I was very intrigued by the premise and the idea of matriarchal societies, and think the author did a great job creating this world. I loved seeing strong, fierce, female warriors leading the way, however, a lot of times it felt like it was (still) a "men's world" - but with women in charge instead of men. I wish some female traits that set them apart had been worked out more.

Also, I usually don't mind a bunch of different POVs, but in this case I do feel like the story could've benefited from focussing on just a few and fleshing these out more. I didn't have a strong connection with any of the characters (the one I did, unfortunately, died early on), making it a bit less compelling to read. There was very little dialogue, so coupled with time jumps and a big cast of characters it got confusing sometimes. The pacing could've been more balanced as well: while some parts were engaging and interesting to follow, others seemed to drag on. And by the end I still felt like I'd missed some crucial parts of the story.

I appreciate what the author was going for here, and certain aspects definitely felt fascinating and new, but I do think the execution could've been better. Still, I had a (mostly) good time with the story and am curious to see what comes next. Overall, a well-written and ambitious book that I'm sure many will enjoy reading!

Actual rating 2.5/5 stars. This is the first instalment in The Five Queendoms series.

No girls are born and the queendom is facing an uncertain future with no females left to lead, guide, or protect them. They must search for answers in order to save their homes and themselves from certain destruction at the hands of their foes.

Everything that occurred inside this book was of interest to me but there were continual time jumps, both forwards and back in time, as well as multiple perspectives and character deaths that all worked to distance me from it all. Also, even though I enjoyed what took place inside each chapter, they sometimes felt self-contained from all around it, when time shifted so significantly, a perspective altered the focus, or the central characters within it left the narrative, leaving me to sometimes wonder what the point of what I had read was. When everything jumps about and when the characters featured die or fade into obscurity, it leads this to feel more like it is showing us small snippets and insights to this world, rather than one cohesive story inside of it.

I thought the actual bones of this story were very strong, and I initially loved all that was featured. This is not a series I will be continuing on with but I'd like to sample more of this author's work again, in the future.

The Five Queendoms - Scorpica is such a beautifully written fantasy. The world-building is outstanding. The story is well written with an enchanting storyline and well-developed characters that engage from start to finish. The world is atmospheric and feels real with vivid descriptions and rich imagery. G. R. Macallister has earned himself a spot on my auto-buy authors list. I cannot get enough. Highly recommended. Be sure to check out The Five Queendoms - Scorpica today.

Edited:
It's not that terrible I just hate pregnancy and giving birth in books which happened 4 times in this one.

Original review:
All of this was my immediate impression during and after I read the book. Kind of spoilery. Also, tw for child sacrifice and human trafficking, among other things

Sapphic rep, lots of politics, though women, betrayal, and blood. The story takes place over multiple years and follows multiple characters. There was a lot of describing and less dialogue. The beginning was very hard to get through and I almost dnf'd this. After my initial struggle, I did come to quite like it however it still kept occasionally throwing some weird fertility/sex/impregnation/birth stuff, that made me uncomfortable, into my face. I'm not a fan of how the author decided to construct her matriarchy. I was hoping for a functional harmonious society, not a flipped patriarchy where men are the ones who have to fight for equality and are used only for siring children and as lovers. The personal relationships between the men and women felt shallow. Women either discarded them or they themselves left because they were neglected/dissatisfied.

In this world, there are five queendoms. Scorpica - warriors, Bastion - scholars, Arca - magic, Sestia - religion or something, Paxim - diplomacy. Girls and women are valued while the men are deemed weak and useless. Newborn boys are sold or traded (at least in Scorpica). Girls stop being born which is a catastrophe especially for Scorpica because men aren't allowed to be warriors. (One does show up and asks to be one but the queen just kills him.) In fact, girls are so needed the scorpican queen decides they will take them from elsewhere (and declares them her daughters because she's love/attention-starved.) and causes a war to start brewing.

The characters:
• previously mentioned scorpican queen and her new daughters
• a girl with all-magic (which makes her a threat to the queen of Arca. Something about having a claim to the throne) who was in hiding with her mother and some buff woman who had decided to take them under her protection
• the queen of Arca and her daughter
• the previous scorpican queen, her daughter, and her advisor best friend
• a sorceress who wants to take over all the queendoms

This was mostly the first half. I did add details after finishing the whole thing but didn't summarize the 2nd part because I got lazy. It wasn't clearly explained why the girls had stopped being born. Some magic?

Arc provided by publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to review this.

Im still not quite sure how I feel about this book. Its one Id say to read if you re a fan of fantasy books, espcially those with a female bias.

The world building is great and it feels that this is more about what actually happens then who says what which is a refreshing change from alot of fantasy out there.

I did not finish this yet, and I'm putting it aside for now. It has a little too many characters for me to keep track of all of them, and also the worldbuilding is a tad confusing! Will come back to it at a later point.

I loved how this novel explore new territories in the fantasy and described what happens to a matriarchal society when rules are a bit too strict.
It's not the first fantasy to talk about matriarchal society nor the first one about strong women but the author did a good job in making them fresh and original.
The world building is well developed as the characters. I liked the storytelling and the multiple POVs make this story gripping and helped me to see different sides.
Some less pages would have helped and made this story more gripping.
I can't wait to read the next book in this series.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

As someone who has recently taken the full head dive into adult fantasy stan-ship, Scorpica ticked a lot of boxes for me:

Exciting magical world ✅
Morally grey characters ✅
Interesting magic system ✅
High stakes ✅

And so much BLOOD! Honestly one of the things that stood out the most about this to me was how bloody and brutal this book was but I truly loved it.

This is only book 1 but I can already seeing it become a favourite for some fantasy readers.

As I say, being book 1 we spend a lot of time setting things up, getting to know the world and building out our understanding of important characters over the course of a number of years which I personally loved because I think the world building elements were really interesting and well done. I’m excited for book 2 and beyond to see how this world changes over time.

The characters in Scorpica are also really fun to read, we have ambitious warriors ready to take the throne, mothers who will stop at nothing to protect their children, unhinged goddesses, a found family of bandits and runaways and, most importantly, Sapphic lovers.

I really enjoyed reading this and can’t wait for the rest of the series!

Thank you to the publisher for my eARC copy of this book. Unfortunately I didn’t love this book and therefore didn’t finish, I just didn’t connect with this one. Not for me, sorry.

In a world where women rule the unthinkable has happened - no more girls are being born. Of sons, there are plenty, but no daughters. The Five Queendoms have lived in peace for centuries but this seemingly natural catastrophe looks set to bring them to war. Women are the warriors, the mages, the scholars; this Drought of Girls could be the end of everything. At first it's not apparent - there just seem to be a high number of boys being born - but gradually the situation becomes obvious to all. The Five Queendoms must be cursed, but how, why, and by whom is a mystery.



If you've ever been put off fantasy novels because of the preponderance of male characters, then this is the book for you. This first book of a series based in a female-dominated society promises to have as much intrigue, magic, and evil manipulative characters as you could ever want, but without men. Obviously the men are there, in the background, doing the menial jobs, and fathering children, but whether as warriors, mages, or scholars, women are the ones in charge. It's a refreshing change, and, though occasionally it gives rise to unanswered questions about gendered roles, a great premise on which to build an alternative world.







It has everything I look for in a fantasy novel - great world building, a wide range of well fleshed out characters, a gripping plot and well-paced story telling. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series!

An intoxicating, sophisticated and stunning fantasy: a breathtaking fusion of court politics, deadly & unique magic, family rivalry, intrigue, swords and sorcery set in a fierce matriarchal world - where women rule!

Often, I like to swiftly make my way through books and enjoying doing so. However, Scorpica was different. Scorpica demanded my attention - forced me to read slowly, to pause and reflect and to take in every richly woven detail; appreciate its intricate world-building and immersive plot.

Scorpica is a raw feminist story told from multiple characters, locations and times all seamlessly fused together to create something truly breathtaking. I loved how the writer did not shy away from the graphic brutally of traditional Grimdark tales but instead morphed it into something refreshing new and equally powerful - a phenomenal world where women dominated as Queens, as Warriors, as Mothers!

As well as being brutal and violent at times, the story captures a beautiful tenderness, a mothers love and sacrifice, women finding sexual satisfaction without being branded whores; rewarded for being cunning and fierce.
There’s a cast of diverse characters - including sapphic and pansexual representation. And a world where polyandry and casual relationships are normalised, where dynamic
characters draw you in - making the experience truly immersive.

Truly grateful for my netgalley and physical arc.

Fantasy is a genre that has, historically, been dictated by white European history and ideas. When people ask you to think about fantasy settings you’ll probably imagine works by people like Tolkien or George R.R. Martin, worlds where the majority of people are white, and the kings and heroes are almost always men. There are exceptions to this, there always have been, but so often men dominate fantasy; as such, it’s a real delight to see so many of these expectations and tropes turned on their heads for Scorpica, the first book in The Five Queendoms series. And straight away, from the title alone, it’s clear this is a book where women get the spotlight.

Scorpica begins its decades long narrative in the Five Queendoms, five nations that used to be one, but split generations ago. These five queendoms, The Bastion, Paxim, Sestia, Arca, and the titular Scorpica, still maintain connections between each other, and no one queendom can survive without the others. The story begins when the queens of these five nations come together in the Holy City in Sestia, where they will take part in a holy rite to bless the nations, and bring bountiful harvests. During the journey home from the ritual, Khara, the queen of Scorpica, is beset by bandits, and she and her guards stay at a small farm for the night. Here, Khara sleeps with the farm owner. Nine months later Khara gives birth to a daughter; one of the last girls to be born in the five queendoms.

Without warning, and with little fanfare, girls suddenly stop being born across the five queendoms, with only male children birthed instead. With men being second class citizens, unable to hold positions of political power, or even being allowed within the kingdom of Scorpica, this ‘Drought of Girls’ begins to pose serious problems for the five queendoms, and the uneasy peace they maintain. Over the next decade and a half, we follow several characters as they try to navigate this dangerous new world. Queens are overthrown, people are forced to go on the run, war is moving closer to becoming a reality, and something powerful from the ancient past of the five queendoms has awoken seeking vengeance.

The back of The Five Queendoms: Scorpica has a small quote on it calling it ‘a page-turning feminist Game of Thrones‘, and this isn’t too far from the truth. This isn’t a fantasy story about about a chosen one, or a group of brave heroes going on a quest; this is the story of nations, or the changes that they go through when something extraordinary begins to happen, and how people have to navigate this new world. And yes, the book would definitely be considered feminist too, as it is set in a matriarchy.

However, much of this new world does seem to simply be a gender swapped version of our own culture in a lot of ways. Women are in charge and men are subservient, but we never really go into any details about this. We don’t find out if this was always the way, we don’t get to find out why one gender came out on top, and we only get the mildest of teases that not everyone is happy with the gender inequality. These are all things that I wanted to know more about, and whilst the book was already quite long, I’d have enjoyed some extra time being given over to these topics, even if it meant the book being bigger in size.

Much like Martin’s work, The Five Queendoms: Scorpica is split across multiple viewpoints, as we follow a handful of important figures from across the five nations. These characters aren’t picked randomly, however, as they end up being some of the most important people alive at this time, even if at first they don’t appear to be anything more than an average person. The characters grow and evolve over the years that we follow them, and watching their journeys is definitely a highlight, as it’s interesting to see how they evolve over time. Because of the small jumps in time we get throughout the book there are times where I wanted to learn more about the gaps we didn’t get to see, especially when we got to follow one bandit group that were particularly great to spend time with, and who could have been the focus of a book themselves.

The Five Queendoms: Scorpica also has some good queer representation, more than a lot of big name fantasy books tend to give us. There are sapphic characters, as you’d expect to find in a world where there’s an entire kingdom where men aren’t allowed, as well as characters that have more broad approaches to their sexuality, being either bisexual or pansexual depending on how you would quantify such things. Whilst it was great to see such open queer representation, one part of the queer community who didn’t get a look in, and who wold have been interesting to see, were trans people. This ties in with my desire to learn more about the inner workings of this world, and learn more about this matriarchy, but I was very interested to see how trans people would fit into this society, especially with such a difference in how genders are treated. Fingers crossed this will be something that Macallister will explore more in further books.

The Five Queendoms: Scorpica is the start of a new, exciting fantasy series that’s trying to do something different, that’s going against accepted trends and conventions. It works as its own stand-alone story, but also sets the stage for bigger things to come with the rest of the series. Whether you’re looking for narrative where women get the chance to lead, or simply searching for a fantasy epic that will keep you entertained, this is a book well worth picking up.

Scorpica is a matriarchal epic fantasy that I was really excited to read. The selling points for me were the multiple point of views and the sapphic characters, and I wasn’t disappointed.

I don’t think I had ever read a purely matriarchal worldbuilding before so that was one aspect of the book I found really interesting. Each of the Queendoms (at least the ones we’ve explored a bit more) seems to treat men differently: one sends them away as soon as they are born since they can’t be warriors; one sees them as trophy husbands that at best can do pretty magic; in another one men are starting to demand more rights.

There are several point of views throughout the book and that’s my favorite thing to see in epic fantasy. All the women were so different and since the story spanned multiple years it was also really cool to see some of them grow to become young women.

I think the writing style, paired with how seemingly slow paced this book is, is going to be a little polarizing. It’s the type of writing that’s more tell than show and that can be your thing or not. It’s personally not what I normally prefer but I think it worked here for this type of story, especially since there was so much going on.

One question I had from the very beginning was whether gender binarism was going to be challenged, and I think it wasn’t an unreasonable expectation to have for a sapphic fantasy releasing in 2022, but unfortunately I wasn’t completely satisfied in that point. There was a very minor (non-POV) agender character and mention of “people who are neither [men nor women]” but other than this there was no mention of how people that don’t fit the binary may fit the different societies of the Queendoms. Scorpicans sending away their boys as soon as they are born just based on what they see doesn’t seem to account for the existence of trans women and trans men, let alone someone who is neither. The curse that’s at the center of the plot only sees boys being born, but you can’t really know they’re boys until they’re old enough to tell you they are. The role of the only agender person mentioned in the book was to be a priest, which seems a little convenient in order not to have to think about how people of different genders may fit in an otherwise binary society. I hope this will be addressed in later books in the series because I see it as the biggest, and quite literally fundamental, flaw of this first book.

Despite this and the moments I wished I was able to read this a little bit faster, I enjoyed reading this book and I can say that pretty much at no point did I know or expect what was going to happen later. I would recommend it for readers who are used to epic fantasy and are prepared to be patient until they see where the book is going, and are looking for a casually sapphic matriarchal fantasy.

TWs: pregnancy, child birth, violence, death, murder, blood, death of a parent

Headlines:
An epic worldview
Female-dominated political intrigue
Brutal & engaging
Progeny

I have so many thoughts on finishing this book. I feel like I've been brought into an fantasy world that is something of an epic and I'm very ready to carry on with the series.

This book feasted in the themes of feminism, female leaders, matriachal families, the prominence of female children and those elements had problematic sides as you can imagine. Equality wasn't necessarily on the menu but quite honestly, it felt refreshing to read an adult fantasy in the ilk of Game of Thrones from the female view point.

There were a range of stories in tandem being told until the connections started to knot together. I championed lots of the characters, but it wasn't always wise to get too invested. It was a magical world with some interesting powers and gifts but don't be misled, this world was also about the brute force of some of the female soldiers and queens; magic had a place, but it wasn't the only power.

Scorpica was a dense fantasy read and that depth of world building and characterisation really worked for me. It felt like something I could really get my teeth into. Definitely a recommendation for all adult fantasy fans.

Thank you to Titan Books for the review copy.

Scorpica is an epic fantasy tale that follows multiple characters across the five Queendoms. The Queendoms have had peace for hundreds of years, but this is soon thrown into uncertainty when no new baby girls are born. As the drought causes tensions to erupt, new alliances are drawn and old scores will be settled.

Scorpica is one of those books that hooks you in right from the very beginning. The plot was instantly gripping and it felt like such a unique story. I also found myself becoming invested in the characters and the fate of the five Queendoms. Scorpica has such an intriguing world and I was fascinated by the magic system, which is powered by sand. I really enjoyed seeing the different abilities and how the characters choose to use them. I feel like I’ve only seen a small part of the world in this book and I can’t wait to see where McAllister takes the story next.

Where I think Scorpica really excels is the well-crafted characters. There are a number of different POV characters and each one has their own motivations and ambitions. I was never sure who to trust, or who was going to survive. There’s tons of political intrigue and there were more than a few moments that had me on the edge of my seat. Tamura was particularly fascinating as she strives to navigate being queen and I really liked Eminel too. Scorpica is an incredible start to a new fantasy series and if you’re looking for a fresh and engaging fantasy read, this one should definitely be on your TBR.

The second I saw this was like a feminist Game of Thrones I got super excited to be part of the blog tour for Titan. The world building in this nook is absolutely exquisite. The entire time I was reading through this one I could clearly envisage everything going on as if I was immersed into the book itself and living in this amazing world. We get a lot of different POVs from the women in this one which I really enjoyed as you get to know different individual’s perspectives that you may not have gotten otherwise. The pacing was really good and the plot keeps you gripped and wanting to turn the pages quicker than you can read them!

I can’t go into too much more detail without spoiling the plot so I’ll leave it here, but you all need to read this one. It’s going to be big. Grab yourselves a copy and prepare to be amazed.

CW: child sacrifice

This was definitely a vanity request first and foremost because I love covers with gold color palettes and this one with its intricately designed dagger was a beauty. I was also quite intrigued by this world of queendoms and immediately requested an arc. And this was such a ride.

The world building was a major draw for this book and I’m glad it didn’t disappoint on that level. We never do get to know why the women in this world are so powerful except for it being their god’s will but I loved the history of how the Great Peace came to be and the unique ways each queendom differs from each other. Their specific characteristics together make for a very coherent whole and I loved how the author managed to create them. The pacing is also pretty steady, never too fast or slow, but with its own reflective moments, covering more than a decade of the story. The writing is straightforward and easy to follow, with not too many flourishes, but I think it suited the slightly harsh circumstances of this world.

This is not a spoiler because it’s mentioned in the blurb but the idea of what will happen to a matriarchal world when girls stop being born is a fascinating premise and I was really excited to see the issues arising with this play out. I probably did want to see more of the political machinations and how the common people were dealing with the issue, but we never get to explore the societal wide implications. The author mainly focused on what it meant to one of the queendoms and how they decided to deal with it - I wasn’t completely disappointed but I just expected more.

There are a whole number of women POVs to follow along here and it was nice to get such a variety. Tamura and Mirriam are both conniving queens in their own ways - Tamura hiding all her insecurities by leaning on her warrior side, with a thirst for blood and conquest; Mirriam on the other hand who can’t trust anyone around her, paranoid to the core, all powerful magic user but all alone. Jehenit is a healer who takes her duty to her village very seriously but all that changes when she needs to protect her only daughter. Vishala is bound by her loyalty to her queen, more than to her homeland, and will do anything to protect her heir. Gretti is a reluctant strategist who is loyal to her people more than the Queen and will try her best to protect them all, but is not fond of conquest or bloodshed. Eminel is an unexpected prodigy who doesn’t realize what she is capable of. And finally Sessadon - the resentful one, who wasn’t chosen to be queen but will destroy the world to make it kneel in front of her. All these women are dynamic, their personalities shining through the pages, and I loved getting to know each of their strengths and vulnerabilities and guessing what they might do next. There is so much tension in their relationships and life altering consequences to their actions, and it was fun exploring it all.

In conclusion, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved this book and I loved savoring the book a bit slowly than I usually do. The world is fascinating, the magic is cool, the ensemble of characters is brilliant (whether I actually like them or not is a different matter) and the plot is convoluted in some ways, but thrilling in others. I liked how this first book is almost self contained with an interesting conclusion, while leaving lots of possibilities for the sequel. I’m definitely looking forward to it.

The Five Queendoms- Scorpica by G.R Macallister was an absolute page turner! The authors writing style was absolutely wonderful and a pleasure to read. The book itself had no discernible errors and was very well edited. The plot was well executed and the characters well defined and developed.

The book itself started off wonderfully but after the challenge and execution of what became one of my favourite characters early on, it took a turn for the worse for me. What I loved most about this book was the universe...not void of men but one where men are essentially useless. The women are the true heros, the warriors, the leaders, the queens, the healers, the magical ones and the pillars of society itself. That...that was what made the book stand out for me in the realm of fantasy....where so often we are bombarded by stories of men and men alone.

To give you a little more insight into this almost man free existence....the women of Scorpica take multiple "husbands" or go off in search of a man to copulate with. The aim is of course pregnancy but if the child is a son he is sold or given away. However, this approach to dealing with males of the society back fires when there is drought of girls/ the female death rate decreases to basically non existent. And this is where the story gets GOOOOOOD....because how else would a warrior class gain new female warriors? Do they steal them, do they buy them or do they enslave them?

The universe created was masterful and unique. One rarely visited in fantasy novels...it was uncharted territory and I loved reading that aspect of women being in complete and absolute control. Arguably I did not enjoy some of the characters in the story nor did I appreciate being led along and then hung off a cliff but I suppose we the readers had that coming...it is a part of a series after all! I am looking forward to reading more of this!

5 stars for the sheer delight of reading a fleshed-out matriarchal world!

I went into this book without knowing much about it except that it featured a society ruled by women. There are five queendoms with women as higher class citizens than men. I loved how the author explored the discontent that arises from any society that oppresses one gender yet still celebrated the power women could wield as leaders, fighters and scholars.

Often books with multiple points of view have ones that you're less interested in but that wasn't the case here. Every character was complex and engaging. Beware of getting too invested in any one character though as the death count is high!

After a curse stops any female babies from being born across the country, tensions between and within the queendoms heighten. The plot is driven by the effects of this curse and the desperation felt by so many characters. This is a fast-paced and twisty story that will have you utterly gripped from the first page. An epic fantasy that deserves all the hype.

“Magic was like that, making the impossible possible.”

🦂🦂🦂🦂🦂

The Five Queendoms by G. R. Macallister. Published 22 February from @TitanBooks - thank you for my early copy via @NetGalley.
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In an ancient matriarchal world of magic, gods and warriors, the last girl – unbeknownst to the five queendoms – has just been born.

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I first/ seen heard of this book on Samantha Shannon’s Instagram stories, if you don’t know, Samantha Shannon is the author of my favourite fantasy book, The Priory of the Orange Tree. It has been dubbed as an epic fantasy where Game of Thrones meets Priory - so I was obviously really intrigued and couldn’t wait to read it.

Whilst I enjoyed this book, I am also very conflicted with it. By the end of the book I was very confused, and felt like I’ve either missed critically important plot details, or they just weren’t explained.

There are a host of characters in this book, however I’ll say that what’s really good is that I never felt at any point that there were too many to keep track of, or to know who was who - which is really hard to do when it comes to fantasy books on this scale. The book alternates between narrators, mostly Tamura, Eminel, Vish and Sessadon.

As the Five Queendoms try to figure out what is causing the drought of girls, we get told a lot of backstory for the world, and for a world as vast as it is, covering many character narratives over a great deal of time - I think this book suffers from being too short. The author is feeding us a lot of backstory, but we don’t get to experience it, it’s just told which for epic fantasy isn’t really a good thing - we want the whole however-many-pages-it-takes feast of the world. A book per Queendom or book per narrator would probably have really served the story better in the long run.

There’s some really great characters in this book, The Rovers, Vish, The Shade and others who I hope we’ll get to learn more about in the rest of the series. After a while though, The Rovers no longer appear in the book - and this is really disappointing, they’re a great group of characters and I really hope we see them again (I’m sure we will)!

Something I picked up on throughout the book is the lack of dialogue between characters, it’s somewhat limited - there’s a lot happening but we mostly hear from the narrator of each chapter, and sometimes more dialogue would be good to help with the pace throughout the book. However, I didn’t feel the book was dragging or that I had to force myself to keep going. I was invested. Further to this, we meet a character who gets renamed as Ama very early on and she’s taken to the Orphan Tree - and this is a thread to potentially be picked up on later in the series, but again if the book was longer I’d have loved to have read more about this character and more about the Orphan Tree.

I read this as an e-arc and I’m not sure if it’s just this copy or not, but I found some of the writing/ syntax a little confusing - there were some sentences I had to read over and over to try and make sense of how it was supposed to be read/ heard. I think I also found a contradictory statement at the start of Chapter 23 - about who makes Vish’s favourite tea in the morning, but shouldn’t this actually say Fasiq’s favourite tea, as it’s Jehenit who previously made Fasiq’s tea in the morning? Think this is an error but it could just be my e-arc and the finished copy is corrected; or I’m wrong!

There are mentions of “The Pale” in the North only a few times throughout the book, which is like the White Walkers/ Army of the Dead from GoT, however - it’s only mentioned, and in my honest opinion it just didn’t serve the story because it was so vague - I didn’t feel any sort of threat or alert by the mention - I needed more of story for The Pale, or none, yet again if the book was longer maybe this could’ve been expanded?

What’s caused me mostly to be conflicted about this book is how it ended and one other point that I just can’t get out of my mind:

1. The book ends with the looming potential of war. I don’t know if I’ve missed something again because to me I don’t understand what the need for war is? The Queendom of Scorpica plans for war, but to what end? Girls have stopped being born, what good is going to war - all the warriors are women? Why kill off your women in war whenever they can’t be replaced? Unless I’ve missed something really obvious, then that’s on me, but I don’t think I did miss anything. If the point is that you need to be smart enough to work out the politics of the decision then I guess I ain’t smart enough to work it out because from what I’ve read, no other Queendom is threatening war so I just don’t know why this is where it’s heading…

2. The other thing that’s really bothered me about this book, and it’s kind of a silly point, is the Scorpica Queendom just a moving circus? They’re warriors yes, but do they live in tents? A Queendom, of Tents? I just didn’t get it, nor could I really picture a QUEENDOM of Tents. Baffled by that.

A good start, but not without flaws, but I will be looking out for the rest of the series, because there’a so so so much potential for this series.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Blurb:

In an ancient matriarchal world of magic, gods and warriors, the last girl – unbeknownst to the five queendoms – has just been born. As time marches on, the scribes of Bastian find no answers in their history books. The farmers of Sestia sacrifice their crops to the gods. Paxim, the empire of trade and dealings, has nothing to barter but boys and more boys. Arcan magic has no spells to remedy the Drought of Girls. And finally, Scorpica, where every woman is a fighter, their commander, their queen, has no more warriors to train. The lines of these once-great empires soon to die.

After centuries of peace, the ensuing struggle for dominance – and heirs – will bring the five queendoms to the eve of all-out war.

But the mysterious curse is linked to one of the last-born children, an orphaned all-magic girl, who is unaware she has a claim to the Arcan throne…