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5th out of 20 books
—
2 voters
Queen's Hunt (River of Souls #2)
by
Beth Bernobich (Goodreads Author)
Queen's Hunt is the second title in Beth Bernobich’s River of Souls novels, following her startling debut, Passion Play.Filled with dark magic and sensual images, this is fantasy writing at its best.
Ilse Zhalina has left to start a new life in a garrisoned fort, leagues from her estranged lover,Raul Kosenmark. The violent quarrel that ended Ilse and Raul's relationship was...more
Ilse Zhalina has left to start a new life in a garrisoned fort, leagues from her estranged lover,Raul Kosenmark. The violent quarrel that ended Ilse and Raul's relationship was...more
Hardcover, 332 pages
Published
July 17th 2012
by Tor Books
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Death and rebirth. The eternal contradiction of magic.
Where book 1 of the River of Souls series was an introduction to the world of Ilse Zhalina, Queen's Hunt has spread out to encompass the three warring kingdoms, complete with a number of shiny new perspectives (Raul included). Tensions are higher, there is much more action, and we see reincarnation become much more central to the plot. It's interesting to see how characters' dealings with one another in a past life can affect their dealings i...more
Where book 1 of the River of Souls series was an introduction to the world of Ilse Zhalina, Queen's Hunt has spread out to encompass the three warring kingdoms, complete with a number of shiny new perspectives (Raul included). Tensions are higher, there is much more action, and we see reincarnation become much more central to the plot. It's interesting to see how characters' dealings with one another in a past life can affect their dealings i...more
I received this through the GoodReads Giveaway.
I have not read the first book in this series, but it was easy to pick up the threads and start the adventure.
I haven't read a book this good in quite some time! It has all the elements that make a great story: love, betrayal, a quest, magic, spies & past lives!
Ilse and Raul have staged a public break up to throw off their enemies. While Raul tries to prevent war via his spy network and political influence, Ilse will try to find a magical stone...more
I have not read the first book in this series, but it was easy to pick up the threads and start the adventure.
I haven't read a book this good in quite some time! It has all the elements that make a great story: love, betrayal, a quest, magic, spies & past lives!
Ilse and Raul have staged a public break up to throw off their enemies. While Raul tries to prevent war via his spy network and political influence, Ilse will try to find a magical stone...more
Purchased myself - 3.75 stars
Too short.
I loved 'Passion Play,' it was an amazing book, but I feel a bit let down by Queen's Hunt. It was a good solid book but it could have easily been fleshed out and that while a good adventure took place, and the world building continued to be grand, it left me feeling like there should have been more. The character development was sorely lacking, Gerek was almost a wooden character, we did not learn nearly enough about him for him to have such a major role i...more
Too short.
I loved 'Passion Play,' it was an amazing book, but I feel a bit let down by Queen's Hunt. It was a good solid book but it could have easily been fleshed out and that while a good adventure took place, and the world building continued to be grand, it left me feeling like there should have been more. The character development was sorely lacking, Gerek was almost a wooden character, we did not learn nearly enough about him for him to have such a major role i...more
I admit the cover’s pretty cheesy, but “Queen’s Hunt” (Tor, $24.99, 332 pages) still deserves attention. It’s book two in a series that began with “Passion Play,” and it’s a typical pre-industrial fantasy with magic and paranormal powers – but just like “Passion Play,” Beth Bernobich takes the familiar and makes it interesting with a combination of strong characterizations, a complex plot and solid writing.
Also on the positive side, “Queen’s Hunt” is more or less a complete book, rather than the...more
Also on the positive side, “Queen’s Hunt” is more or less a complete book, rather than the...more
In Queen's Hunt, Beth Bernobich creates a riveting secondary world inhabited by fully realized characters who wield magic and weapons with equal facility. I was fascinated by the magic system and the world she created. And as a language lover, I was absolutely delighted by the language used to invoke the powers of the magical other world, a Germanic analogue that rivaled Tolkien's created languages. The incantations just beg to be intoned.
Ilse Zhalina, Bernobich's heroine from her first book, Pa...more
Ilse Zhalina, Bernobich's heroine from her first book, Pa...more
Ilse Zhalina's tale continues in Queen's Hunt, and the second River of Souls book lives up to the promise of Passion Play. The tale is expanded to introduce more characters (and more POV), but the author manages to keep juggling all the narrative balls without dropping any.
One of the best parts of the book for me was the development of strong female secondary characters, especially in the scenes where three women are traveling together, depending on each other and their own skills rather than o...more
One of the best parts of the book for me was the development of strong female secondary characters, especially in the scenes where three women are traveling together, depending on each other and their own skills rather than o...more
This is a hard book to rate. It's just as good as the first book, really, but as it's carrying middle book weight, there are a lot more plot threads being started up and carried along than resolved, which ends up being more frustrating when I don't have the third book to read yet than it would otherwise. And much as I loved most of the characters who got PoV in this book, I was also a bit frustrated by there being so many of them. I just couldn't track all of the names and plots attached to each...more
I received this as an ARC from Tor Books. I hadn't read the first book in the series, and was concerned that I'd be lost - but I needn't have worried.
This struck me as a good, old-fashioned sword-and-sorcery saga - lots of inter-and-intra-kingdom politics, a great deal of magic, intrigue, soldiers, pointy things, and magical jewels that can make you live forever.
And it's old-fashioned, too, in the way that the sex and violence is never terribly explicit, and the language is never coarse, so yo...more
This struck me as a good, old-fashioned sword-and-sorcery saga - lots of inter-and-intra-kingdom politics, a great deal of magic, intrigue, soldiers, pointy things, and magical jewels that can make you live forever.
And it's old-fashioned, too, in the way that the sex and violence is never terribly explicit, and the language is never coarse, so yo...more
I really didn’t have any words to describe how I felt when I finished QUEEN’S HUNT, and I mean this a good way. This series so smart and emotional. It has everything I want in a good fantasy book, including a well developed fantasy world and just enough magic to keep things interesting. Where the first book of the series, PASSION PLAY, was an introduction to the fantasy world and to the main character Ilse, this sequel is more about the war brewing between three major kingdoms and the political...more
I was eager to read Beth Bernobich's second book in her River of Souls series, Queen's Hunt. The first one, Passion Play, introduced the reader to the world of Ilse Zhalina and Raul Kosenmark, a world rife with politics and magic. It was one of those books that you find yourself reading in one sitting, because it is just that good, but also trying to slow down as you reach the last pages, to make it last.
Queen's Hunt picks up right where Passion Play left off. There's been a horrible fight (or h...more
Queen's Hunt picks up right where Passion Play left off. There's been a horrible fight (or h...more
I received this free through Goodreads first reads. I was so excited when I won. I have been waiting for the second book to come out for a while. I loved the first one. This picks up a few months after the first one ended. Ilse and Raul are seperated so she can not be used against him by his enemies. While he is trying to find a way to bring about peace, Ilse is looking for the fabled jewels of Lir, three of the most powerful objects in the world. She hopes to use these to bring about peace as w...more
Aug 01, 2012
Sherwood Smith
added it
Too often the middle book of trilogies hearkens back to Tolkien's The Two Towers (which was never intended to be published as a separate book) full of battles and travel. Bernobich doesn't rely at all on the Tolkien model, though one might assume so from the logline about a quest for jewels.
But these jewels are quite different from magic rings or swords, and so are the characters' relations with them--both in their present lives and in the past.
The main objection I see to middle books is that n...more
But these jewels are quite different from magic rings or swords, and so are the characters' relations with them--both in their present lives and in the past.
The main objection I see to middle books is that n...more
This is the second book of the Series and I always have issues with second books. All too often, they suffer from what I call the Bridge Problem, existing only to connect Book One and Book Three. Nonetheless, I waited with great impatience and anxiety for this book to come into my hands, because the first book was so compelling. But to my intense delight this bridge has a story fit to stand alone! It also has several sassy, savvy, feisty female characters at the center of the plot, which just wa...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Although I do not like books with multiple points of view, the flow of Bernobich's story kept them from being annoying. Knowing that at least 4 books are planned, I wait eagerly for #3 (Allegiance) and hope that Ilse and Raul will not have to suffer apart for too much longer.
not quite as enjoyable as the first, but perhaps better written.
Did not go where I expected. It went better! Plot is deliciously complex yet logical. Have not ever seen reincarnation used in such a clever way. It reminds me somewhat of the Fionavar Tapestry with the interesting use of reincarnation, not as a modern retelling/remix of Tolkein.
I liked it. It's a very fast read, almost like a short story or novella. The story is exciting and the characters are interesting, I look forward to the next book. I won this book via Goodreads First-reads.
Not a bad book but very different from the first. See my full review at bookspotcentral.com
http://www.bookspotcentral.com/2012/0...
http://www.bookspotcentral.com/2012/0...
I like where this novel went and where the future novels will go. I was just horribly sad for Raul and Ilse, it seems that they can never be happy for long periods of time, even though they have been destined. I hope the third installment finds them together again and moves 'onward' with their future and future happiness.
Ahhhhh no! I need the next book stat.
May 11, 2013
Alexie8034 hauptman
marked it as to-read
May 10, 2013
Carl
marked it as abondoned
May 03, 2013
Billie-Jo
marked it as to-read
Apr 30, 2013
Shehreyar Khan
marked it as to-read
Apr 29, 2013
Aubrey
marked it as to-read
Apr 28, 2013
Igraine
marked it as auf-gar-keinen-fall
Apr 27, 2013
Selena Brown
marked it as to-read
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Beth Bernobich is a writer, reader, mother, and geek. She loves to tell stories.
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