The Vanished Queen

Lisbeth Campbells The Vanished Queen presents us a low-magic fantasy world where collective action and the power of revolution are set in a matrix of the story of a missing monarch, a prince opposing his tyrannical father, and a young woman struggling with the needs and costs of opposition to tyranny.

In short, this is a novel of political intrigue, and revolution, and what that look likes, from within the Palace and from without. The maneuverings of various people, and the personal and physical costs of those actions are where the plotting of the novel sings. This is a novel far more in the tradition of Sherwood Smith, say, than Django Wexler or Brian McClellan. It should also be noted that beyond being a secondary world, this is a fantasy novel with a relative paucity of magic. There is a plot-relevant ability to divine the truth magically, but not much more in terms of magic or supernatural elements to be found.

Readers interested in a book where there is no one chosen hero, where the power of collective action and resistance are important, and who want their characters front and center in their fantasy fiction will find much to love in this book. Even better in many ways, the story is complete, a concise story told in one volume. (There certainly could be plenty of more books set in this world, but the story in this book is one and done).

It was the cover that drew me to this one, that and it was on a list I saw somewhere, though I can’t recall where, only that it mentioned books that had not gotten a whole lot of attention in 2020, even though the books on the list came out last year…and 2020 was well, 2020. This book was on that list. The writer of said list, really did a good job on hyping this one. And then I saw the cover and read the blurb and I figured this would definitely be something I’d be able to sink my teeth into. But nope. It certainly has potential, and I admit I might would have enjoyed this more when I was younger. I don’t know if it’s that I’m older-I believe this is a YA novel or might be geared more towards the YA audience-or that I’m just becoming a more critical reader. I made it 50% in before calling it quits and throwing in the towel. It has potential, got off to a reasonably good start, with the prologue, but the plot was slow-moving, it sort of felt like things were happening in each chapter and yet nothing ever really did. It also felt as if the characters needed more time to really develop and I didn’t really care for the writing style. Most of the sentences were short. A lot like the one I just wrote, in fact, and it made the book feel a bit, I don’t know, choppy, I guess would be a good way to describe it. The king is evil just for the sake of being evil. There was a lot of things told but not necessarily shown. I didn’t particularly like that. I made it to 50% before quitting because I did and do feel like this book has potential, I just might not be the right audience for this one. Yet, I don’t want to completely discourage anyone from giving this a go, if you feel like checking this one out then great you definitely should. It just wasn’t for me I’m afraid.

A powerful, complex, moving tale. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is one of those books that after to finish you will have to sit awhile to process the emotions engendered. Do yourself a major solid and read this book.

It’s rare for a fantasy novel to so directly engage with the politics of the time without feeling immediately dated. The Vanished Queen, by focusing on WHY our current political moment is so fraught, manages to avoid dating itself or becoming too obvious an allegory while still having something poignant and powerful to say. Highly recommended.

The Vanished Queen has engaging characters, an intriguing setting, and lyrical descriptions throughout, all leading to a satisfying ending. Definitely check this one out.

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