What happened?
|
How can something so great go so badly wrong.
The first three books in this series were fantastic - all five star efforts, but this, the grand finale, just fell flat. All of the elements were there - Keyes talent for cliffhanger chapter endings, the well-written characters we have come to love -Aspar White, Cazio, Neil Meqvren, Stephen Darige - and the ones we have come to hate -Robert Dare at the top of that pile, along with Hespero and Fend - but somehow it all seems to be a bit of a mess.
There are dramatic character changes - particularly with Stephen Darige and Anne, which, although understandable, seriously change the feel of the book from the first three - especially Darige, whose wit and sarcasm were most endearing. He literally transforms into a completely different character.
Some of the most enjoyable characters are given very little time (Meqvren, Robert Dare, Cazio) and others too much time with too little to do, (Leoff).
Also the end feels very rushed, with the moment we've all been waiting for, Robert Dare's comeupance, feeling like an added sideline.
Keyes' flair for writing, his talent at blending character, drama and humour (Meqvren's duel with a knight of Hansa springs to mind) still manages to lift this book, hence the 3 stars, but it is just not in the same league as the first three.
The other books gripped you emotionally and took you on a rollercoaster journey. This one limped across the line, feeling a bit like fantasy-by-numbers. Such a shame.
|
|
Messy and Unsatisfying
|
After the first three books in the series I had very high hopes for the final volume. Unfortunately they were not met.
The book starts promisingly enough, but then proceeds to jump forward from set-piece to set-piece without giving a chance for any one to develop fully. Mr Keyes appears to lose his previous fine control of the trajectories of each character, along with his firm grip on the overall dramatic arc of the plot. Some characters are transformed (and readers of the previous books may have seen this coming), but it seems to happen between the 'meanwhiles'. The disjointed approach robs us of any opportunity to take the changes on board gradually, and feels, frankly, perfunctory. It's as if he ended up with two books worth of story left to tackle in the final volume, and couldn't quite pull it off.
Writing itself is good, just the content that is lacking.
|
|
|
The not so triumphant conclusion
|
Greg Keyes writes this concluding part of The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone in the same fluid, fast paced style that made me enjoy the previous three volumes. Like its predecessors, The Born Queen is filled with likable characters and end-of-chapter cliffhangers that make you want to read on, but ultimately it provides an ending that is flawed and disappointing.
Three quarters through the book, the plot gets very convoluted as the protagonists find themselves in ridiculous situations. Characters you got to care about suddenly develop wildly different personalities, making you wonder if you're reading a different book. Even the long-awaited comeuppance of the main antagonist fails to deliver: Robert's downfall is a low key event rather than the cheer-worthy demise it should be.
I read a lot of fantasy series and until this disappointing ending, I considered The Kingdom of Thorn and Bone as one of my favourites. If only Keyes would write a fifth volume making out that the events in The Born Queen are nothing more than a bad dream and present us with the fantastic ending that this series deserves!
|
|
|
United States | 
United Kingdom | 
Canada