2016 • 336
pages (eBook) • 47North
Fantasy
novels aren’t usually the kind of books I tend to go for, but when I read the
premise for The Queen’s Poisoner I was interested to find out
more so I downloaded a copy to my Kindle. As it turns out, it was a good shout
because I really enjoyed it. It’s well written, well-paced, and it was exactly
the kind of book I was looking for at the time. An easy read that isn’t too
complex but also doesn’t plod or drag.
So, the
plot: Owen Kiskaddon is the youngest son of the Duke of Kiskaddon, the latter
of whom is accused of treason and so must hand over one of his children to the
King to act as a hostage. Eight-year-old Owen is sent to the palace at
Kingfountain where he must learn to survive and elude the King’s spies, all
whist fearing the wrath of ruthless, and possibly murderous, King Severn. It is
a mysterious woman, known as the Queen’s Poisoner, who vows to help Owen by
assisting him in gaining the King’s favour and proving his worth, something
that will prove vital when Lord Kiskaddon is again accused of betraying the
realm, leaving Owen’s live to hang precariously in the balance.
Child
narrators are tricky and reading novels told from this perspective normally
make me a little hesitant, especially with books that aren’t in a contemporary
setting. I find they tend to be unreliable and not characterised as well as
adult protagonists, but I managed to see past that with this book. The story
was enjoyable and Owen turned out to be a clever and intuitive character,
despite him being clouded with a childish awkwardness. There are a few moments
like this: *gasp* "She just spoke back to him! To an adult! Can you
believe it?!" Owen gets tongue tied around the King a lot of the time, but
I can’t say I blame him because he comes across a pretty intimidating kind of
guy.
The novel
itself is classed as fantasy, but the reading experience felt like historical
fiction and I know exactly why. From just the first few chapters I could sense
strong parallels between this story and the War of the Roses – the hunchbacked
uncle accused of murdering his nephews and claiming the throne for himself was
a clear giveaway, so I didn’t even need to get to the Author’s Note at the end
to learn the influence behind the book. It kind of felt like an alternate
history retelling of what could have happened had Richard III won the Battle of
Bosworth and not Henry Tudor, with of course elements of fantasy mixed in. This
in itself is an interesting premise but I’m glad Wheeler decided to write a
fantasy novel rather than an outright historical fiction retelling, because
this works really well and I actually found the magical elements and the world
building to be subtle, yet intriguing.
This
isn’t the kind of high fantasy you get from Game of Thrones, but
the history behind the Kingdom of Ceredigion and the magical power of the
Fountain/Fountain Blessed people, was all really interesting and well thought
out. As I said, I don’t read a lot of fantasy but this was a nice balance for
me. Magic obviously exists and everyone knows about it, but it’s rare and
Wheeler weaves in to the story delicately.
As a whole, the novel is clear and clean cut. It’s full of
espionage and plotting and Wheeler shows you can write an exciting narrative
without any explicit violence or sex needed. I whizzed through this in a couple
of days and it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
Overall rating: 4 stars
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