The Queen, by Benet Stoen

Welcome back to Rainy Day Reviews.
Today, I’m reviewing The Queen (Book 3 of the Royal Three Trilogy), by Benet Stoen.

About

This third instalment in a charming fantasy series is once again set in the land of Lavdia.

With the Warrior Queen’s army having been massacred, hope is now low. The powerful Artemis (advisor to the High Queen) has captured Veronica and intends to use her wielder magic to fuel his sadistic goals.

Meanwhile, the Warrior Queen (Mayva) and Angelus (former guard of Queen Andromeda) are lucky to have survived the battle against Artemis. Now, they seek to overpower him before he takes full control of Lavdia.

They seek a better world for everyone, but what will it cost them to achieve this? Can they find the support and army they desperately need to overcome Artemis’ monstrous army of transfigured wolves?

You will need to read this book to find out.

Characters

Five key figures appear in this novel: Warrior Queen Mayva, Angelus, Veronica, Artemis, and High Queen Morgeoux.


Warrior Queen Mayva

Queen Mayva is a strong and resilient woman, a determined and formidable force to be reckoned with. She is an excellent strategist, planning around unforeseen obstacles and protecting those who are dear to her. Behind her stony outer appearance is a deeply empathic and vulnerable woman who is doing everything it takes to survive. I came to admire her greatly over the course of this series, not just for her strength and resolve, but also for how she comes to acknowledge her own humanity, displaying the vulnerability that she has fought to hide for so long.


Angelus

Angelus (former guard of the deceased Queen Andromeda) is a brave and dedicated man who has lost much in his young life. It is evident that he loves Veronica deeply and that he will stop at nothing to see that she is safe. Throughout the book, I respected his tenacity, cheering him on as he fought to do the right thing and help others wherever he could. There were times when difficult decisions had to be made; despite wanting to follow his impulses to go after Veronica, Angelus restrained himself so that he would have a better chance of saving Veronica in the long run. Overall, I found him to be an admirable character, worthy of the title 'hero' with the way he put other’s needs ahead of his own, even when it caused him terrible pain.


Veronica

Veronica is a former school-teacher and wielder, possessing powerful magic which she was unaware of until recently. She is a sweet young woman, who protects others as best she can, even when it comes at a cost to herself. She is also smart and intuitive, curious enough to question what her senses tell her. She is no fool and often picks up on things that others miss, a trait which allows her to see danger coming ahead of time and to plan to avoid / confront it as best as possible. Having been afraid of magic for so long, Veronica finally comes to embrace it in this final book of the series, learning her full worth as an individual, both with and without her magical birthright. I became deeply invested in her storyline, praying that she would overcome her hardships and be reunited with Angelus, at last.


Artemis

Next, we come to Artemis, the primary antagonist of the story. As the High Queen’s royal advisor, Artemis holds a most privileged position, able to direct her majesty – Morgeoux – as he pleases with bewitching magic. Although Artemis appears calm and collected on the surface, this calm demeanour is a mere mask, hiding a cruel and calculating interior self. His dismissal of other’s needs and humanity stands at a direct parallel to Angelus, who puts others before himself. Artemis proved himself to be a cold and vindictive man, lacking in basic humanity and kindness. I found it easy to root against him, his dark temptation to abuse other’s magic having consumed him long ago.


High Queen Morgeoux

Finally, we come to High Queen Morgeoux, the only Queen-sister currently still residing in the Castle. Having been manipulated by Artemis, this authentically kind and gentle young woman has become a shell of her former self. Morgeoux rarely appeared to know what was going on around her, bewitched as she was by Artemis’ magic. She seemed forever lost in a child-like, overly-innocent way, trying to claw her way back to reality in brief moments of lucidity but failing miserably. Although Morgeoux would never willingly harm another person, she is helpless against Artemis’ power, committing dreadful deeds that she otherwise would never even contemplate. I often felt sorry for her throughout this trilogy because she was like a caged mouse, praying for a freedom that she never knew she had lost. It broke my heart at points to see just how lost and out of touch with reality she was, the victim of a cruel puppeteer.

Benet Stoen: Author of 'The Queen'

Positive Aspects

There were many aspects of The Queen that made it a highly enjoyable and unforgettable read:

·        The characters were strong and memorable, making it easy to cheer them on throughout.

·        The third-person past tense narration worked well with this series, moving between key characters such as Artemis, Angelus and Veronica to shed light on every harrowing experience.

·        The author’s writing style was beautiful, their use of subtle details of environment and character creating vivid, emotive scenes, packed with deeper meaning.

·        It was especially interesting to see how Artemis attempted to rewrite history by burning important records of Lavdia’s past. This attempt to hide a history which doesn’t support his goals mirrors instances from our own world history, where powerful people have sought to rewrite the narrative of our past, to support various agendas.

·        I loved how the backstory of the lead characters was revealed even more in this later instalment, especially of characters that were key to the plot but who weren’t protagonists themselves such as Nora, the former warrior-queen.

·        Finally, the ending scenes (the climax and aftermath) were all-encompassing. I couldn’t stop reading as these scenes were deeply emotive and had me empathising greatly with the main characters and all they had lost and endured.

Memorable Quotes

The following three quotes stood out to me the most:

1) ‘ “You find what you would die to protect, and then you die to protect it.” ’

2) ‘If you burned everything to the ground, you could begin anew any way you liked. And people, ignorant of the past, could fall for the same tricks over and over. A cycle without end.’

3) ‘ “Something to make her impressionable, malleable, to make her forget she had a will of her own – feeding her the right words, over and over, until she thought it was her own idea. Over time, it became as simple as instructing her once, and she would obey.” ’

Overview

Overall, I found The Queen, by Benet Stoen to be a spellbinding, fast-paced read that brought a fascinating fantasy trilogy to a spectacular close.

Key themes included power (and its ability to corrupt), war, magic, family, control, and self-sacrifice.

My Rating: 5 stars.

Would highly recommend to lovers of gripping fantasy series with intriguing magic systems and worldbuilding.

Would you like more information?

To learn more about The Queen, you can visit its Goodreads page, HERE.
Or, to find out more about Benet Stoen, simply visit her website, HERE.

Thank you for joining me for today’s review.
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Have a wonderful week,

Ellie.