I absolutely loved the first book in this series and thankfully, this second installment did not let me down! The world has expanded greatly here, exploring areas previously unseen, which is great to see. I also appreciated having the number of point of view characters we have here, with the focus definitely being on a more ensemble cast rather than following Bershad predominantly. It allows for more expansion of the world and we also got to see more of the political motivations of various characters. Kira really came to the fore in this book and the plot has gone in a fascinating, and totally unexpected, direction, which is always a winner for me. Overall, this was an excellent follow up and I will be picking up the finale of the series immediately.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Unfortunately there was too big of a time gap between me reading book 1 and this one so I struggled a lot with not being able to understand what was going on.

I tried going back to re-read the first book and dnf'd it the second time round.

I don't think this series is for me

I'd say this one is definitely much better and has higher stakes.

I did get a bit tired of the MCs always getting caught (no matter which group of MCs we're talking about 😅).

But now that I actually know the characters I care a bit more about them and the story and how it's going.

Personally, I'm not that big of a fan of the crazy scientist and experiments kind of story but at the same time there's something fascinating about it 😅😅

This book is simply fantastic! It has dragons, what more could you want?! As a huge fan of dragons I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The pacing varied but when it started to go quickly it was really quick

Sorcery of a Queen expands the world of Terra, this book is full of information and revelations that changed the direction of the story.

One of my favourite elements of the story is the alchemy, that for the people that use it, it's science. But everyone else thinks its magic. It reminded me of the author Arthur. C. Clarke quote " Magic's just science that we don't understand yet." I was fascinated by how the way that they use alchemy to protect others and fight.

Sorcery of a Queen is told in multiple points of view, with all the characters dealing with there own troubles. There is a lot going on, so I did find it a little hard to keep all the storylines straight and how they impact each other. I did like when characters crossed paths with others.

The pacing of the book is mixed, for the most part, is medium paced with bursts when it speeds up. The action/fighting scenes are where it speeds up. There is one battle, in particular, Bershad lives up to his legend.

Sorcery of a Queen feels like it is building up to something big / world-changing in the next book.

My rating for Sorcery of a Queen is 3.8 out of 5.

Thank you to Tor Books UK, Stephen and Jamie Lee Nardone for sending me an ARC of this wonderful book. All thoughts and opinions are mine only for this review.

Warning: This novel has the following: Experiments! Alchemy! Dragons! Airships! Assassinations, exploding cities, pirates, Felgor! Nasty little Vampire named Verdun, an ambitious lady called Kira and Vera, and the return of glorious young Jolan! Empires fight for incredible stakes, Lords and Dukes fight in epic scale battles, and everything goes haywire. The world literally goes into madness. It descends into a pit of hope, then chaos, hope, then chaos. This is what this wonderful book has to offer you, and guess what. The cover is so damn good! So damn good! Kudos to the cover designer. This is one of the best fantasy books I’ve read and all I have is praise. Well done Tor and Brian. You’ve delivered a hit series. Cannot wait for book 3. You need to have nachos, a cheese and onion sandwhich, some wedges, and pizza, have some soft drinks to have. These are your go to snacks. Thats how good this is. Haha

Sorcery of a Queen. Sorcery of a Queen. Sorcery of a Queen indeed. This novel comes right at you like a flying kicka pow pow book and literally takes the dark side of fantasy, scrunches it all up, and then spits it. It takes the heroic side of fantasy and literally turns it up side down. Its like something pulled out of real life. And that’s not to meantion the fact that this all happens because of a certain weird individual – read on and you will discover a VERY sinister secret.

This is one of those novels that comes along in a while, and literally reminds me you of something. Wait. Is this a unique twist of both heroic fantasy and dark fantasy? Or is this something else? I feel like its the spiritual successor to Rachel Aaron’s The Legend of Eli Monpress Series. Except this is more like the realistic and grim version yet combined with hope. I’ve spent 3 days and I’ve breezed through this. I’ve really enjoyed reading this. One thing. I love the use of dragons in this book. Well written, well utilised, but can the Flawless Bershard now own an armada of dragons so Queen Ashe can use it? I think Flawless Bershard said he hated killing dragons in book 1 anyway. And in Book 3, he needs to literally kick the **** out of Verdun.

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This is like the Deadpool of Fantasy. There. I’ve said it. It’s Deadpool. The writing is so good that the descriptions are bewildering, breath-taking almost. You’re in jungles, islands, airships, and a lot of climate change facts that are incredibly well written into the fantasy narrative. The dialogue is so refreshing its…I could compare this to Nicholas Eames Kings of the Wyld. Heck! This is very comparable to David Wragg’s the Black Hawks. I’d call this a new twist in fantasy. It’s like taking dark fantasy and heroic fantasy into a corner, and then…laughing at them. That’s what it feels like.

Tell me, what novel combines flying airships with humor? With such brutal gore in this world, one should be disgusted when you learn of Verdun. He’s a nasty little vampire. A very nasty vampire. And Castor is the reclutant servant. And quite frankly, I’ve loved all the characters that Jolan meets himself with. I felt sadness and sympathy, laughed and giggled at the same time. The humour is one of the best aspects. And I love Jolan’s innocence. The world needs more good natured people like him.

As for our flawless Bershard…he gets his ass getting handed to him all the time. I’m afraid to say, the man that’s literally killed Naga Soul Striders and Red Skulls…the world treats him brutally. There’s a new cast of characters that join us in this grand new adventure, and I must say, stop getting rid of characters I get attachted too Brian, they’re so good! *weeps weeps* Now if an author can do this in a novel and the reader feels something about it. Then he’s done the work.

This. This is pure fantasy. I did feel the ending was a little dragged on, and there were parts I would have wanted reduced. But I don’t want to spoil too much. All I know is that I’ve loved every character so far. And never, and never, and never, have I seen SUCH a mind-blowing twist. Empires ruined beyond all comprehension. (And this is the only CLUE I’m going to give. Read this novel and you’ll soon start to know what it means very very very very fast!) There is such a fantastic twist that it completely oblierates saving the world stuff and letting the world die – it produces something more unique than that.

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Oh. And dear old Fergus! The man’s Jack Sparrow. I swear Jack Sparrow got drunk once upon a time, then stumbled upon his cousin named Fergus, and then they got lost, and then Fergus spent his time becoming mad and high, and well, I’d say the series is really about Fergus. Not Bershard. Also, Ashlyn needs more scenes. I def got a grand sense of her, but I want MORE of her. She’s a very good character, but she still needs to learn that the politics of lords and generals are too cunning – she’s a cunning character indeed. And Vera? Poor Vera. That’s all I can say.

All I can say is, this would be great as the following:

Netflix Series
Graphic Novel Series
Comic Series!

And thats it. That’s all I can say. IT’S THAT GOOOD. GO BUY IT NOW! YOU’RE MISSING OUT ON AN UNDER-RATED FANTASY GENRE AND AWESOME AND UNIQUE SUBPLOT.

Ok I’ve think I’ve rambled enough right now. This book and this series is for fans of Nicholas Eames and David Wragg.

Fergus! You take the stage!

Bugger.

I loved Blood of an Exile last year and Sorcery of a Queen equals and even exceeds it. Bershand and Ashlyn are striving to regain her throne. One of the big problems is that they are presumed dead in exile. This is fast paced and gritty, with plenty of Nasland’s trademark humour. Highly recommend this series.