Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand

	Shalador's Lady by Anne Bishop HarperVoyager Supplied for review by Harper Collins New Zealand	Reviewed By: Jan Butterworth
After many devastating years of war, a new Queen, Lady Cassidy, has been chose to rule Dena Nehele, and repair the damage caused by cruel, corupt Queens. Cassie is a plain Jane, used to prettier girls winning – her first court was bedazzled by a pretty face and abandoned her to serve Lady Kermilla. Now Cassie is the Queen of Dena Nehele and proving to be a good, fair ruler for its people, Bloods, landen and Shaladorans, who are starting to have hope again. She is paid a visit by Kermilla, now a Queen ruling a couple of small villages and looking to expand her holdings – and tithes she is paid. Theran Grayhaven, the First Escort of Cassie’s court, thinks Dena Nehele needs a different Queen and is convinced Kermilla is the one. Cassie is intimidated and doesn’t trust the rest of her court not to be won over by the prettier Queen, so she runs to another village and must decide whether to concede the territory or stay and fight. This is a very well written story and I enjoyed it immensely, though I despaired at how dumb Theran was and keep waiting for him to see through Kermilla. I loved the Scelties and the humour they injected in the book! The ending was also satisfying for me. This is the 8th book in the Black Jewels series and a direct continuation of The Shadow Queen. I hadn’t read anything in this series before and was nervous about jumping in at this point but I was worrying for nothing. Everything is explained in just enough detail for the reader to understand the history and motivations, but not enough detail to bog the story down. I’m now looking to read the previous books, as this is a series I want to see more of. Return To Reviews SFFANZ Home Page

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