Four Dead Queens is a stand alone fantasy with potential to become a series- maybe we’ll get lucky and be gifted with more of Quadara?? The kingdom of Quadara is separated into four quadrants, each having their own way of life and a queen to protect them and ensure that the quadrants remain loyal to their traditions and lifestyles. Although we get a brief overview of the world-building, I would love to learn more about the quadrants. The Queens, in turn, are controlled by the system of Queenly Law. They are not allowed romantic love, not allowed to ever return home after taking the throne, must produce an heir by the age of 45 (with a donor selected from a party), among others.
Life in Quadara is a life of strict prohibition for the constituents and the queens, but, in a restrictive society, there are always the rebels. Keralie is a professional pickpocket. When Mackiel, her mentor, selects her next target to be a government messenger, Varin, everything goes south. Kera and Varin are thrown together and discover a video describing the deaths of the four queens. Can two teens from different quadrants save them in time?
I enjoyed the dynamic between Kera and Varin. She was raised in Toria (the intellectual quarter) by a loving family but left after her father suffered an accident and embraced the thrill of the underworld. He was raised in Eonia (the futurist, technological quarter) and never met his parents who had been genetically matched and was raised not to show emotion. As their relationship develops, we see them both sharing their views and understanding there is more than what they have always been taught.
A pleasant surprise is how we are introduced to a lot of the world building through the personalities and lives of the queens. The title implies the queens have been murdered, but we are given a background and a storyline for each as their tales are told.
Overall, Four Dead Queen is an impressive debut and I look forward to seeing more from Astrid Scholte.
Life in Quadara is a life of strict prohibition for the constituents and the queens, but, in a restrictive society, there are always the rebels. Keralie is a professional pickpocket. When Mackiel, her mentor, selects her next target to be a government messenger, Varin, everything goes south. Kera and Varin are thrown together and discover a video describing the deaths of the four queens. Can two teens from different quadrants save them in time?
I enjoyed the dynamic between Kera and Varin. She was raised in Toria (the intellectual quarter) by a loving family but left after her father suffered an accident and embraced the thrill of the underworld. He was raised in Eonia (the futurist, technological quarter) and never met his parents who had been genetically matched and was raised not to show emotion. As their relationship develops, we see them both sharing their views and understanding there is more than what they have always been taught.
A pleasant surprise is how we are introduced to a lot of the world building through the personalities and lives of the queens. The title implies the queens have been murdered, but we are given a background and a storyline for each as their tales are told.
Overall, Four Dead Queen is an impressive debut and I look forward to seeing more from Astrid Scholte.