Review by bookpanda3175 -- The Queen of Xana

[GinaMorry]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Queen of Xana" by Fred Pilcher.]

---

2 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

The Queen of Xana by Fred Pilcher is a story that follows the life of Queen Agatha from birth until death. When Agatha was born, her mother, Julia, was Queen of Xana. Julia lived extravagantly and didn't care much for the poor people that lived in Xana. When Agatha was very young, her fairy godmother came to her and said that she would be the greatest monarch of Xana. Julia took this seriously and taught Agatha all about becoming Queen. However, Agatha did not agree with her mother's way of ruling. Agatha was disgusted by all the money wasted on parties and celebrations.

When Agatha was 20 years old, an evil sorcerer named Magi cursed Xana and killed Julia. Magi took away all the wealth of the land and abused a different woman every night. Agatha could save Xana only if she was able to find Prince Olaf of Wan, who would be disguised as a peasant, and make love to him. With her innate ability to read a person's character, Agatha was able to find her prince and end the Bad Times. Then her journey begins, as Queen, to end poverty in Xana.

This book describes a gender neutral and age neutral society. Agatha treated everyone with respect and thought everyone's ideas were important. One way she showed this was by having children serve on her council. Agatha's political views may be controversial to some people. She believed that everyone should be able to create their own wealth and that there should be no poverty. Several times throughout the book, Agatha says that when people make wealth for themselves, they contribute to the wealth of the whole country. This is because they can sell or trade their products.

I liked how Fred Pilcher did not write a typical princess story. There is no cliché happy ending because the story ends soon after Agatha's life ends. I also liked how the author focused on other characters besides Agatha. For example, the Mendez family is a large part of the story because they were friends with Agatha and served on her council. I did not like how the author put in his own commentary because it seemed to interrupt the story. In my opinion, the story was not very interesting, and I felt at times as if I was reading a history book.

For those reasons, I give The Queen of Xana 2 out of 4 stars . Even though I did not enjoy reading it, someone else who enjoys fantasy novels probably will. The book was very well edited as I did not notice any errors. I recommend this book to adults who like fantasy and magic. I would not recommend this book to children because there were a few explicit sex scenes.

******
The Queen of Xana
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[Erin Painter Baker]

I keep pondering whether I should read this book or not. So far, it has fallen on the "not" side, and your review helps keep it there. I think the premise is interesting, and I like the idea that it follows the entire life of the Princess/Queen so that you see it isn't "happily ever after", but I do like a story, not a history book.

[Wanjugush]

I liked how Fred Pilcher did not write a typical princess story. There is no cliché happy ending because the story ends soon after Agatha's life ends.

I wouldn't have thought twice about this book if you hadn't assured that. Will check out this book. Thanks for the wonderful review.