The Born Queen by Greg Keyes

Greg Keyes writes this concluding part of The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone in the same fluid, fast paced style that made me enjoy the previous three volumes. Like its predecessors, The Born Queen is filled with likable characters and end-of-chapter cliffhangers that make you want to read on, but ultimately it provides an ending that is flawed and disappointing.

Three quarters through the book, the plot gets very convoluted as the protagonists find themselves in ridiculous situations. Characters you got to care about suddenly develop wildly different personalities, making you wonder if you’re reading a different book. Even the long-awaited comeuppance of the main antagonist fails to deliver: Robert’s downfall is a low key event rather than the cheer-worthy demise it should be.

I read a lot of fantasy series and until this disappointing ending, I considered The Kingdom of Thorn and Bone as one of my favourites. If only Keyes would write a fifth volume making out that the events in The Born Queen are nothing more than a bad dream and present us with the fantastic ending that this series deserves.

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