<![CDATA[The Queen's Bastard]]>

false <![CDATA[The Queen's Bastard]]> 1930898 2 “Wow. C. E. Murphy is good. Court intrigue in an alternate Elizabethan-era fantasy world: realpolitik with the sex included.” –Kate Elliott, author of Crown of Stars In a world where religion has ripped apart the old order, Belinda Primrose is the queen’s secret weapon. The unacknowledged daughter of Lorraine, the first queen to sit on the Aulunian throne, Belinda has been trained as a spy since the age of twelve by her father, Lorraine’s lover and spymaster. Cunning and alluring, fluent in languages and able to take on any persona, Belinda can infiltrate the glittering courts of Echon where her mother’s enemies conspire. She can seduce at will and kill if she must. But Belinda’s spying takes a new twist when her witchlight appears. Now Belinda’s powers are unlike anything Lorraine could have imagined. They can turn an obedient daughter into a rival who understands that anything can be hers, including the wickedly sensual Javier, whose throne Lorraine both covets and fears. But Javier is also witchbreed, a man whose ability rivals Belinda’s own . . . and can be just as dangerous. Amid court intrigue and magic, loyalty and love can lead to more daring passions, as Belinda discovers that power is the ultimate aphrodisiac. “C. E. Murphy vividly reimagines Renaissance Europe as a world both familiar and strange. Filled with intrigue and betrayal, her story is a chess game with six of seven sides, and I look forward to seeing what the next moves are.” –Marie Brennan, author of Warrior and Witch 1933258 29 4 2008 The Queen's Bastard total:221|5:21|4:54|3:74|2:43|1:29| 221 658 456 53 2 5 false false Thu Jun 05 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Feb 25 18:25:42 -0800 2008 Thu Jun 05 21:30:10 -0700 2008
This book, however, fell FAR short of my expectations. The writing was good, don't get me wrong, but her main character had absolutely...more...]]> 5 2 false false Sat May 10 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 24 21:36:45 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 24 21:38:43 -0700 2008 C.E. Murphy, is one of those times.

For st...more...]]> 3 2 false false Sun Jan 11 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 11 19:57:46 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 11 20:22:30 -0800 2009 The Assassin's Apprentice. It is set in a thinly veiled version of the late 16th century (pretty much the only difference are the names--the redheaded, married to her country, virgin queen of a misty island is named "Lorraine," for instance) and f...more...]]> 1 2 false false Sat Aug 16 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 27 14:23:51 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 17 06:38:54 -0700 2008 more...]]> 1 2 false false Sun Jul 20 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 15 12:46:54 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 29 18:16:47 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jun 14 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 14 11:54:14 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 14 19:43:26 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon Jun 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 09 09:29:47 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 09 09:30:04 -0700 2009
Murphy has a gift w...more...]]> 1 0 false false Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 29 09:35:22 -0700 2009 Wed Nov 11 05:34:40 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false true Mon Jun 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 22 22:55:30 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 07 00:30:48 -0700 2009 1 Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series. Like Carey, Murphy creates an alternate Europe with different names. Murphy's lands are fixed firmly in the Elizabethan era. She also focuses heavily on court intrigue and has a highly sexual heroine. However, I think Carey does a...more...]]> 1 1 false false Tue Aug 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 02 10:24:04 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 18 12:10:48 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Aug 12 21:33:08 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 12 21:45:27 -0700 2009
Belinda is the Queen's Bastard. She is also trained from a very young age to be the Queen's secret weapon. She is ...more...]]> 2 1 false false Wed Mar 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 22 07:16:07 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 25 07:00:19 -0700 2009
This book disappointed on every level... most aggravating, though, were the many nagging details that ne...more...]]> 2 0 false false Sat Jun 13 07:48:56 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 28 13:52:06 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Wed Aug 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 16 08:41:07 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 19 08:53:58 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Aug 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 19 15:10:32 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 19 15:16:46 -0700 2009 Oh. My. Goodness.
Yes.
This book has, hands down, the most sex of anything I have read to date.
Despite this...I really enjoyed the story. (Yes, there was story. This is C.E. Murphy, after all, not some trashy romance novel.)
It really gets into your head, ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jul 27 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 02 09:09:23 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 02 09:14:27 -0700 2009 I liked this book but it didn't match the quality of the Walker books,
The story is basically a reworking of Elizabethan England. Belinda Primrose is the bastard daughter of the Virgin Queen Lorraine. She is raised b...more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon Nov 23 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 04 20:05:48 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 23 12:28:33 -0800 2009 more...]]> 2 1 false false Sat Apr 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 12 10:53:06 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 18 16:35:43 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 2 2 false false Sat Aug 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 29 23:07:32 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 29 23:14:36 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 01 22:18:25 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 01 23:11:28 -0700 2008 The Queen's Bastard has a fascinating setting inspired by Renaissance Europe and plenty of political intrigue, and is pretty well written. Not only will I probably read other books by this author, I mi...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=1930898