating and spying for her unacknowledged mother ever since she was twelve, and now, Robert wants to send her to Gallin (France) to try and find evidence of Sandalia, Princess of Essandia (Spain), nominal queen of Lanyarch (Scotland), and regent of Gallin, planning to assassinate Lorraine. In the process of insinuating herself into the Gallic court, Belinda as Lanyarchan noblewoman Beatrice Irvine befriends Sandalia's son, Prince Javier, and discovers her latent talent for magic.
All my knowledge of European history is from high school, long ago, so I am not sure how much Murphy has changed. I very much like that the power structure in her world is among female monarchs; even though they are all pitted against each other, they share similar experiences of trying to keep power in a male world (the others are Sandalia of Essandia/Lanyarch/Gallin and the princess of the Russia-analogue).
I particularly love Belinda, who hits all of my female spy buttons. She is ruthless and cold and smart, and though I was afraid of how she would end up, so far, Murphy has taken her directions that I enjoy. My favorite bits are how the book is exploring power and the effects of wielding power and how those effects are different for women as opposed to men, and how they are different for women of different classes as well. Belinda's not the most sympathetic character—she is a spy and an assassin after all—and she does some especially unsavory things with her new-found power, but despite being turned off by some of what she did, I liked that her edges weren't smoothed over.
The book itself has a lot of sex in it, very little of it pretty, and a lot of court intrigue and politicking. It feels more fantastic than Turner's Attolia series or Wein's Lion Hunter series, largely because we mostly just see royal politicking and not things like trade negotiation or diseases, but contrarily, it also feels darker and grittier because of the added sex and magic. I don't think everyone will like it, but it's definitely recced for people who want cold female spies with very little romance and a lot of intrigue.
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