When a publisher releases an author’s debut and then over the next subsequent months the next books in the series, then that publisher (Tor, in this case) has faith in the writer (Sarah Kozloff, in this case), creating immediate “shelf presence.” The Queen in Hiding is Sarah Kozloff’s debut novel and the first book in her Nine Realms quartet. Kozloff’s saga is of a kingdom (or Queendom) in chaos, an empty throne, a scheming advisor, mysterious magic, and pirates.
Exiled and hunted, Cerulia, Princess of Weirandale, must master the magic that is her birthright, become a ruthless guerilla fighter, and transform into the queen she is destined to be.
But to do it she must win the favor of the spirits who play in mortal affairs, assemble an unlikely group of rebels, and wrest the throne from a corrupt aristocracy whose rot has spread throughout her kingdom.
A tone-setting prologue tells of a vacant throne and the royal catamounts, who are spiritually bonded to the ruler and are unsettled because the throne has had no occupant for over a decade. Jump to the main storyline and in the land of Weirandale where the current queen, Cressa and her daughter, the Princess Cerulia. Every queen has a magical talent inherit in the bloodline, Cressa’s is her ability to play with people’s memories, while Cerulia’s is not quite determined at the start of the story. This is relatively strange because many of that bloodline know their powers well beyond the age of 12. Cressa comes to realize her life is in danger thanks to the scheming and underhanded machinations of the “royal advisor” Chancellor Matwyck to remove her.
In their flight from the royal land, Cressa happens upon a family who Cerulia befriended earlier in the story – father Wilm, who is a Peacekeeper, a daughter the age of Cerulia, and the caring mother. They prove to be a warm and caring family, and a perfect hiding spot for Cerulia, so Cressa plays her mindgames with the family, ensuring Cerulia remains hidden. Cerulia’s life in the bucolic landscape provides the bulk of the story; her coming of age and realizing what her powers are.
Cressa flees and joins her husband on the high seas battling pirates, getting sprinkles of news of the kingdom. This pirate romance parallels Cerulia’s story, while Matwyck’s scheming with the fanatical land of Oroumundo is mostly background, but it is a nice third support for the overall narrative.
So what we have here is a story structure very much in the vein of what most genre readers consider “traditional Epic/Kingdom-based fantasy.” There’s a lot of that on the shelves, and at the turn of the Century, there was even more of that on the shelves. In recent years, there’s been a slight step into the dark with gray characters and grayness in the story morals. For me, Kozloff’s story at least in this opening volume is a most welcome and comforting return to this type of fantasy, but very well done. Kozloff does a fine job of building a foundation for her characters and the world they inhabit, I felt great empathy for our protagonists. The world itself isn’t too far from the mold of standard Epic Fantasy, but again, I found myself extremely immersed in the whole of the novel. I’ll admit I have a soft spot for Big Fat Fantasy of this variety, as folks who’ve read my reviews will likely know.
The only real quibble I have is with the back cover copy which is both misleading and spoilery as it set an expectation for the story that wasn’t quite met/matched.
Bottom line: A Queen in Hiding is an excellent opening novel to a saga I want to continue. It is also an extremely impressive/accomplished debut novel that puts Kozloff’s storytelling and writing skills on admirable display. Put it this way, as soon as I finished book 1, I ordered books 2 and 3 and will be diving into book 2, The Queen of Raiders very soon.
© 2020 Rob H. Bedford
Trade Paperback | Tor Books
January 2020 | 496 pages (with book 2 Excerpt and appendices)
Excerpt: https://us.macmillan.com/excerpt?isbn=9781250168542
https://sarahkozloff.com/
Review copy courtesy of Tor Books
