4 out of 4 stars
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Crown of Crimson by Rose Reid is the first book in The Afterlight Chronicles. Technically. The prequel, The Swordmaster, was just published and tells the back story of one of the characters. This is Reid’s debut novel, allowing her to add author to her repertoire, along with actress, blogger, and equestrian. Crown of Crimson is a fantasy novel set in a world at war, where magic exists only in the liminal spaces, feared and mistrusted.
Crown of Crimson tells the story of Aerietta Elony, The Queen of Crimson. She has been trained by the Cannon all her life to kill without mercy and has earned a reputation as one of the best assassins in Lydovier. Only a few people know that Aerietta is the daughter of the Lydovierian king, disowned as an infant due to the birthmark on her back. The Jezdah, an intricate tattoo of bloody roses, marked the young princess as a Child of the Elements, a harbinger of misfortune and doom. Magic and those who wield it, known as Afterlighters, have been marginalized and driven to the fringes of society and those born with the Jezdah, often sons and daughters of royal, non-magical families, are in mortal danger from birth.
Hiding the Jezdah and her royal heritage becomes even more vital after Aerietta is betrayed by the Cannon and Lydovier is over-run by Evrallonic soldiers. The king is killed and Aerietta is taken hostage by the feared Swordmaster of the Cruel King of Evrallon. Instead of executing The Queen of Crimson, the Cruel King offers her a deal. Track down one of the assassins who betrayed her and her country to Evrallon and kill him in exchange for her freedom. She sets off on the trail of her one time best friend, accompanied by the mysterious Swordmaster and his company. However, Aerietta is not the only one keeping secrets and for the first time in history, she may not be the only Child of the Elements in play. Facing mercenaries, foreign armies, and a rival sect of assassins is nothing for the Queen of Crimson. Facing the truth may be more than she can handle.
I enjoyed Crown of Crimson a great deal. It was very well written and well edited, something that is not always found with self-published books, especially debut novels. Reid created an interesting range of characters, all with various motives and trustworthiness. The interplay between them was captivating, with many characters on the same mission working toward different goals and carrying out hidden agendas. No one was quite who they seemed to be. The plot involved a number of unexpected twists and ended on a note that will keep me anxious for the next book in the series to satiate my curiosity.
One of the things that didn’t jibe with me in Crown of Crimson was a disparity between how lethal Aerietta is described as being versus her actual efficacy at killing. Early on in the novel, when she is being taken to Evrallon by the Swordmaster and his company, she vows that she will kill as many of them as she can before they make it to the palace. Despite several attempts, she kills no one. This is attributed to the skill of the Swordmaster. However, it irked me as the author had spent quite a while explaining how Aerietta had been trained since birth as an assassin and how her first kill at 11 years old was done without being given any weapons. Surely someone with that kind of training would be able to kill with a single strike, before being stopped or detected.
There was an overall characterization throughout the novel of Aerietta as being almost naïve, easily tricked and manipulated by men. It aggravated me that such a seemingly strong female character, renowned and feared throughout several kingdoms as a legendary assassin, a queen and creature of magic, was unable to tell when a man was lying to her just because she happened to find him attractive. To me, the two character traits, fearless warrior and blushing ingénue, just didn’t make sense together. To have been such an elite assassin must surely have required the ability on her part to be an excellent judge of character and be able to assess situations for risk and danger, or she would not have lasted very long in her profession.
Despite my minor irritation with characterization, I give Crown of Crimson a rating of 4 out of 4 stars. Fans of dystopian fantasy with strong female characters will want to keep an eye on this series, which is scheduled to have three more books. It was a strong debut novel by a wonderful new author and I look forward to seeing more to come by Rose Reid.
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Crown of Crimson (The Afterlight Chronicles Book 1)
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