thelittlebookowl

Title / Queenslayer

Author / Sebastien de Castell

Publication Date / 2019

Series or standalone / 6 book series

Page no. / 416

Overall Rating / ★★★★

This is the fifth book in the Spellslinger series, which makes it the penultimate instalment. It continues to follow the adventures of Kellan and Reichis. To avoid spoilers I will not be going into any depth concerning the plot.

Castell has once again delivered an entertaining instalment with fantastic character interactions and a compelling story. I’ve really enjoyed the first four books in this series so I had no doubts that I would enjoy this one too. This sequel introduces the reader to a new part of this world, the Daroman Empire, who happen to be the dominant military power of the continent. Kellen and Reichis get caught up in the intrigue of the Empire after a misunderstanding and the plot unfolds from there. I loved the direction of the plot and once I started reading I didn’t want to put this book down. This series has such an addictive quality to me and this instalment is no exception. Consequently it was quite a quick read for me. It was great to be back in this world and I loved getting to explore a new part of it.

One of my favourite things about this series is the relationship between Kellen and Reichis (a squirrel-cat). Castell has done, and continues to do, a fantastic job with their development and their interactions with each other are a highlight of the reading experience. Kellen’s development, in particular, was so well done in this book. New characters are introduced in this book, as well as getting to see the characters we are familiar with. All of them are well written with distinct voices, although there are few characters that I miss a little bit – hopefully we’ll get to see them in the next book.

Overall this is a fantastic instalment to this series. I cannot wait for the release of the sixth and final book, although I’ll be sad about this series ending. As of writing this post, the last book, Crownbreaker, is set to be released towards the end of this year. Have you guys started this series yet? I definitely recommend checking it out, if you haven’t already. I hope you are all having a wonderful day and I will see you next time.

Pippa