Customer Reviews

The Pretender's Crown (The Inheritors' Cycle, Book 2)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The only reason why this book is 4.5 stars and not 5 is because I do not think that Murphy's "alien race" tie in is done as effectively as it could be. While it creates an interesting motivation for the protagonist (Belinda) to make the decisions that she does, I think that the general tie in of the "alien story" to the action is a little weak.

This book does not stand alone easily. I would definitely recommend that you read The Queen's Bastard (The Inheritors' Cycle, Book 1) first.

The political intrigue and diplomatic plays that began in The Queen's Bastard are more intense, more complete, and more interesting in this book. If you enjoy books like Kushiel's Dart for the political espionage, you will enjoy this series. (Mind, this series is not as good as Carey's work with the Kushiel's Legacy series, but they're in the same realm.) Also improved upon: the character development. All of the characters have rounded out to more complex shades of gray, an improvement all around though you will probably find yourself liking Javier a little less (he's a bit more whiny in this book).
In short: read this book, even if you weren't thrilled with "Queen's Bastard." It's an improvement and a solid, gripping read.

(I was so engrossed in it at one point, I had reached the end of the metro line and the train and platform had cleared of all other people before I snapped out of it long enough to get off the train before it went to the station yard.)

Pretenders Crown is the sequel to The Queen's Bastard (The Inheritors' Cycle, Book 1).
This book defies description-
1. Part alternative history: 16th Century ELizabethan England/Europe
2. Part magical fantasy
3. Part Machiavellian political drama
4. Part Science Fiction (yes- Sci Fi!).
5. Part romance (very little).

The writing is dense. The POV shifts from character to character, so you really have to concentrate when reading. This is not one of those books where you can skim 2-3 pages and not miss a beat. This is not light reading, but is amazingly well written.

You must read Queen's Bastard first. If you have already read Queens Bastard, then the following will make more sense. There are some OMG revelations here, so I will try and not put in any Spoilers.
Here are my thoughts:
1. Belinda- in QB she definetely had shades of gray and was hard to like. In this we actually see her character grow and become more likable. She transforms herself from pawn to player as she realizes what is transpiring around her.
2. Less sex- in QB Belinda's "witchpower" fed from her sexual energy. Thankfully Belinda has learnt to seperate the two by the end of the book. There is still plenty of sex in the first half, although no forced sex like in QB.
3.Javier- in QB he was a sympathetic character, and here he actually becomes less likeable. Events transform him just as they do Belinda. There is a shocking revelation about him that will have your jaw drop.
4.Witchpower- what this is and how Belinda,Ivanova, Robert Drake,Dimitri and Javier possess it is revealed. Again a big shock to me. I did not see this coming.

This book is so different from the Urban Shaman series and the House of Cards series. I think it proves what an amazingly versatile author C.E.Murphy is.

This book is labelled as Part 2 of the Inheritance cycle. The conclusion is satifactory but does leave itself open for a 3rd book. The author's website does not have any info yet as to when it would come out.

If you enjoy complex dark fantasy with a hostorical and Sci-fi dash, you will love this book.

I put off writing a review for quite some time as I didn't know what to say about this book after my review of the first one. And there are improvements: less complaining about women's rights, less masochism, and no huge plot holes. My actual rating is 2 1/2 stars.

Belinda becomes the heir to the throne (Yeah! what was the hold up on that again?). She then initiates plans to overthrow her alien overlords. Somehow, despite how I am intrigued by the aliens, this is too little too late, and her personality shifts seem more to please fans than actual character work.

Javier is rather useless and easily pushed around by outside forces. He was more entertaining in the last book. And when he does take proactive steps like chasing the woman he loves, the romance seems non-existant.

Ivanova makes an appearance and seems set to make a dramatic entrance onto the scene of the main plot. The tension builds, but the drama goes to waste once she leaves her homeland.

The basic idea was good. There were some worthwhile plot twists. I ended up greatly liking Javier's uncle, the Prince of Essendia. But he's a minor character and those that I loved were either killed in body or in character during the first book. Here the characters are more cardboard cutouts than I ever anticipated. Perhaps the plot with the aliens will turn out to be wonderful, but at this point I'm not sticking around to find out.

This book is the sequel to "The Queen's Bastard," which I loved. The story line in this novel however took me a little more effort to get into. Don't get me wrong, I had been anxious to get it, but when I opened it and started reading I became uninterested with the "Alien race" component. The story line developed and I enjoyed the progression, but still I feel that the "Alien" bit was not as developed as it should have been, for all of the importance that was based on the concept. I feel like it wasn't even really necessary, but hey I'm not C.E. Murphy. Overall it was a very good read. There were several moments in which I gasped or exclaimed "No Way!" I thoroughly enjoyed it and I am looking forward to getting into other series by this author.

In 1588 Belinda Primrose, THE QUEEN'S BASTARD daughter of the Virgin Queen of Aulun Lorraine Walter, inherited her witchfire magical prowess from her father Robert Drake. She uses her mage skills as the best royal espionage agent and assassin.

However, the Echon continent seems poised for war when Queen Sandalila of Esandia is killed by poison. Belinda wonders if her mother created the tension that grips the continent in a ploy to gain power over the neighbor across the channel Gallin or a diabolical ruse by the alien Heseth to divide the continent in a bloody hostility. As armies prepare to mobilize, Belinda struggles with what to do next as she decides whether or not to break from her mom. Since she has sampled the dark magical lure of Dmitri, Belinda also reflects about her shaky relationship with Prince Javier de Castille of Essandia and Gallin, whose mom's assassination makes him the uncrowned king of Essandia.

The second Inheritors' Cycle alternate historical fantasy is a fabulous tale anchored by a realistic portrayal of the lead character, as Belinda is no angel. A map makes it clear these countries are part of Western Europe; which enhances the deep look at backstabbing machinations that make up Elizabethan era political intrigue. With plenty of magic, sex, and debates over who the heirs are and who the pretenders to the thrones are, fans will relish C.E. Murphy's fine late sixteenth century saga as lurking behind the scenes remain the Heseth; perhaps too easily stalking their prey.

Harriet Klausner

I greatly enjoyed the first novel of the series, Queen's Bastard, and I was very eager to see this book on the shelves. Unfortunately, The Pretender's Crown was absolutely horrid.

-The book had no clear main character; Belinda, the nominal protagonist, barely made an appearance in the first third of the novel, which spent most of its time flitting from one character to another, introducing fairly bland new ones and adding little of note to the old. Most of the first half of the book was dedicated to a dry overview of overarching politics and left me hoping Belinda would assassinate someone just to break the monotony.

-There was no clear plot. Although the book was centered around the war between the Cordulan armies and Belinda's homeland, it was never clear until almost the last page which side she even wanted to win, let alone how, and there was never any particular reason for the reader to care either way. Beyond this rather vague goal, no one seemed to have any idea what they were trying to accomplish or why. The book read like a meandering stream of thought about the characters, finished only when a page quota was reached.

-The characters are dull, unmotivated and inactive. The introduction of aliens (not a spoiler, it's on the first page) gives a jarring sense of dislocation to the previous historical fantasy. Many key moments (such as an important pregnancy, a later decision to give a child away, and the final betrayal) that should have been pivotal developments occured off-stage or were glossed over, making character changes seem trite and confusing.

Ultimately, too much was shoved into the novel, and almost none of it had to do with the main character or her story. I still highly recommend Queen's Bastard, but I also suggest any readers simply pretend it's a standalone.

This is the sequel to the Queen's bastard and it's as emotionally complex. If you like political intrigue this book is for you. I was surprise by the outcome.

I had to continue - it is in my nature not to give up on a book and/or series. With that said, this second in this series was just as bad as the first one. I actually have nothing nice to say about this book. I will not be continuing on in the series.