Customer Reviews

The Winter Queen

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

 

 

The heroine of this novel is intended to be atypical in fantasy novels: a strong, heroic woman, who nonetheless is very feminine. Unfortunately, she's just too shallow and full of too many contradictions to be believable. She's a determined woman who learns to wield a sword -- but she cries herself to sleep at night, for a different reason every night. She was in love with her dead husband -- but she's lusting after his best friend about a month after he's dead. She's full of all these good ideas -- but she never thinks them up, they just come to her. The characterization in this novel was so poor that I did not care about any of the characters, even by the end.

The book seemed to have a lot of potential at first, but it ended up being sort of a let-down. The plot had several holes in it, and the book ended somewhat weakly. I hope that the author has planned a sequal, because if written a little better, it might redeem the story somewhat. The characters, again, have some potential, but are not developed to their full possibility, and leave you feeling unconnected to them. If you're looking for this type of Fantasy, but more interesting and enjoyable, try Mercedes Lackey's HERALDS OF VALDEMAR series.

The Winter Queen Queen Elissa is named regent by her dying husband. She is not personally ambitious, but filled with the need to protect her young children's legacy, she becomes embroiled in a struggle for power in a court that does not believe in the capacity of a woman to rule. They are also deeply suspicious of "magic" and "witchery". Elissa comes from a more tolerant country - where such abilities are treasured and cultivated. The characters are extremely well-drawn. The elements of a great story are present - strong romantic interest and tension, political intrigue, etc. The central conflict "man vs. Society" or rather strong, gifted Queen vs. prejudices of the misogynistic court is well plotted. Then, instead of progressing to a more epic conclusion - concludes after a thinly plotted predictable failed coup d'etat from a very two dimensional enemy. I think that this is one more example where the sci-f- fantasy's publishers desire for PROFIT (trilogies, serials, etc. - why actually publish a complete book when you can get just as much for 1/3 of a book) cheats the reader of a fulfilling experience. The true great serialists (Tolkien, Frank Herbert) made each book a rich experience that could stand alone. I do look forward to the next installment in this series. Devin Cary has written PART of what appears to be a brave and lovely fantasy.

I devour fantasy books. This book should have appealed to me. But I was unable to connect on an emotional level with Elissa. The author gave me information about what she was feeling but by the end I had no real stake in her sucess or failure.I didn't feel that her children were in any real danger and it seemed like poitical machinations. I wanted the promise of the beginning to be fulfilled by the ending. It was a good beginning but it lost steam at the end. I will probably look at the next book in the series but maybe a longer book that could have reached a more satisfying conclusion would have been a better choice.

It is the vividly formed, three dimensional characters, along with the intricately formed and intertwined plot which makes 'The Winter Queen' such a winner. Students of the ancient teachings of Machiavelli will find many examples of his devious methods used by the Heroine of 'The Winter Queen', Elissa. If you like novels with strong women characters, or if you like novels where the line between good and evil is blurred, where the good are not all good, and the bad are not so terrible, then you will get as much of a kick out of this one as I did.

After reading this, I'm left with the simple sentiment: the book was fine. It was not moving, exciting, fast-paced, particularly well written, deep, thought-provoking, or inspiring. However it was not entirely terrible either. I read this book as just something to take up time. And that's about all the story is; something to take up time. The characters were varied... but stereotypical. There was the queen who was trying to be good, but in over her head. There was the dashing and handsome, utterly good, second in command Geoffrey. And there was the malicious, do anything to get rid of the queen, religious leader Dathan. That's about all there was. The plot was predictable... and didn't go anywhere. The back blurb talks about magic and its unusual results... yet the Queen's magic left me wanting. There was not a large role for it; just one or two key parts. I also found the author added too much details and scenes for no purpose. It was more overkill than adding depth. As well there was no conclusive ending.
Overall the book was a good time-waster. Something to do on a snowed in day. Not much else.

In a medieval world filled with tightly ruled patriarchal kingdoms, King Ethelred, in his last mortal words, whispers his wife Queen Elissa's name as heiress to the mantel of power until their youthful son can mature enough to ascend to his father's throne. And so erupts a firestorm of controversy in which Elissa must either sink of swim in her courageous efforts to rule or be devoured by a predatory school of sharks, male nobles of Ethelred's clan, all coveting his crown, or, using treachery to conquer his kingdom by discrediting the Queen. She chooses to swim, at a record breaking pace! Meeting the innumerable challenges and obstacles facing her rocky path to acceptance as a regent, Elissa rolls the dice and places total confidence in the one court member her husband trusted implicitly, Geoffrey. Forming a special bond with this married advisor who readily embraces the aspirations of widow Elissa to carry out her husband's final request, Geoffrey proves a rock of strength and savvy decision maker while the Queen wades through a steady stream of threats and conspiracies all aimed at removing her from the royal picture. Their relationship intensifies as Elissa attempts to juggle her busy schedule of being a working mother and ruling regent and somehow keeping those pesky sharks at bay. The Queen realizes early on that her striking beauty, charm and intelligence won't save the day for her. She needs to prove to the cynical and backbiting nobles that she belongs in this man's world of earned privilege and rank. In the process Geoffrey steers her toward an accelerated course of personal training that will turn this innocent, yet charismatic woman, into a battle hardened and streetwise noblewoman who can hold her own in battle against a veteran warrior. But Elissa is so much more than this. Blessed with the magical powers of being born into a family of mages, she uses this unpredictable gift in several adventures without fully understanding her unique potential to gain the advantage in the worst of circumstances. Her motherly devotion and love for her two children, Ethel and Edgar, are unconditional and thoughts of their future constantly drives her actions with greater intensity in finally winning over the legion of naysayers who formerly prayed for her failure. Geoffrey and Elissa seem destined to become kindred spirits and soulmates but author Cary provides a very creative and tantalizing conclusion to her story by thrusting Elissa into a mind boggling act of mystical selflessness that eliminates the Queen's main adversary while putting her in harm's way for what is sure to be a much awaited sequel by her captivated readership. Emotionally I felt totally spent after reading the last line of Devin Cary's fast paced book and definitely found myself wishing for more resolution regarding the fate of her chivalrous or villainous characters.

I picked this book up at Dollar General the other day for a buck. It was OK entertainment for that price, because what can you do for a buck these days besides call 1010-220? Had I paid full price for it, I'd have been annoyed that promising plot lines constantly fell short as if the author was simply too lazy to follow them through. For instance, the retrieval of the infamous letter was wholly anticlimactic. What was the point of building up the background story of Niall and Galen if nothing was to come of their plans? The author may as well have left the whereabouts of the errant letter a mystery until the end. That sort of thing happened all through the book, and I was very disappointed when the book ended where it did.

I really think the author intended for this to be the first of several books, hence Winter Queen. I believe she planned to do all the seasons. But it would have been nice if they'd said this was the first in a series, because then we wouldn't have been so annoyed when the book ended where it did. (I, too, thought I was missing pages at the end.)

I do so hope that someone would be kind enough to give this author a shot at Book Two! I become so wrapped up in the characters, understanding Elissa's plight as much as a modern-day commoner can! Despite the harsh words of others, I found this book to be a page turner, certainly geared toward women with an open mind, and also perhaps men. (I cannot speak for such things) It's currently been my favorite book after 4 reads, and my SINGLE let down revolves around 2 points: a second book needs to be written to tie up the loose ends and keep me reading! Such a thing is possible, and possible to also do well! I give this 4 stars, only because there is not a 2nd book to follow-up with. ;) Happy reading.

I was prepared to love this book, the premise was a fine one, it promised a decent story. I was miserably let down, the characters did nothing to endear themselves to me and the ending was so abrupt I questioned whether or not there were pages missing. I will chock this poor storytelling to an inept editor and maybe look over something else by the author but I was very disappointed with the Winter Queen.