Synopsis
From Greta Kelly, the author of the Warrior Witch duology, comes The Queen of Days, an epic adventure that weaves together a flawed-but-lovable family of thieves, a battle between fallen gods, and stakes high enough to cause vertigo—perfect for fans of The Lies of Locke Lamora and Six of Crows.
For Balthazar and his family of thieves, stealing a statue during the annual celebration of the god Karanis was just a good bit of fun…or a way to stick it to the governor who murdered his parents. And yeah, the small fortune in reward doesn’t hurt—even if his boss also hired the mysterious Queen of Days to join the crew as “the weapon of last resort…”
Whatever that means.
But Bal doesn’t know the ceremony isn’t simply empty words and dusty tradition; it’s true magic. The kind of magic that rips open a portal for the god himself. Only the idol that Karanis planned on using for a body now lies broken at the Queen of Days’ feet. And half of it is missing.
With the aid of a lovable brawler, a society lady turned bomb maker, a disgraced soldier, and a time-eating demon, Bal must hunt down the missing half of the statue if he has any hope of earning his money, keeping his crew alive…and perhaps even saving all of humanity. But as his journey sends him racing through the city—and across realities—he discovers that doing all this might just doom the city.
The city be damned. It’s time to kill a god.
Review
Grabbed this on audible in the late stages of my crusade to read all my fellow authors in FanFiAddict’s The Book of Spores Anthology (the late backer store closes soon!!). While I reference the author’s The Frozen Crown in my story, as it was so perfectly fitting for my short story featuring Ice Elves, tQoDs spoke to me and the narration clicked so I went with it instead. I was not disappointed.
Balthazar is the leader of a group of thieves, but it wasn’t always this way. Once, his father was in charge of the entire island, but the governorship was stolen from him, and the family fell from grace. Now, they manage some pretty high stakes robberies. The latest of which, pits them against the very governor that killed his father and offers him a chance at revenge as well as a chance to make so much coin he can get his crew out of the game for good. Or at least, that’s always the hook. Instead, they barely escape a desperate attempt to keep a god from entering their plane of existence. Too bad the god’s only kind of gone but certainly not forgotten, and still clinging on for a second attempt.
Bal’s team is richly developed and seriously dysfunctional. Made up from the remnants of his family, he takes charge of his cousin and cousin-in-law, his illegitimate brother, his ex-bride to be, and his younger sister. The book says they are known for pulling off some crazy jobs, but woof, if the author didn’t say so I wouldn’t have believed it for all the bickering. This is a perfectly crafted display of a family torn apart but still grasping onto the threads. They all variably want out, can’t seem to agree on anything, and can’t seem to keep it together enough to get anything done. Even planning! So naturally, they come together either way by the end, just like family does.
The Queen of Days is one hell of a cool character. A mask wearing being, known for pulling off impossible feats, and all she asks for is the buyer’s time. I thought it was creepy and clever at the same time, not to mention the storing and powering up of this time reminded me of something you’d seen in like a Wolfenstein game or something. It’s definitely not something I’ve ever read in a fantasy. Orphaned through betrayal and deceit, and desiring to belong (although maybe not realizing that), she functions as a really important piece of the team. As a half-god, this is a nice addition, as it bridges the gap between their worlds, showing a possible coexistence, and her closeness with the team’s youngest member will pull at your heartstrings regardless of where she’s from. She is, of course, also a complete badass. Strong, mysteriously talented and efficient, and willing to sacrifice for the team.
The novel itself, which I saw tagged as ‘high fantasy’ on goodreads, is (at least to my mind) definitely more epic fantasy than anything. Bal’s crew utilizes guns, which gives the story a bit of a gas-lamp or flintlock flavor. They also reference the crew owning and operating an airship multiple times, which feels like almost a nod toward scifi. The most interesting thing to me though, is while this does sprinkle in notes that feel like Bardugo’s Six of Crows, Peloquin’s Queen of Thieves, and Kuhn’s Among Thieves, this still managed to feel like it’s own little pocket(dimension) of fantasy—carving out its own corner on the fantasy bookshelf. I hope you’ll pick this one up!
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