There’s a really nice misdirection subplot though about the suitors and the Kaiser. It was also semi-predictable from about midway the shape of what she was going to do (just not the details). The way Theo resolves this issue felt a tad like a cop-out to me – idealistic at worst, but it was fun and felt like the best option from a mix of terrible ones. I really liked how it was handled, and the tug-of-war between not wanting to exchange the Kaiser for another ruler, albeit a less harsh one, and leaving the country under the Kaiser’s rule.
However, slowly the full implications of a political marriage to bring in armies was explored (namely the control it would give the other country over Astrea, hence all the Kings/Princes etc after her marriage). But the asking price is her hand in marriage, something no Queen has done before.Īt first, this felt like it wasn’t explored beyond the change in tradition and that she didn’t like the idea of marrying a stranger. Rather than being primarily about survival and escape, Theo is striving for alliances to free her country. This book has a far greater political fantasy slant than the first book, which I loved. I certainly loved this book, but would I have loved it even more if I’d been been more awake? I’ll have to re-read in a few months’ time to know the answer to that. Did this impact my reading of it? I don’t know. Reading a book while very tired in the evenings is never helpful. I feel like I’ve been reading this book for ages, which is ridiculous considering I Goodreads shows it’s only been 3 days – three very tired days to be sure, which is probably why. Theo knows that freedom comes at a price, but she is determined to find a way to save her country without losing herself. Something an Astrean Queen has never done. And according to Dragonsbane, an army can only be produced if Theo takes a husband.
Only, securing an army means she must trust her aunt, the dreaded pirate Dragonsbane. But her people remain enslaved under the Kaiser’s rule, and now she is thousands of miles away from them and her throne. She has taken back her rightful title, and a hostage–Prinz Soren. He didn’t realize that a sharp mind is the deadliest weapon.
The Kaiser thought his prisoner weak and defenseless. He took Theo’s country and kept her prisoner, crowning her Ash Princess–a pet to toy with and humiliate for ten long years. The Kaiser murdered Theodosia’s mother, the Fire Queen, when Theo was only six.
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