Worlds of The Golden Queen [Paperback]

David Farland (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 26, 2005

Originally published as two books, Worlds of the Golden Queen is a stellar tale of love, adventure, sacrifice, and war set in a fantastic future.

In the first novel, The Golden Queen, the insectoid Dronons have slain the human queen Semarritte, thowing into chaos the ten thousand worlds over which she reigned. Desperate to save mankind, Lord Veriasse, her near-immortal consort, has created a new queen: Everynne, cloned from the dead original. Hotly pursued, Everynne falls in with cocky bodyguard Gallen O'Day; the pious Orick, an intelligent black bear; and the beautiful orphan Maggie Flynn.
With Gallen and the others newly sworn to her service, the young queen begins the great struggle against the aliens. Leaping from world to world via an ancient system of instantaneous transport gates, the heroes face terrible dangers and great wonders as they seek the heart of the dronon worlds, carrying the battle straight to the enemy.
In the second novel, Beyond the Gate, Maggie Flynn has become, by test of combat, the new Golden Queen. Gallen, Maggie, and Orick face an attack by Dronons on a planet where humans have achieved the pinnacle of genetic engineering. They must stop them while guarding the secret of Maggie's whereabouts, for she is only the Golden Queen until her champion, Gallen, is defeated by a Dronon challenger. In the midst of a slam-bang story, Farland raises and examines deep questions of humanity's definition and identity.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for The Golden Queen

"Dave Farland can dispense the flash and dazzle of space opera while at the same time providing tough, real, sympathetic characters. He has learned his lesson well, and I enjoyed The Golden Queen with a special pleasure."-Roger Zelazny.

"A rainbow mixture of technology and mythology, filled with vibrant colors, larger-than-life heroes, and thunderous action. A grand quest across a kaleidoscope of parallel worlds."-Kevin J. Anderson

"They leap from planet to planet via Gates opened with Keys, enduring perils at every turn, until a final showdown decides the fate of the galaxy."-Kirkus Reviews

"When you want to slap a character for her naive arrogance on one page and comfort her on the next, you know you've found a writer with a gift for characterization . . . This is an enjoyable story. Recommended."-Starlog

"It's a long, colorful book. There's a pleasure, a richness, or a surprise on every page-sometimes all three. There's immense scope to The Golden Queen, and a wonderful sense of presence. Any reader can simply plunge into this novel and be off to alien worlds and wonderful adventures."-Richard A. Lupoff, KPFA (San Francisco)

About the Author

David Farland is the author of the bestselling Runelords saga. He lives in Saint George, UT.

Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (May 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765313154
• ISBN-13: 978-0765313157
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,827,433 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Loses Steam, July 3, 2005

By 

M. J Bauer "Mike Bauer - Voracious Reader" (Commerce Township, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Worlds of The Golden Queen (Paperback)

I really liked the first book, it was inventive, had pretty good characterization and made you want to know what was going to happen. It was predictable at the end, but you liked the characters and wanted to know what their fate turned out to be. Again, some very creatice ideas.

Book two reads as if it is written by a different author. Same characters, a little bit of creativity but to me, very different. It was very unusual to be reading about people you think you know who turn out to be strangers.

First book - 4 or five stars, second book - one or two stars. If possible try to find book one, read it and enjoy. Don't ruin a good thing by reading book two

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Some very interesting and exciting tales!, June 15, 2005

By 

Valerie Matteson "Bookaholic" (Ann Arbor, Michigan) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Worlds of The Golden Queen (Paperback)

I found this two-in-one book to be very fun and exciting but not quite as good as Farland's Runelords series. The second story seemed to be unfinished and cry out for a sequel/conclusion.

In the first novel, The Golden Queen, the "human" (Tharrin, really who are genetically enhanced and have been engineered by humans to be leaders) was defeated as was her Lord Escort, Veriasse by the insectoid Dronons and so the Dronons are taking over the ten thousand worlds over which she reigned. Lord Veriasse, her near-immortal consort who barely survived, has created a new queen: Everynne, cloned from the dead original. They are leaping from world to world via instantaneous transport gates. The Dronons are trying hard to find them and are very close behind. They come to a world where it is "backward" to the Tharrins and others. It is like Ireland in the 19th century perhaps -- no electricity, phones ,etc. Everynne and Veriasse come to an inn where Gallen O'Day, a for-hire bodyguard and general wild lawman, is having an ale with Orick, a talking and intelligent black bear. Maggie Flynn who wishes to marry Gallen even though she is not quite 17, works the inn for John Mahoney. Gallen immediately notices Everynne as she has pheromones that attact people, especially men, and she is very beautiful.

Gallen goes off to escort a drunk friend home over the hills and is attacked by robbers and is outnumbered 12 to 1. He is doing pretty well although the drunk is knocked out and he is injured but then a "sidhe" appears in black robes and lavender face mask and helps run off the rest of the robbers. While Gallen is fighting, Orick sees a Dronon (though to him it is just a monster) trying to get into a window of the inn. He sounds an alarm and attacks the Dronon. More Dronons come and the village priest tries to hold them off but he is also killed.

Luckily Everynn and Veriasse have already left for another gate and Gallen meets up with them and Maggie and Orick to give them escort to the gate. Of course they end up running to it pursued by the Dronons and all of them go through to another world.

It is on these other worlds that Gallen, Maggie and Orick learn through "mantles" more about the world and the marvelous machines in them and that their home world is very primitive in comparison. They also decide to help Everynne and Veriasse defeaet the current Dronon Golden Queen's Lord Escort so that Everynne can become the new Golden Queen and reclaim the worlds for humans and other races to chase off the Dronons. The Dronons want every race to be like them or serve them. How the band of travellers arrives on Dronon and battles is the climax of this story.

The second story or book is "Beyond the Gate". Gallen, Maggie and Orick are back on their home world to hide from the Dronons. Unfortunately, their own people have become jealous and angered by what they perceive as Gallen's criminal behavior based on the testimony of a couple surviving robbers. Gallen and Maggie finally get married after many trials and Gallen lets Maggie know that Everynne needs their help or at least Gallen's help for a trapped Tharrin woman on another world. The three of them travel to this world and find the young woman, Cerravanne, who was once a leader of many of the races of people but now with help from the Dronons the "Inhuman" is infecting everyone.

The races of people they meet, how they survive and how they deal with the Inhuman packs alot of adventure and excitement as well as some issues of humanity and morality. A wonderful tale -- but now what happens to Maggie as Golden Queen and Gallen as her Lord Escort???

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Good Read, March 21, 2010

By 

Kevin M. Wagner "Sci Fi Guy" (scifiguys.com) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Worlds of The Golden Queen (Paperback)

I don't review many books, though I read many. I thought I would chime in on this one as so few have done so. This is a very good series that has interesting characters and a very interesting world construction. While some of the concepts, the "Stargates" are not all that new the sum is far better than the parts. I enjoyed it so much that I reread it several times which for me is about as strong an endorsement that I can give.