Comments on: REVIEW: The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner

By: REVIEW: The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner | Dear Author: Romance Novel Reviews, Industry News, and Commentary

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 19:07:18 +0000

[...] book without giving MASSIVE SPOILERS for the first two. Readers who haven’t read The Thief or The Queen of Attolia and want to avoid spoilers for these books should read no [...]

By: Janine

Janine — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 20:10:57 +0000

This was my second favorite book in the series, first being indisputably KOA. Read it as soon as you can, if you haven’t already!

I haven’t read it yet, but I am looking forward to it. I’ve got a lot going on in my life right now so I’m taking a hiatus from reviewing, until November at least. So in all likelihood I won’t get to The King of Attolia until close to the end of the year, if not later. But I do still plan to get to it.

By: Xandra

Xandra — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 06:08:44 +0000

Yeah, it just shows how much I love these books (and Eugenides *swoon*) that I’m sitting in my room at 10:30 searching for the titles on google. Again. This was my second favorite book in the series, first being indisputably KOA. Read it as soon as you can, if you haven’t already!
I actually came into the series halfway, reading this book before The Thief. Just goes to show, always read the fine print. Despite that I still got into the characters very quickly. The romance wasn’t as big of a surprise for me, because I had guessed when I read the book jacket what exactly Gen had stolen from Attolia that she thought she had lost (no, it’s not the earrings). It might have been easier to believe in the romance because I had never read the first book, and hadn’t seen Attolia in full fiend-from-hell mode.
Something I saw in a lot of reviews of this book was the confusion over when it took place, because of the mixed-up technology. I find it that unbelievable, though. It seemed more like the princess bride, saying that this never took place… after guns, but before, for example, cars and such.
I thought the book used a lot of great metaphors, too. I especially loved the reference to the broken amphora in Attolia’s childhood, and how she never realized until the end why she had thought of that memory when she saw Gen in the dungeon… Another favorite of mine was the ‘oxe harbrea sacrus vax dragga…’ thread which (hope I’m not giving anything away) continues into KOA. The whole abduction scene was incredible, especially the way Gen froze up whenever Attolia was nearby… Most of the book I was trying to choose whether to go, ‘awww!’ or curl up under the covers and never come out again.
Overall, I loved this book, definitely recommend it. Also, learn from my mistake! Read the books in order! I’m sure the books would have been even better, if that’s possible, if I had. Read KOA soon, and I hate that Mede!
-X
Ps. I just want to see how many people had this reaction to the KOA book jacket. When it said, ‘…will learn that it’s subtle (blah blah) intrigue is no match for Eugenides.’, I immediately said, ‘that’s because NOTHING is a match for Eugenides!’ Am I right?

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:25:44 +0000

This series came as a surprise to me, I did not expect such fantastic characters- or a sequel- when I read The Theif, a book I thoroughly enjoyed but had a bit of trouble focusing on in the beginning. I must say, I felt as though I was wading through a fog until the end, at which point I leapt up and jumped around my room. It was clever, well thought out and creative- I left it at that. Imagine my surprise when I began to read an extraordinary book in the middle of Barnes and Noble, and realized I RECOGNIZED these names. I jumped around. All of my expectation were surpassed, the characters were original ( and attractive, *cough* Eugenides *cough*) and the pace was much quicker than the Theif, but wasn’t so fast I lost some of the time I craved with Gen. Two of my favorite characters of all time would have to be Gen and Attolia, and let me tell you, I did NOT see that romance thing coming. That is what I love about Megan Whalen Turner, she slams you with a twist at the end (much like Jodi Picoult, but more thought out, eh?) that you finally see. It opens your eyes to a separate level of the book. Smart, funny, scenes that stick to you and are so human you believe this must have happened ( I’m ashamed to admit, I started wondering- So where is Attolia? Maybe somewhere near Greece?- more like near Genovia). The emotions are beautiful, but don’t even get me STARTED on the next one!

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:22:03 +0000

This series came as a surprise to me, I did not expect such fantastic characters- or a sequel- when I read The Theif, a book I thoroughly enjoyed but had a bit of trouble focusing on in the beginning. I must say, I felt as though I was wading through a fog until the end, at which point I leapt up and jumped around my room. It was clever, well thought out and creative- I left it at that. Imagine my surprise when I began to read an extraordinary book in the middle of Barnes and Noble, and realized I recognized these names. I jumped around. All of my expectation were surpassed, the characters were original ( and attractive, *cough* Eugenides *cough*) and the pace was much quicker than the Theif, but wasn’t so fast I lost some of the time I craved with Gen. Two of my favorite characters of all time would have to be Gen and Attolia, and let me tell you, I did NOT see that romance thing coming. That is what I love about Megan Whalen Turner, she slams you with a twist at the end (much like Jodi Picoult, but more thought out, eh?) that you finally see. It opens your eyes to a separate level of the book. Smart, funny, scenes that stick to you and are so human you believe this must have happened ( I’m ashamed to admit, I started wondering- So where is Attolia? Maybe somewhere near Greece?- more like near Genovia). The emotions are beautiful, but don’t even get me STARTED on the next one!

By: Cat

Cat — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 09:39:36 +0000

Both Thief and Queen start slow, but I liked the ending of both, even though the romance was a bit forced in Queen.

(King of Attolia is the best of the series so far, and that’s on top of the goodness of Thief and Queen!)

By: Michelle

Michelle — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 01:55:11 +0000

The audioversions are really well done too. I highly recommend checking your library for them, or caving and going directly to recorded books.

By: Janine

Janine — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 01:18:55 +0000

Hi Michelle! I am really looking forward to The King of Attolia.

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I think that if I had started out seeing Attolia as a fiend from hell and then come around to understanding her I would have loved the book even more. But I actually understood her from fairly early on in the book. As a reader (I was just telling a friend this), I tend to have a lot of sympathy for characters who are flawed or dark and it’s actually the super-nice characters that I often run out of patience with. Not always, but often. I won’t say that I loved Attolia right away but I knew I could like her and wanted to see a lot more of her in the book a lot earlier.

I agree with a lot of moments you mentioned as nice moments. I especially liked the scene with the earrings.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 00:58:35 +0000

I loved this book (but the King of Attolia totally ROCKS-I think you will like that one a bit better-more of tongue in cheek, lots of wit, and Eugenides really outdoes himself-also more romantic bits).

Anyway one of my favorite things about QOA is how the author takes an almost unforgivable act and finally brings you around so that you can understand what Attolia is thinking. Is she really a fiend from hell or a woman holding on to her kingdom and doing what she must to protect her throne.

Couple of good parts, when the Magus visits Eugenides and how it galvanizes Eugenides into later action. Love how Eugenides abducts the Queen-”baa baa”.

Also some really touching moments when Attolia and Eddis rush to the prison and Attolia is frozen for a moment and thinks about what she has lost.

Oh I could go on and on-there are so many good bits. Also love the part about Gens father. The author does such a good job with him. Almost understated but a powerful character.

But really I think you will love KOA-just wait till you find out about Costas. I admit it I am a squeeing fangirl.

By: Janine

Janine — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 00:19:05 +0000

Bonnie L., glad you enjoyed these books!

Trisha, I liked the startegizing and the politics too, but what bothered me was the way most the battles themselves were summarized when they were taking place. It felt very dry to me. For example, take a look at a section from p.115-118 in the paperback that describes pirate and navy battles. It’s too long for me to quote here, but I wish it had been shown through a character’s POV.

I do agree, however, that the characters, Eugenides and the two queens in particular, become more convincingly intelligent and competent as a result of their strategizing. I also agree with you about the chopping off of Gen’s arm.