Rating: 3 out of 5
What’s it about?
Inspired by her love of D&D and other tabletop games, Greta Kelly’s latest book sends us on a heist adventure with a crew of loveable, and at times annoying, adventurers. We follow Bal, the leader of the Talion, who signs up his crew for a dangerous mission – without their knowledge, at first: steal an idol of the god Karanis from the brutal Governor Paasch during an opening ceremony and return it to a mysterious man known only as The Curator. Simple enough, he thought – until Tess, the titular Queen of Days, enters to help. Why is this god-like, infamous woman, who wears a silver mask, called to aid in this mission? Her appearance means one thing – this heist is dangerous. How far will Bal go to protect his found family?
How was it?
For the first quarter, I struggled to get a sense of place. We jump right into the action with only some exposition of the characters’ surroundings. What kind of land is the City of Ashaar? What do the homes look like? What kind of attire do the citizens wear? What or who do they worship? We don’t really get those lush descriptions I expect from a fantasy novel; there were a lot of fantasy-esque names dropped with little context of how they fit into the world.
What saved this for me was the characters. Kelly does a superb job of letting us love the Talion crew, even if their actions were purposely sometimes obnoxious. But that’s family, right? This is a dual-POV novel with Bal and Tess, yet the reader can still discover the unique traits, backstory, and motivations of the entire Talion crew. Also, the banter is epic.
As with most heist books, I found myself more engaged when the action got going. The setup always feels like a slog (Greta — it’s me, not you), but I couldn’t put this down when the proverbial shit hit the fan. Minor spoiler – something goes wrong and puts our heroes in a…scary position. If the heist was immediately successful, this would be a very short book.
Another aspect I enjoyed, without giving too much away, was the theme of science vs. faith, and how beliefs can shift when faced with the unthinkable. I’ve read plenty of books that approach this topic, but The Queen of Days gives it a unique spin.
The verdict:
This is well worth the read, especially if you love Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, tabletop RPGs, and witty banter.
RIOTUS 