Customer Reviews

Queen of Denial

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

There's a mildly funny short story here. It's buried, however, under piles of unnecessary 4-letter words, and grammatical errors and word misuse that weren't picked up by the editors.

Meisha Merlin usually does a better job than this - if I were the copyeditor and proofreader mentioned on the copyright page, I would ask to have my name removed. The Liaden universe novels come out pretty much free of errors; why shouldn't we expect the same for a smaller book? For example, on the first-page blurb alone, we have this: "Enter Drewcila Qwah a ruff and tumble salvager, who drinks to much, smokes to much, and has a mouth you wouldn't kiss your mother with. Drew and her partner, a huge hair covered alien named Van Gar, have been hired by the kings emissaries to take the confused queen to meet her husband." OK, if the use of "to" instead of "too" didn't bother you, the lack of commas in some places, lack of apostrophes and hyphens in others, didn't bother you, then perhaps you won't be as annoyed as I am.

I don't think there's a single page that has fewer than two [expletive] on it, and after a while, I got distracted by counting the number of [expletive] and [expletive] on each page, to the detriment of whatever the characters were otherwise saying. I think the obscenities are meant to convey the notion of blue-collar, working class culture, but it's an insult to blue-collar workers everywhere.

There are authors who know how to use vocabulary to good effect. Tanya's Huff's "Valor" series (two books so far) has the enlisted personnel using their share of four-letter words, and every bit of it sounds realistic and necessary. Rosen's doesn't.

There's a happy ending, of sorts, if a bit lame. As I said, there's a pretty funny short story in here. The "huge, hair-covered alien" (forgive me, I couldn't resist the impulse to add the proper punctuation) is a lovable Wookie type, who is secretly in love with our, um, heroine. The Royal Family and its courtiers contain some stereotypes, but they're amusing. There are a couple of cute references to classic stories (I think I caught one to Sturgeon's "Killdozer") So, if you're not bothered by the flaws, you'll probably enjoy this.

Drewcilia Qwah is the best salvager in the galaxy with a vocabulary that would make a hardened dock worker blush, and driking habits a fish would envy.

When she is approached to return a a lost queen to her home planet (for a lot of money), she takes the job. But she doesn't know what she's getting into as things aren't what they seem.

This novel is not big, but it's well written, funny and not padded out to excessive length. If you've ever seen the old tv show "quark" it brings back some memories of that in a strange way.

If you like humour in your SF then this is a book worth picking up as it has some laugh out loud moments and it's an original and well told story.

This book was a lot of fun and a definite change of pace from "typical" SF (if there is any such thing), starting with Don Maitz' truly magnificent cover, which grabbed me by the lapels, dragged me over to the bookcase it was displayed on, and forced me to pick it up. Selina Rosen took over from there and carried me off to a magical universe with beer cans and ice chests and rednecks in space. Drewcilia's and her partner, Van Gar's attempts to cope with the twists and turns of this intrigue make for a lot of fun, and I only have two nits to pick, which cost it a star. First, the book gets a little politically preachy in spots, which causes it to drag as we switch from wickedly funny to earnest and sincere, and second, although plot twists conceal it until the end, this is clearly the first volume of a planned series so that the main characters end up not changing a bit, which was something of a disappointment. But if you want to boldly go where no SF author I've ever read has gone before, say hello to the Queen Of Denial.

Excellent book. It captured my interest and keep me reading till the end. I finished this book in one afternoon. Appreciated seeing a women as the lead character. This type of book is normally a "man's" world. Good characterization throughout. The plot twists were excellent. I was sure until the last page just how everything was going to work out. The only thing that was a slight drawback for this novel - was the language. I thought that the writing was good enough to spin the story without all the profanity. It was, at times, even distracting from the story. Overall, though, the book was excellent. Well written, good plot, great read!

If you are looking for nose-in-the-air literature, you are looking in the wrong place with Queen of Denial.
However, if you want a lightening fast read that will leave you chuckling, kick back and enjoy.

Drewcila Qwah is the best salvager in the galaxy. She loves beer, smoking, rousting about with her first mate Van Gar (a large fur covered alien) in the spaceport bars, and causes a disturbance wherever she goes.

Surprisingly, her garbage scow is hired to transport King Zarco back to his homeworld, and she is made an offer she can't refuse.
But during her mission, she finds out that Zarco has been searching for his missing queen Taralin, and that she's the one he's looking for. She has no memory of her abduction or anything prior to it, for her captures removed part of her brain. Still, she decides to go ahead with Zarco and see what she can get from this planet. After all, she's their Queen.

In an uproarously funny adventure, Drew and Van Gar wind out turning Barion upside down while trying to fix their post war problems, all while someone keeps making attempts on Drew's life.

This book is nothing more than a simplistic romp from one planet to another, more of a character story with a sci-fi background. There is hardly any prose at all, which causes the book to be a bit jumpy, but the dialogue is smart and sassy and filled with laughs and clever banter.

If I were ever to take a space adventure, I would want Drew as my pilot. So put away your snobbish discretion and settle down into the wacky capers of the irascible Queen of Garbage. Enjoy!

Absolute fun. A gritty, earthy comedy that made me laugh out loud. I loved it. I can't wait for the sequel. Please give us one soon. Rosen writes with a razor sharp wit. Her protagonists are smart, competent (and, dare I say it -- ethical) and refuse to put up with the idiots around them. I'd ship out with the "Queen" any day.

I generally disliked this book. Most of the characters are two dimensional, and the much-vaunted bawdiness is really just tedious repetitions of the f-word. Whooppee. Too bad, because the premise is interesting, though I can't say more without straying into spoilers. I'm not entirely sure why I bothered to finish it - normally I just stop reading books I don't like. There are tantalizing bits of interestingness - enough to keep you going, but not enough to make it worthwhile to buy this book unless you're really really really desparate for something to read and have already read everything Bujold, Lee & Miller, and other worthwhile authors have already published.

Selina's Rednecks of the Spaceways was just plain fun. Also, except for the maximum wage crack, her politics are better than any of the jokers running for President right now. Get this book! You will enjoy it! pmg

Brash and prone to carousing, Drewcila Qwah is one of the best salvagers in the universe, and with her mate (and sometimes lover) Van Gar, she's been having a great time for the past five years. They are hired to ferry a long-lost queen home to rendezvous with the King of Barious. Enemies of Barious kidnapped the queen years ago, and they brainwashed her, so she has no memories of anything except for the past few years. When they reach the rendezvous, Drew finds herself enmeshed deeper in this whole drama than she ever wanted, or thought possible, but her unscrupulous instincts surface and she's determined to make it all to her advantage. This rough and rollicking space adventure is a wild ride full of zany characters and wacky incidents. Rosen tells a good story, but unfortunately there are so many grammatical and editorial errors that plague this book, so some readers may be deterred from "Queen of Denial".

I found this novel fast and fun. It reminded me a bit of the hit British television series Red Dwarf. Drewcilia Qwah, a hard as nails Salvager who runs her ship (the Garbage Scow) with the aid of a tall, hairy alien named Van Gar, is asked to transport an important mission to return a captured Queen to her King. Drewcilia, who is somewhat suspicious of the setup, lets her love of money overcome her good sense and agrees. Thus begins a rather rollicking space opera.

Drewcilia has fun. She thinks that every ship should have an ice chest full of beer on the bridge. When not downing cold beer she likes mixed drinks with suggestive names that pack a hell of a hangover. When it comes to trading her morals are somewhat lacking but she does not double cross her friends. Her plans also tend to succeed, if everyone else would just keep out of the way and let her work.

For those of delicate sensibilities, yes the language is rough, but it's real language as used by real rednecks not toned down for a "pg13" rating. Lynn Abbey in her introduction talks about how well Rosen's writing lends itself to being read. I agree. It's not that Drew doesn't have some delicacy of feeling, it's just that she expresses it in actions and not words.