January 1, 2022
Five nations ruled by women are sent into free fall when, for decades, only boys are born in this novel of magic, might, and intrigue. As the Drought of Girls rages across the Five Queendoms, fingers begin to point. In Scorpica, the warrior queendom, the Barren Queen worries that her people will turn on her only daughter, the last in the nation to be born before the Drought began. Suspicion swirls among the mages of Arca and the priests of Sestia, any one of whom could have angered their patron deities and provoked this punishment. Even if that were so, Bastion, the queendom of scribes, should have noticed the lack of girl births in its recordings. Can the peacemakers of Paxim continue to broker goodwill now, knowing that any of the other nations may fall at a moment's notice? Macallister weaves her way through the women with the most to lose in the pending collapse of civilization as they know it. As Queen Mirriam of Arca worries that the Drought will deprive her of the magical energy she needs to continue her unnaturally long life, a healer flees Arca with her too-powerful daughter to protect her from the old monarch's watchful eyes. After two exiles--a rightful heir and the woman honor-bound to protect her--flee Scorpica, the freshly crowned Queen Tamura hatches a plan to maintain the size of her country's standing army. And somewhere on an unremarkable coast, an ancient but not-quite-forgotten sorceress weaves together plans for a coup no queendom will see coming. As these women and girls cobble together new lives in the throes of a worldwide curse, readers will begin to see the set pieces of a sequel fall into place. Although Macallister's final cliffhanger may feel unsatisfying to those who want tidy answers to their burning questions, the promise of a continuing story will be enough for many fantasy fans. A bold setup for a blood-bathed new series of epic fantasy.
COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
January 10, 2022
The people of the Five Queendoms lose the ability to produce girls in this refreshing epic fantasy from Macallister (The Arctic Fury). No one knows the cause of this so-called Drought of Girls, but it is devastating for the matriarchal societies. Of the queendoms, the Amazon-like Scorpicans depend the most on their ability to produce daughters, and as their nation dwindles, unrest grows in their ranks. The magical Arcans, meanwhile, hunt for an all-magic-girl who can inherit the throne of the Daybreak Palace. Record-keeping Bastion, agrarian Sestia, and trade-hub Paxim do not have such specific needs, but are ruled by women nonetheless and depend on daughters for heirs. As the Drought stretches on for a decade, the long-standing peace between countries teeters in the balance. Macallister twines the stories of women from each of these societies as they struggle with loss and search for solutions. She does a good job keeping each perspective as exciting as the last. The page-turning plot and intricate worldbuilding makes this a must-read for fans of Game of Thrones and Priory of the Orange Tree. Agent: Holly Root, Root Literary.
February 1, 2022
Five hundred years of peace and cooperation are about to end. After writing historical fiction as Greer Macallister (The Arctic Fury, 2020), the author introduces the first volume in a new epic-fantasy series. The five queendoms have been in harmony for centuries, each with a purpose that supports the others, providing spiritual guidance, peace negotiators, scholars, magicians, and warriors. The queens believe they have everything under control until a curse descends on their world. Suddenly, for no known reason, daughters are not being born. As drought continues, unrest and rebellion begin to stir, and an ambitious new warrior queen begins to dream of conquest. Two desperate women will give their all to protect the last-born daughters in their care--the fugitive child of a disposed queen and an untrained magician with more power than heretofore imagined. Revenge, politics, warfare, love, and magic bind the story together. Fans of Jenna Glass, R.F. Kuang, and Tasha Suri will want to immerse themselves in the Five Queendoms saga, a complex tale centered around strong female characters.
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