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Updated Sunday 15 May, 2011 12:18 PM |
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This Day in Alternate History Blog
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The Queen of Sinister Mark Chadbourn Those of you who read my site regularly will remember that
I reviewed a previous book by Mark Chadbourn, ‘The
Devil in Green’ and gave it a favourable review.
The second book in the trilogy, ‘The Queen of Sinister’ is now out
and I just finished reading it. The Queen of Sinister introduces new characters in the
‘Dark Age’ world. Caitlin Shepherd, a GP (British independent doctor)
is trying to cope with a devastating new plague.
The Plague is from Otherworld (fairyland) and Caitlin (and a bizarre
group of adventurers) have to cross to Otherworld and find a cure.
First,
this book is far darker than the previous book and it does not read quite so
well. The plot is more confusing
than the relatively simple ‘The Devil in Green’ and has many elements
that need fleshing out, as well as a few logical inconsistencies – Matt needs Caitlin
to cross to Otherworld, when others did it in AOM without being brothers and
sisters of dragons. Further, why
would the Dannan put the wish-hex into a human who could then control it, as it
would make a superb weapon against the Gods?
Caitlin’s side trip of Birmingham serves no logical purpose; the
Morrigan could have been exposed differently, as could Matt.
Matt
makes the most interesting character, or, more accurately, the most interesting
plot. His argument that the Fall
and the arrival of the fairy creatures is bad for humanity does ring a chord –
the plague, the mass die-offs, all of which were caused by the Fall.
It’s also good to have some idea what the government is up to, I always
thought that they could do better then was hinted in AOM, and to show them
preparing for war against the gods. Good Points: Dark plot, interesting characters. Bad Points: Convoluted plot, incomplete sections, slightly harder reading. Please reply to the Yahoo Group or use the FeedBack Form.
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