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Review: A Queen in Hiding by Sarah Kozloff (The Nine Realms Book 1)

January 16, 2020 by Traveling Cloak (Jason) Leave a Comment

A Queen in Hiding (The Nine Realms, #1)
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Rating: 10/10

Synopsis

When Queen Cressa of Weirandale comes under attack and narrowly escapes assassination, she decides to put her daughter, Princess Cerulia, in the care of a civilian family to keep her safe until she defeat can defeat the invaders for good. As the Queen battles her enemies, a Regent governs in her absence, but he has his own agenda: find the young Princess and install her in the throne so he can stay in power.

While the Regents minions search for Princess Cerulia war is also brewing with the surrounding Kingdoms. Everyone is in on the power grab. Princess Cerulia must find a way to survive and stop the invasion while there is still a Kingdom to rule.

Review

If I could describe A Queen in Hiding in one word it would be “immersive”. The writing is so descriptive it is easy to get lost in the world of the Nine Realms. The characters are expertly drawn up, such that it felt as though I was experiencing everything right along with them. And the choice the author makes to write from multiple POVs of characters across the world from each other positions the reader as an all-seeing observer, watching the action take place from up close but not being able to affect the action. There were times I wanted to engage a character to protect them from harm or warn them of impending danger. During the times I was reading this book, I was completely submerged in the story.

A Queen in Hiding is also a very balanced book. While there is a lot of political intrigue, the story is not all gossip over tea and bureaucratic scheming – there is a lot of action, too. Not to understate it, as there is plenty of conspiracy and divisiveness, most of it was used as lead-up to some kind of conflict that results in a climax in the story. These mini-crescendos and diminuendos, ebbs and flows, allowed the story to persist at a pace that kept me engaged as a reader. Because of this, I found the book difficult to put down.

This book has so many characters that is was difficult to keep track of them in the beginning. This is not necessarily a negative, though, because it is necessitated by the world-building. There are Nine Realms to cover and several POVs, each having their own family, friends, and acquaintances with whom they are sharing experiences. As the story went on, it became easier to keep track of characters and their storylines, particularly because they each is written so uniquely.

The ending was really good, too, with some of the characters’ stories intersecting and others still doing their own thing. It takes a lot of planning to get storylines to converge in this way, and it seems as though the rest of the characters will be in on it soon, as well.

I usually dislike this comparison, because it is made too often (and it usually comes off as a bad marketing ploy), but I actually got major A Song of Ice and Fire vibes from this book. From the descriptions, to the characters and multiple POVs, and the way it is written focusing on each characters own journey while simultaneously sowing the seeds of converging storylines; A Queen in Hiding is quite similar to the notoriously complex and well-loved series. I hope that continues for the next three books in the Nine Realms procession.

I cannot recommend A Queen in Hiding enough. I loved it, and I think all fans of high fantasy and A Song of Ice and Fire, will, as well.

Filed Under: Blog Posts, Reviews Tagged With: A Queen in Hiding, Am Reading, Am Reading Fantasy, Boog Blogger, Book, Book Blog, Book Bloggers, Book Blogs, Book Review, Book Reviewer, Book Reviewers, Book Reviews, Books, Nine Realms, Sarah Kozloff

About Traveling Cloak (Jason)

Traveling Cloak (Jason) is an accountant and lives in the Chicago area. He is an aspiring bookseller and just wants to read and review books without all the nonsense. Traveling Cloak reviews fantasy, science fiction, space opera, horror, and every once in a while literary fiction. He does not read e-books.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tammy says

    January 16, 2020 at 7:28 am

    So excited to read your review! I just got a surprise copy of this in the mail and now I want to drop everything and read it😁

    Reply
    • travelingcloak says

      January 16, 2020 at 8:13 am

      Awesome! I look forward to seeing what you think. I loved this book, but I have seen mixed reviews about it.

      Reply
  2. Bob says

    January 16, 2020 at 1:15 pm

    I’m reading this now, so I’m going to save reading your review until I’m done, but definitely encouraged by the 10/10, and your first line is right – the writing is immersive!

    Reply
    • travelingcloak says

      January 16, 2020 at 1:23 pm

      I just subscribed to your blog, Bob. I will be interested to se what you think.

      Reply
  3. spikegelato says

    January 16, 2020 at 2:39 pm

    I was planning to read this, but got spooked by some so-so reviews. Your review is giving me hope!

    Reply
    • travelingcloak says

      January 16, 2020 at 3:07 pm

      Thank you for reading. It definitely has some mixed reviews, so who knows. I loved it. I liked it more than a few of the other books of the same vein that have come out recently. Credit to Kozloff’s writing style for that.

      Reply
  4. Jed Herne says

    January 16, 2020 at 7:24 pm

    Great review!

    Reply
    • travelingcloak says

      January 16, 2020 at 7:43 pm

      Thank you, Jed.

      Reply
  5. Cassidee Lanstra says

    January 17, 2020 at 8:31 am

    Oh man, I’m exited to read this now!

    Reply
    • travelingcloak says

      January 17, 2020 at 8:43 am

      That is awesome! Thank you for reading!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Over-Booked [114] – A Book Haul Post – Books, Bones & Buffy says:
    January 18, 2020 at 3:01 am

    […] Queen in Hiding by Sarah Kozloff hasn’t really been on my radar, but I just read a rave review of it on Fan Fi Addict’s blog, and now I want to read […]

    Reply
  2. Review: The Queen of Raiders by Sarah Kozloff (Nine Realms #2) | says:
    February 13, 2020 at 6:31 am

    […] to wow me with the Nine Realms series (read my review of Book 1 in the series: A Queen in Hiding here). Book 2 starts where A Queen in Hiding left off: Cerulia (or Wren, or whatever we are calling her […]

    Reply

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