The True Queen

October 1, 2017
It takes two people to make one queen.Elli (The Impostor Queen, 2016) is Valtia--queen--of Kupari. Only two other people know she secretly lacks the innate fire and ice magic that the real Valtia would have. Elli can balance and channel magic, but the magic must be someone else's. Meanwhile, Ansa (The Cursed Queen, 2017) and her people, the Krigere, edge toward Kupari, not necessarily planning to raid and plunder it but desperate for a place to live. Ansa bursts with fire and ice magic so forceful that she kills accidentally and endangers herself. As Elli and Ansa alternate the first-person narration, Fine crafts tantalizing oppositions of what each protagonist knows (sometimes falsely) about the other. Readers always know the truth. Two magic-wielding elders figure prominently: Raimo, faithful to Elli, and centuries-old Kauko, manipulative, cruel, and grotesque. A twisting and unpredictable plot--inexplicable earthquakes, battles, witch hunts, loss of beloveds, trickery, passion, loyalty, betrayal, fire, ice, and (nonconsensual) blood drinking--balances deliciously with the magnetic pull of destiny toward Elli and Ansa's predetermined final family. The protagonists, both explicitly queer, are from radically different cultures that speak different languages, though both of them (and almost everyone) are white.Fiery, icy, sad, thrilling. (Fantasy. 12-16)

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November 1, 2017

Gr 8 Up-In this conclusion to The Imposter Queen and The Cursed Queen, the Krigere warriors head toward Kupari to make a more permanent home for themselves. Despite being raised Krigere, Ansa (love interest of chieftain Thyra) now understands she was born Kupari and inherited the explosive magical powers of the Kupari queen, or Valtia. Elli, whose own magical powers are limited to amplification and negation, currently sits the Kupari throne as an "impostor" Valtia until she can find the true queen. At the same time, violent earthquakes and general unsteadiness among magic-wielders are spreading panic in Kupari, and a renegade group of Krigere are harboring a power-hungry, magic-wielding Kupari priest. The worlds of the first two books finally collide with each other. A suspenseful plot is punctuated by engaging action and battle scenes, as the perspective switches between Elli and Ansa. The magic of the enraged Kupari land shapes the plot heavily, but its true "logic" ("the give and take of magic and blood and earth") is never satisfyingly explained. The land's suddenly apparent desire for human blood in addition to copper feels a bit arbitrary, and the deaths of two characters feel engineered to bring their respective grieving lovers together. Nevertheless, this final clashing of the communities explored in the previous installments is well executed and engrossing. VERDICT Purchase where the first two volumes were popular.-Sara White, Seminole County Public Library, Casselberry, FL

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