(The Hundredth Queen #1)
by Emily R. King
As an orphan ward of the Sisterhood, eighteen-year-old Kalinda is destined for nothing more than a life of seclusion and prayer. Plagued by fevers, she’s an unlikely candidate for even a servant’s position, let alone a courtesan or wife. Her sole dream is to continue living in peace in the Sisterhood’s mountain temple.by Emily R. King
But a visit from the tyrant Rajah Tarek disrupts Kalinda’s life. Within hours, she is ripped from the comfort of her home, set on a desert trek, and ordered to fight for her place among the rajah’s ninety-nine wives and numerous courtesans. Her only solace comes in the company of her guard, the stoic but kind Captain Deven Naik.
Faced with the danger of a tournament to the death—and her growing affection for Deven—Kalinda has only one hope for escape, and it lies in an arcane, forbidden power buried within her.
In Emily R. King’s thrilling fantasy debut, an orphan girl blossoms into a warrior, summoning courage and confidence in her fearless quest to upend tradition, overthrow an empire, and reclaim her life as her own.
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This was one of the titles on my watch list for books in 2017 and I dived into it expecting something along the lines of The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh. A re-imagining perhaps of The Arabian Nights. Well, I got something different.
To start off let say this book is ok, BUT it could have been better. It started out good actually, 2 girls training each other for their right of passage. Then it's revealed that it is called "Claiming" and that their purpose is to be claimed by men for whatever purpose they deem. I let the patriachy slide, it's part of the story especially during that timeline.
So Kalinda, our protagonist, is a runt in a Temple of orphan (?) girls who is picked to become the Rajah's 100Th Queen. Women in this book are property, and even if her stature is future Rani, Kalinda still needed to fight for her place.
What I didn't like. Aside from the fact that at every turn women were treated as sexual objects and property, the promise of a riveting love story was actually quiet missing. It was so predictable that Kalinda falls in love with the first guy she encounters and then it falls flat. You read about it but it's like being in love with an idea, that's just it - an idea. There were chapters that dwelled too long on how incompetent Kalinda's skills were or descriptions of the vials of tonic she was taking for her fevers, and then there were chapters where it looked rushed. Throw in the twist that there is internal conflict with people known as Bhutas, and surprise, surprise Kalinda is a Bhuta. I was expecting more politics between the wives and the Courtesans, or a more detailed description of the Bhuta Race. I just wanted more.
So. This book obviously isn't great but it had it's good points and is still somewhat of a read. There is going to me more in this series and I am hoping for more character and story development.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
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COMING SOON
Expected publication: September 26th 2017
(The Hundredth Queen #2)
by Emily R. King
In the second book in The Hundredth Queen Series, Emily R. King once again follows a young warrior queen’s rise to meet her destiny in a richly imagined world of sorcery and forbidden powers.
Though the tyrant rajah she was forced to marry is dead, Kalinda’s troubles are far from over. A warlord has invaded the imperial city, and now she’s in exile. But she isn’t alone. Kalinda has the allegiance of Captain Deven Naik, her guard and beloved, imprisoned for treason and stripped of command. With the empire at war, their best hope is to find Prince Ashwin, the rajah’s son, who has promised Deven’s freedom on one condition: that Kalinda will fight and defeat three formidable opponents.
But as Kalinda’s tournament strengths are once again challenged, so too is her relationship with Deven. While Deven fears her powers, Ashwin reveres them—as well as the courageous woman who wields them. Kalinda comes to regard Ashwin as the only man who can repair a warring world and finds herself torn between her allegiance to Deven and a newly found respect for the young prince.
With both the responsibility to protect her people and the fate of those she loves weighing heavily upon her, Kalinda is forced again to compete. She must test the limits of her fire powers and her hard-won wisdom. But will that be enough to unite the empire without sacrificing all she holds dear?
In the second book in The Hundredth Queen Series, Emily R. King once again follows a young warrior queen’s rise to meet her destiny in a richly imagined world of sorcery and forbidden powers.
Though the tyrant rajah she was forced to marry is dead, Kalinda’s troubles are far from over. A warlord has invaded the imperial city, and now she’s in exile. But she isn’t alone. Kalinda has the allegiance of Captain Deven Naik, her guard and beloved, imprisoned for treason and stripped of command. With the empire at war, their best hope is to find Prince Ashwin, the rajah’s son, who has promised Deven’s freedom on one condition: that Kalinda will fight and defeat three formidable opponents.
But as Kalinda’s tournament strengths are once again challenged, so too is her relationship with Deven. While Deven fears her powers, Ashwin reveres them—as well as the courageous woman who wields them. Kalinda comes to regard Ashwin as the only man who can repair a warring world and finds herself torn between her allegiance to Deven and a newly found respect for the young prince.
With both the responsibility to protect her people and the fate of those she loves weighing heavily upon her, Kalinda is forced again to compete. She must test the limits of her fire powers and her hard-won wisdom. But will that be enough to unite the empire without sacrificing all she holds dear?
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