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 was still riding on the high of ‘Blood of an Exile’ when I started this one, and ‘Sorcery of a Queen’ did not disappoint, and in fact, took all the positives from the first book to a whole new level.

This sequel came out fighting from the start and turned all expectations on its head in the best possible way. This is epic fantasy in every sense of the world, and it has the grit and brutality, and a healthy dose of humour that bleeds through the pages. Sorcery of a Queen was an emotional and narrative rollercoaster from start to finish, and as soon as I got to the end I wanted to jump on again, and this one left me with quite a hefty book hangover.

As with Blood of an Exile, the characters are still some of the strongest features of this book. I love how Naslund brings his entire cast to life so vividly, and how the use of multiple points of view, brings the world into greater focus from the differing experiences and points of view. There were more characters introduced here, building on an already sizeable cast, but at no point was it overwhelming, and each of them remained unique and memorable, and it gave me more characters to love and worry about. Because that is another thing about these characters, and this book, it makes you care about them, and laugh and weep and a hundred other things as the story goes through highs and lows so quickly that you can’t catch your breath, only you don’t want to because it is engrossing.
Terra was already such an expansive world, and I feel that Sorcery of a Queen took that to a whole new level and puts the narrative and characters on a whole new stage without losing sight of that origin. I particularly enjoyed the science and steampunk elements that were woven into the story, but there were so many elements to the world – pirates and airships, and empires and dragons – and they’re so well integrated with one another, that I find it impossible to choose a favourite. Instead, I want to lose myself in Terra over and over again, and I have a feeling that I will be rereading this one and Blood of an Exile many times before book three comes out.

The writing is fantastic across the board, from rich character development to descriptions that will take your breath away. My only, very mild complaint was that the ending felt a little drawn out but compared to the magnificence of this book that is a minor grumble and long forgotten. This is grim heroic fantasy, with hope and humour shining through, and it set all my expectations on their head, and the twists had and have me guessing as to what will happen next, and eagerly looking forward to the next instalment in this series.

Sorcery of a Queen is a fantastic sequel. Still, it is so strong on its own and Naslund has woven so much of the world and what happened in the previous book into the narrative without it feeling overwhelming or clunky, even coming straight off reading book one, that you could read it as a standalone. Not that I would advise you to, because then you would miss out on the awesomeness that was Blood of an Exile. I would wholeheartedly recommend this book, and the entire series – yes, go and buy both – and lose yourself in the world of Terra, and there are Dragons!

(Will be posted to GR/Blog 11/08/20)

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.