Slave, Warrior, Queen
17 year old Ceres, a beautiful, poor girl in the Empire city of Delos, lives the harsh and unforgiving life of a commoner. By day she delivers her father’s forged weapons to the palace training grounds, and by night she secretly trains with them, yearning to be a warrior in a land where girls are forbidden to fight. With her pending sale to slavehood, she is desperate.
18 year old Prince Thanos despises everything his royal family stands for. He abhors their harsh treatment of the masses, especially the brutal competition—The Killings—that lies at the heart of the city. He yearns to break free from the restraints of his upbringing, yet he, a fine warrior, sees no way out.
When Ceres stuns the court with her hidden powers, she finds herself wrongfully imprisoned, doomed to an even worse life than she could imagine. Thanos, smitten, must choose if he will risk it all for her. Yet, thrust into a world of duplicity and deadly secrets, Ceres quickly learns there are those who rule, and those who are their pawns. And that sometimes, being chosen is the worst that can happen.
SLAVE, WARRIOR, QUEEN tells an epic tale of tragic love, vengeance, betrayal, ambition, and destiny. Filled with unforgettable characters and heart-pounding action, it transports us into a world we will never forget, and makes us fall in love with fantasy all over again.
Title: Slave, Warrior, Queen
Series: Of Crowns and Glory #1
Author: Morgan Rice
Format: Audiobook
Publishing Date: April 16th 2019
Published by: Brilliance Audio (first published May 14th 2016)
ISBN: 1721341528 (ISBN13: 9781721341528)
My Review
F a b u l o u s
I stinking loved this novel. I found it on google books as a free audiobook (I believe a digital copy is currently free as well) and I am hooked! I wasn't sure what to expect, but the book is as awesome as the cover.
17-year-old Ceres has big dreams but lives a common life selling forged iron weapons her father makes for the palace. In secret, she practices fighting and trains herself at night among the men on the palace training grounds. And she is good!
Her family struggles financially and as her father tells her he will be taking a job that will take him away indefinitely, she is left with a special sword he gives her and a mother that does not care for her. When a rider stops at her mother's door, Ceres witnesses the transaction of a sale going on. A sale of her! A sale that will send her into slavehood.
Ceres escapes and lives on the streets of the Empire city of Delos. A welcome opportunity through a streak of luck affords her to aid Prince Thanos in a fight. But as she experiences strange powers she did not know she had while anticipating the princes fighting moves, she is put into prison wrongfully afterward.
Prince Thanos and Ceres have made a connection pretty much immediately, one that has no hope of ever turning into something. Not only are the two of them from different classes, but also they are being played by his evil mother.
A backstabbing, hearth throbbing historical fantasy that has it all and I ate it up. The enjoyment factor was really high for me. It had the right amount of valor, romance, and intrigue. The writing was flawless. Not a deep epic fantasy, but perhaps a romantic one, if there is such a thing.
Just a thought on my part: this novel may speak mainly to women and would be a great way to get into the fantasy genre if one has no experience with it. A gentle introduction per se. There are a few tropes in there, but the effortless flow of the story had me moving along anticipatory.
I will definitely try more novels by Morgan Rice. I am super intrigued by this one :)
