Comments on: REVIEW: The Queen’s Bastard by C.E. Murphy

By: My First Sale: C.E. Murphy, There I Was, With The Chocolate-Chip Cookies… | Dear Author: Romance Book Reviews, Author Interviews, and Commentary

Fri, 09 May 2008 09:01:10 +0000

[...] has a million words in print. Born in Alaska and now living in Ireland, Murphy’s latest book, The Queen’s Bastard, is in bookstores [...]

By: Jia

Jia — Mon, 05 May 2008 23:44:45 +0000

It does have the cast of thousand syndrome you often find in traditional fantasy. When I first finished this book, I remember thinking readers who wanted something like George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire and Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel series but without the same enormous scope might be the best audience for it. But even so, I agree that it isn’t a light read.

By: readerdiane

readerdiane — Sat, 03 May 2008 15:24:39 +0000

I have enjoyed the C. E. Murphy’s Thunderbird Falls series and hope there will be more of them.

I love fantasy books and this book certainly has that as a background rather than the paranormal. My only complaint is that I am having trouble keeping track of the characters and all of the places named. It is a richly complex book but no light read.

I am actually writing down and keeping track of the cast of characters and where the action is taking place.Usually I love trying to figure out the rules in a fantasy but I am still a little lost here.I plan to finish the book today.

By: Stephanie Z.

Stephanie Z. — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:26:35 +0000

I can think of a political fantasy with a good deal of female characters: the Attolia books by Megan Whalen Turner. Two out of three countries are ruled by women — strong women, not puppets. The main character is male, true, but it seems to give a good balance.

This one sounds interesting, though. I might pick it up.

By: Harry~DayDream

Harry~DayDream — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:20:03 +0000

Oh, I was eager to find out some reviews on this novel, since I am interested in Murphy’s worka nd the book is a recent release. I have to say that I am interested to see such a plot in a world that seems to be matriarchal in nature or at least evenly divided between the genders, with women players. I think this is so, because the arsenal of women to play dirty really ranges and since this is a political fantasy, some power struggle is inevitable.

Great review.

By: Liviania

Liviania — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 22:57:41 +0000

Hmm, political fantasy – one of my weaknesses hit by the first paragraph.

By: carolyn Jean

carolyn Jean — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 22:29:18 +0000

Ooh, thanks for the review. This sounds good. I also really prefer my stories to stand alone and feel finished, even if they’re episodes of a larger whole (I think the Kushiel saga is a great example of this being done well), but I really enjoyed Heart of Stone, so I am definitely going to go for this one.