Read Trickster's Queen (2005)

What do You think about Trickster's Queen (2005)?

A second and final book ABSOLUTELY AWESOME !!Back in the good favours of the regents, Aly and her companions returned to the capital of Rajmuat and begin to actively prepare the revolution to overthrow the Rittevon and put Sarai on the throne. But amid the intrigues of the court, paranoia and murders, Aly will have to use all her talents as a spy to keep unharmed the Balitang family and help the returning of Kyprioth and of a raka queen on the throne ...LOVED this conclusion !! The author's style is still pleasant (full of humor, sarcasm and also scenes which broke your heart and other really harsh that make us aware of the hardness of the choices sometimes ...), the universe is still amazing (I loved the darkings !! I sooo want one too ><) and the plot and subplots (to a background of racism and political intrigues) are AMAZING here and gain a level of complexity really exciting : I am a HUGE fan of court intrigues and espionage so there I was in heaven =D (I admit I cried at the scene of the "shipwreck", I kind of expected a miracle and my heart broke ... But I totally expected the change of situation with Sarai, it's been several chapters since I thought she would make a very bad queen (too irresponsible) so I was pretty pleased with the turnaround ><)The characters are still fascinating and although many die in this book (hey it's not a cakewalk, it's war !!), it's well done =)I'm still a HUGE fan of Aly who remains my favorite character in the series with her life as a spy, her Machiavellian mind, her charming side, her sassy replies while remaining human with feelings and weaknesses =) Her relationship with Nawat evolves considerably (WOW WOW !! I must admit that I was afraid of finding myself with a mushy couple of teenagers kissing and everything and finally, nOT AT ALL !! Nawat is not a pushover and he TOTALLY knows how to take the lead when necessary =) (Yes, there is a sex scene but it's very well written and rather soft =))Other secondary characters are just as interesting as before in this book, including the Balitang family that has strong female members like Winna (she evolves a lot and proves to be a true leading lady) and Dove (who is one of my favorite characters, a discreet girl, not extraordinary beautiful but nice, intelligent, very mature and a perfect queen). I loved to see more gods although Kyprioth remains my favorite (in that book, he's a much more believable god : funny, clever but ultimately inhumane to the point of being sometimes cruel ...)Special mention for Taybur Sibigat, the captain of the guard too insightful that I totally loved and that I would have liked to see more ><) and would have liked to know more about the thief that Kyprioth had found =)Ahhh and of course I would have liked more books ><)
—Lea Bourg'

Turns out I'm not going to write a full review of this, but I did want to get some quick thoughts down about it while they're still fresh. Mostly I just want to talk about how fun it was to read a book about a girl who is so competent at something girls aren't usually good at in novels, and who has a chance to do something serious, with real consequence. I liked the twist half-way through with Dove and Sarai, and I love love love Aly and Nawat together. This doesn't get five stars from me, though, because I feel like it got a bit bogged down with all the spy/revolution stuff for a while and forgot about its characters. There was just so much detail that Aly had to take in as the spymaster for the rebellion, and we had to hear about it too, that it just got overwhelming sometimes. It was a relief when actual things would happen to Aly or her friends/co-conspirators because then it felt like a novel again, rather than a historical chronicle.
—Ashley

To be honest I was a little disappointed by this book. Usually I fly through Tamora Pierce's books because they capture my imagination and I cannot bear to put them down until the adventure is finished.They keep you interested with twists and turns and characters that you want to call friends.The first book in the set of 2 - Trickster's Choice - was a great read. The characters were well defined and you believed in them. The story line was intriguing and different from her other books - but in a good way. There were the usual elements of magic, love, honour and hard choices. Then came along this - the second book. Suddenly everything ... slowed ... down. One chapter became the same as the next. Plot lines became obvious and certain characters started to grate on your nerves. Characters you were supposed to cheer for. It takes about half the book before you actually find yourself once again flipping pages in anticipation.Magic is over used, there is no challenge as everything seems to easy for Aly (the main character) and the villains are very flat and two dimensional.
—Miranda Harvey