This book was simply not for me, but if you like the legend of King Arthur, you may enjoy to follow the story of his sister. Anna

I felt like the story really begun when I already read 60% of the book and the timeline was a bit hard to follow. Most of the time I was wondering what was the point of the book and it simply felt as I was following the daily life of a woman at court, but she wasn't really a part of this either. I also think too much was left in the shadows regarding her sisters and their lives and the childhood and the marriage that scarred her so much.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC!

This is a fabulous story that reimagines the Arthurian legends through the eyes of one of their lesser known protagonists, King Arthur's sister, Anna. Prophesied by Merlin to be "the forgotten one" at her birth, as she grows up she finds herself to be little more than a pawn in the political machinery of the court, first being married off to the neglectful King Lot of Orkney and bearing three sons. Upon returning to her home of Carelon after his death, she is forced into another arranged marriage when she had hoped to find happiness with one of the knights, Bedevere. All of this is orchestrated by Merlin, and from this point the story takes a turn into the mystical and supernatural as Anna plots a meticulous revenge against the man who ruined her life.

Queen of None is full of mellifluous, lyrical turns of phrase, but it never feels like too much or detracts from the story, which is absorbing and compelling. You also don't have to know a whole lot about the Arthurian tales to enjoy this, although there are certain names that are instantly familiar. If you like mythical stories with a healthy dose of court intrigue, devious machinations and beautiful descriptions, this is for you!

Queen of None is an atmospheric, beautifully written reimagining of arthurian legend. I could immediately tell how lovingly researched this work is; it was very much informed by our cultural understanding of these legends while having a decidedly individual point of view.

This was definitely outside of my usual genres, but I really enjoyed it! I'd highly recommend it for lovers of moody, atmospheric fantasy.

Firstly, Thank you NetGalley for providing me with access to read and review this book!

"It was a childish, naïve wish. But it was the wish of a child who was forced to grow up far too fast, of a girl who lived in shadows so long that even a ray of sunshine through thick coloured glass felt like the sun."

In a world where a prophecy has told her she will be forgotten, Anna Pendragon fights to exist.

The Queen of None pulls us into the world of Anna Pendragon, Aurthur Pendragon’s youngest and only full blooded sister. After being married off to Lot of Orkney at a young age to fair alliances, she returns to Arthur shortly after her husbands death. When she arrives a Carelon she aims to hand over handover Lot's Kingdom, in a hope to be reunited with her former lover, Bedevere, and to live beside her sons at last.

However, these dreams are short lived when she discovers Merlin remains in the court, as powerful as ever, scheming as he always has done by using the women in Authur’s life as pawns in his game. She is once again at the mercy of men and is seen to be used as a means to end for Arthur’s continuing stake in power.

Faced with the demons of her past, Anna must make a choice. She must reach inside herself for her own power that dwells within and challenge the medieval power plays to survive.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Queen of None provides us a twist on the classic Arthurian legends. This tale turns what we already know on its head by presenting us with the insights of the struggles that the women within Arthurs court experience. I found this really intriguing overall.

The POV is mostly directed through Anna, Arthurs sister. We learn through her experiences about how women are used as bargaining chips to serve a purpose; either as objects to prevent wars and sweeten alliances or as objects for the desires of mens lust. Throughout the narrative Anna feeds us a tale of duty, sorrow and grief as she begins to morn for the woman she was and chooses instead to fight for the one she wants to become. Anna does not want her story to be forgotten.

Anna is such a wonderfully written character, she battles with her own inner turmoil alongside challenging the status quo of “women in the background”. She has to come to terms that she herself has her own powers that she can bring to the table. She is not a flawless protagonist, as she has her own motivations and desires and thats what I enjoyed about her.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Queen of None is for readers who enjoy a different take on legends and myths and are open to a different narrative being told. This book has historical elements that are woven nicely into a different type of story. If you enjoy court politics, the dynamics that come with complex families, and challenging what duty means - then this is for you.

This book harnesses the power of “women in the background” and aims to bring their stories to the forefront. Whilst this book also contains magical elements that are part of the plot, I would say they become a secondary tool to the scheming, dialogue plays and world building that really bring the story to life.

This is a story presents a lens through Anna’s eyes that provides us with the multiple different versions of herself - duty, wife, mother, sister, and lastly figuring out what it means to identify as the ‘Anna’ everyone knows. If you enjoy a plot that also centers the quest for identity and belonging then this is a tale for you.

As a BBC Merlin fan, this book's description and cover greatly appealed to me - and Natania Barron's writing did not disappoint! This was a refreshing take on the recent trend of feminist myth retellings, as few have focused on Arthurian tales. It was great to read about familiar characters through a new lens.

I loved the idea of following a woman who was seemingly forgotten or erased from the well-known tales. Anna's life and experiences are sad, but well-written, and create a deeper understanding of the character. I enjoyed her more mature voice, and seeing how she explored her power later in the book.

While I did enjoy the book overall, the pacing could have been better - some sections dragged on while others felt rushed, particularly towards the end. The timeline also became difficult to follow as large chunks of time were skipped in places.

As a lover of Celtic folklore, I have encountered and actively sought out various interpretations of the Arthurian legend.

This is the first time in all these stories that I've heard the telling shaped to bring the women of lore to life, told through and about them. Natania's creative vision is a unique combination of the familiar and the startling. The new connections between the characters and definitions of weapons had me nodding and thinking, “Of course, this makes perfect”

A fantastic book. Lady Anna's voice captivated me, and it was a delight to explore her thoughts. The heart-wrenching aspects of this tale are balanced by its worthiness and deeply felt emotions. The magic is exquisitely otherworldly and delicious. The heart of this story lies in its compelling relationships. I absolutely adored it.

I enjoyed Queen of None. My knowledge of Arthurian legend is minimal at best so I can't comment on that aspect of the story. As a mythogical historical fiction is was good, portraying Arthur's sister Anna. She's used as a political pawn from an early age, never able to have the love or freedom she desires. The timeline of the story was a little jumpy, but all in all it was a good story and it was interesting to see a different and hidden aspect of the legend of King Arthur.
Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review will be posted to GoodReads and StoryGraph closer to publication date, per publisher request.

Queen of None follows Anna Pendragon, the sister to King Arthur (yes that one) through some of the earlier years of Arthur’s reign. Anna, prophesied from birth to be forgotten by every man, has lived her life in the shadows. Married perilously young to secure an alliance, she is recently widowed and returning to Carelon (Camelot) as a much jaded woman. She find the court around her much changed from her youth, and must learn to navigate her place among its most cunning denizens.

Anna’s story shows us a side of King Arthur’s court that often gets left out of the myths: the story of the women in the background. Even the women who have survived to be part of the legend are known only for their place in Arthur’s tale. In this story, we get an exploration of how these women moved in a court that isn’t willing or able to see them as anything more than pawns. Reminiscent of Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls, Queen of None makes these well known characters into people, with motivations far beyond one man and his legacy.

This is primarily a story about power. The power that we take, and the power we don’t even notice we have. Anna is a compelling, flawed, and heartbreakingly familiar protagonist. Her fight to control a fate that does not belong to her, her desperation to cling to anything that makes her feel free, her complicated relationships with those she loves, all feel entirely real. I particularly liked the way the story highlighted that well meaning characters continued to do harm, and that villains and heroes are all simply people making whatever choices they feel they must.

As a recommendation, if you’re looking for high fantasy, this isn’t the book for you. While the magic is deeply ingrained into this book and is a major aspect of the plot, the story feels more like a historical fiction/women’s fiction novel. The magic is more of a tool than a central component of the story.

Additionally, if you have to agree with your protagonist, maybe give this one a pass. I love Anna as a protagonist, but she makes some truly horrifying decisions in this book. Whether those decisions were justified is part of the debate, but if you need your protagonist flawless, this is not the story for you.

eARC provided by NetGalley and Rebellion Publishing in exchange for my honest review

Queen of None had me hooked on page one. Modern Arthurian Fantasy with all your well remembered characters of yore… plus Anna-the forgotten Pendragon. Watching Anna develop across the pages and transcending time is riveting from Queen to Princess, Mother then Lover. More than a story of a mother it is a story of revenge and a woman of survival. In addition to the original plot, you’ll find you look forward to every new “look” at court as Natania writes in such detail that you’ll find yourself envious and seeking to recreate her spectacular imaginings.

A unique take on King Author and his knights from his sister Anna's point a view. The plot was engaging and gives a unique perspective in a popular tale. If you are into Arthurian retellings you must pick up this book.

As someone who never really knew about Arthur Pendragon I just thought this would be a good read. I enjoyed learning about Aruther in passing, he wasn't the main focus, but instead, a side focus as he is the main character's twin sibling. I think this book really captures the brutality of court, and how women in court are represented, as mainly a pawn to be sold off to secure land or titles.

I did find the timeline and pacing of the book a little difficult to follow and while the concept and story were interesting I didn't love this book as much as I was hoping to.

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me this arc in exchange for an honest review

Queen of None by Natania is a re telling or Arthurian Lore as seen through the eyes of a woman at court, specifically a woman destined to be forgotten.

I was immediately drawn in by the premise and kept captive by the intrigue of our leading lady's hidden magic.

This story will be a good read for fans of the BBC show Merlin that never quite found a way for their heart to leave Camelot.

As a fan of Arthurian legends, I immediately wanted to read this book. A tale of Arthur but from the perspective of a woman at court? Yes, please! Anna's life is pretty much what you expect - a woman who does whatever she is told, including marrying someone she didn't select for herself at an extremely young age. What she went through at the hands of Lot was pretty apparent from the start, but she divulges more as the story moves forward. Anna's relationships with those around her after she returns to Carelon are interesting, but also sad. She cannot connect with her sons after her second marriage and things certainly fall apart from there. The power she ultimately discovers within her allows to her to have some level of control over herself and her life, even if no one has any inkling that she is behind it. But the use of this power and magic has a cost, and Anna soon learns that.
I love tales of magic, merlin, and court intrigue, and I couldn't put this one down as it got going. I needed to know what would happen to Anna and her family. I will definitely be continuing with this series. Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read this book.

This reminds me of the myth of Cassandra set in Arthurian times revolving around the unknown sister of King Arthur. Her travels and suffrage from being used as a pawn in the games of men and her female rage is beautiful.

I was really excited about this, and intrigued by the Arthurian legend side of it, but unfortunately it felt a little flat in the development side, and the magic felt a bit out of place with how it came in. Saying that, the uniqueness of this book was intriguing and had me enjoying it.

This was FABULOUS!!

Anna stole my heart, she was such a captivating character with such a gorgeous and heart-breaking story.

As an avid lover of The Once and Future King, I find good Arthur retellings to be few and far between.

This one is for sure one of my favorites.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was fabulous Arthur retelling, from a different point of view which I loved. I also loved the fact the characters were all diffent ages and not all really young.

If you like a book with magic, personal growth and fate this is a book for you.

I read an eARC of this book so thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for this.

I really enjoy stories set during/ inspired by Arthurian legend. Generally I do tend to like books with this setting. They’re not all winners, but this one was.

This takes a really interesting approach by following Arthur’s lesser known sister Anna. Anna is sent off to marry King Lot of Orkney at 12 years old and is also prophesied to always be forgotten. We meet Anna 20 years after her marriage when following her husband’s death, she returns to her brother’s court. Anna is continually treated as a pawn, used by the men in her life to further their own ends. This story shows when she has had enough and chooses to influence her own destiny.

I thoroughly enjoyed this, it was a unique take on a theme we’re seeing a lot of books of lately (Arthurian stories told from the female characters’ perspectives). It was well-paced, gripping and I was heavily invested in Anna’s success.

I was really excited about the premise of this book and there were some great moments, especially learning the Arthurian legend through another POV, however I wanted more. This had the opportunity to be so much richer but the character development was very surface, the pacing was off and there were many contradictions in the magic system, timeline and character emotions that I found hard to reconcile. Thank you for the e-arc.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange of an honest review!

“‘Anna Briallen Carys Pendragon. Through all the ages, and in the hearts of men, you will be forgotten.’

My prophecy. My burden. My curse.”


Well, this was a ride. This book follows the journey of Gwenhwyfar, a character from Arthurian legend. The author reimagines Anna Pendragon’s story, exploring her struggles and choices in a world where magic, politics, and destiny intertwine. As Ana goes against challenges and embraces her own agency, the plot unfolds with a mix of intrigue, magical elements and personal growth. While I struggled to get into the plot for the first half of the book, by the second half i was submerged into its themes of power, identity, and the consequences of the character’s choices. The way the author writes is amazing and I only have myself to blame for struggling for the first half. I will definitely continue the Queens of Fate series and am excited to see how the other stories unfold.