***SPOILERS***
After very much enjoying both The Dream Thief and The Smoke Thief, I was greatly anticipating Queen of Dragons. From the very beginning, however, I found myself not as connected to the story. Part of that may be due to the fact that I honestly don't remember much about Princess Maricara from the last book, and this one starts off expecting us to. Part of it may be due to the fact that Maricara is not an easy person to sympathize with and relate to. She is immediately portrayed as different from the rest of the Drakon, and although I normally sympathize with the outsider, she comes across as cold and distant and unlikeable. Sure, she was forced to marry the evil and abusive leader of the Carpathian Drakon when she was only nine and I'm sure suffered greatly at his hands, but Shana Abe's writing is rather vague and distant and detached about all this. I wasn't sure how much her horrible marriage affected Maricara (although I'm sure it was supposed to) because the character herself never really talked or thought about it. And the fact that it wasn't dealt with more just made me confused and frustrated.
Another problem I had with this book, which is a problem that I've had with the other two but which seemed more glaringly obvious and outrageous, is the lack of choice given to the female characters. Despite being forced into a marriage and raped by her husband (she was only nine- of course it was rape, but again all this was just hinted at vaguely) Maricara was then betrothed without her knowledge or consent at the age of FIFTEEN. It was hard enough to read about what was hinted about regarding her marriage at nine, but for then the alleged good guys to turn around and do the same thing was just appalling and disgusting to me. And all that happens by page 11, at which time I was immediately pre-disposed to hating not just our hero, but all the men of the drakon council who agreed to this, and the entire drakon society for allowing this to happen to a child. Needless to say, the romance didn't work for me at all. It's a romance book, after all, so it's no surprise that they eventually fall in love, but Kimber spent most of the book chasing her and contemplating imprisoning her, and that just isn't a convincing story of love for me.
The other part of the story is the plot about the sanf inimicus- the group of drakon hunters. Although they've been inactive, but known about until recently at the Carpathian Mountains, their presence is a new and scary threat to the once invincible English drakon. A young drakon girl goes missing, and then Kimber's brother is taken as well, but NOTHING happens with this story line beyond a minor skirmish. The fact that nothing was resolved about the sanf inimicus may be the most frustrating aspect about this novel. Queen of Dragons is set up and written so that you believe the big confrontation with the sanf inimicus will happen, but that's not true. Nothing happens beyond a brief fight with a small number of their group. No questions are answered.
Kimber's parents have also gone missing in the very beginning and that mystery is left dangling for the next book or two. Other characters make mysterious appearances, but nothing is explained or resolved. I could hardly believe it when I got to the last page- it felt like a hundred or more pages were missing. It was beyond frustrating. I remembered the first two books being mostly stand alone with a little hinted about for the next, but nothing like what happened here. It was seriously upsetting, and has left me questioning whether I'm going to continue reading a series where only more questions are asked rather than answered.
After delivering two good, solid books in this series, Shana Abe's third Drakon book severely disappoints. Characters are not well developed, not understandable, not relatable and not even likable. The romance felt too coerced and unsettling for me to enjoy. The male dominated drakon society led by an entirely male council which essentially imprisons the drakon in Darkfrith -just made me increasingly angry. And lastly, the plot about drakon hunters which is what I believed this book was about, was never dealt with. I would advise against reading Queen of Dragons altogether, but at the very least until the next book is published.
