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The Pretender's Crown (2009)

by C.E. Murphy(Favorite Author)

3.33 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0345494652 (ISBN13: 9780345494658)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Del Rey Books

series

Inheritors' Cycle

review 1: Compared to the first book, this one both disappointed and met expectations. If the first book was a tale of courtly intrigue, this felt a little more like (I hate to make a comparison to such a great book) A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin, full of war games and clashes between entire nations. The biggest qualm I had with this book was the 'aliens and witchpower'. The first book didn't go too far into the source of the 'mysterious power' and thus was redeemable, considering the witchpower could simply be magic found in this particular fantasy universe. The second book, although excellently written, feels like a mash-up of science fiction, fantasy, and alternate historical fiction... in a bad way. Nonetheless, the book was a satisfactory sequel to the cliffhanger end... moreing of the first book.
review 2: This is the sequel to The Queen's Bastard, but I liked this one less than the first for a few reasons. Both are good historical fiction (It's Elizabethan England vs Austria/Russia and Spain, only with different names, basically), and the writing and intricate spymaster intrigue plotlines are deft, layered, and interesting. But this book expanded the world to include a lot of new characters without killing off the older ones yet, so it's pretty crowded and a little muddled. The explanation for the source of the witchpower is that a powerful alien race has infiltrated the royal families of all the crown nations and produced offspring that will create war in order to lead it toward a more technologically-advanced age, so that the aliens can come down and harvest the world's technology and raw materials to save themselves. Really? I'm not sure I buy that or want to read about it. It's a very strange juxtaposition of historical fiction and science fiction. I suppose the series will continue into the next age of manners, and the next, and then we''ll have science fiction as the earthlings try to fight off the aliens with Star Trek-ian warships? Interesting concept, but it feels awkward. less

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