The Queen of Sinister

Dark Age #2

by Mark Chadbourn

A new Dark Age has falled across Britain; gods and monsters walk the land. In this new time, myth and legend has become realtity; nothing is quite as it seems.

The plague came without warning. Nothing could stop its progress: not medicines, not prayer. The first sign of the disease is black spots at the base of the fingers; an agonising death quickly follows. But this is no ordinary disease...

Caitlin Shepherd, a lowly GP, is allowed to cross the veil into the mystical Celtic Otherworld in search of a cure; her search takes her on a quest to the end of a land of dreams and nightmares to petition the gods. Caitlin is humanity's last hope, but she carries a terrible burden...

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Urban Fantasy, British Literature

436 pages, Paperback

First published April 14, 2005

About the author

A two-time winner of the prestigious British Fantasy Award, Mark has published his epic, imaginative novels in many countries around the world. He grew up in the mining community of the English Midlands, and was the first person in his family to go to university. After studying Economic History at Leeds, he became a successful journalist, writing for several of the UK's renowned national newspapers as well as contributing to magazines and TV.

When his first short story won Fear magazine's Best New Author award, he was snapped up by an agent and subsequently published his first novel, Underground, a supernatural thriller set in the coalfields of his youth. Quitting journalism to become a full-time author, he has written stories which have transcended genre boundaries, but is perhaps best known in the fantasy field.

Mark has also forged a parallel career as a screenwriter with many hours of produced work for British television. He is a writer for BBC Drama, and is also developing new shows for the UK and US.

An expert on British folklore and mythology, he has held several varied and colourful jobs, including independent record company boss, band manager, production line worker, engineer's 'mate', and media consultant.

Having travelled extensively around the world, he has now settled in a rambling house in the middle of a forest not far from where he was born.

Reviews

[Joel Flank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another story set in the Dark Ages after a magical apocalypse, where the survivors of humanity must deal with not only a ruined society, but the return of dark and malignant magical creatures, the gods of Celtic myth returned, and the occasional bit of awe and wonder, the Queen of Sinister does a fantastic job of showing what a twisted dark world the realm of faerie is like. The book centers around Caitlin, a small town doctor, trying to make the best of the community she and her family live in. When a plague rips through the surrounding countryside, it doesn't spare her home, and she's soon desperately trying to stave off a mysterious disease with dwindling modern stockpiles, which do nothing against the plague. There is a 100% mortality rate, and nothing she tries can slow it down even.

When her friend Ruth tries to distract her by contacting the spirit world, they receive a message back, indicating that Caitlin is the only hope to stop the plague. When a mysterious stranger appears soon thereafter, saying he needs to take Caitlin to the magical Otherworld to find the cure, since the plague is supernatural in origin, Ruth takes him to meet Caitlin. Their quest immediately gets complicated with the fact that Caitlin's mind has snapped, after having to bury her husband and son due to the plague, and is now suffering from multiple personality syndrome. That doesn't stop her from being taken to the Otherworld, and having to find a cure, dealing with dangerous magical beasts, treacherous golden ones riven by a civil war of their own, and the horrid Lambent Brood, who are minions of a force inimical to life itself.

Along the way there are many twists and turns, and multi-threaded plots. With nods to characters from earlier in the series, as well as setting the stage for bringing together old and new characters in the ending of the Dark Age series to form a new cohort of Brothers and Sisters of Dragons, the fated 5 people able to wield the natural magic of the universe, despite the sacrifices asked of them along the way.

[Lel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who thinks fairies are lovely, sweet, kind creatures needs to stay as far away from this book as possible. The book continues from the first one in as much it is set in the same world, and in the same time period. Other than that it could almost be a stand a lone book.

After the fall, magic and gangs rule. Then, as if the world is not a hard enough place to live a plague hits the English countryside. It is quick, evil and brutal and the cure seems to be in the far land (the fairy world). A group of troubled strangers team up and try to get to the cure. As with any good fantasy it is never going to be simple. All the characters are battling some kind of inner demons, some more obvious than others. What it does make for is a great story. I love the fact that the characters are all flawed, there isn't one that hasn't got something to hide which makes them very realistic.

The 'badies' of the book are also so well described and scary that they feel like they could have been thought up by Guillermo Del Toro. The 'Jigsaw man' gives 'Pale Man' from Pans Labyrinth a run for his money in terms of creepiness. There is no end of suspense and twists in this story and I can't wait to read the next one.

Highly recommended.

[Philip Chaston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chadwick's middle book of the Dark Age trilogy is the most overt in the adoption of cod New Age folk Celtika mythos. It makes a great backdrop to a quest story merging a post-apocalyptic England to an "Irish" fantasy. Of its place and of its time.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review here:

http://jamesgenrebooks.blogspot.com/2...

Honestly, it's a good read, even if the timeline is a bit confusing quite often.

[Gav]

Mark Chadbourn‘s writing is compulsive and his plotting tight and complex. He is also thoughtful and the world he has created is both fantastical and grounded in the human spirit; as the novel explores what it is to be human and what we can achieve is we think beyond what we are.

There are lots of twists and turns along the way. Even though you can consider this a stand alone novel.
It follows on from the Age of Misrule trilogy as well as the first in the The Dark Age Trilogy.

I would wholeheartedly reading them from the beginning especially for the scene in the Royal Mile.

This is one of the best fantasy series ever written.

[Stefan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Queen of Sinister, the middle book in Mark Chadbourn's DARK AGE trilogy, introduces a different set of characters from book 1, The Devil in Green. This is a bit surprising, because the author's earlier AGE OF MISRULE trilogy, which describes the events leading up to the start of the DARK AGE books, focuses on the same characters throughout all three books. So, rather than offering a continuing story, The Queen of Sinister feels completely separate from The Devil in Green: it's set in the same world, but features all new characters and at least for now is unconnected to the first novel (although the author's afterword hints that everything will be pulled together in the trilogy's final novel, The Hounds of Avalon).

Unfortunately the novel's brand new set of characters just isn't as interesting as the one from The Devil in Green or the AGE OF MISRULE trilogy. The novel starts out well, with protagonist Caitlin Shepherd, a medical doctor, trying her best to ease the suffering of the many victims of a devastating plague. The first two chapters of the novel are actually some of the most powerful and emotionally gripping in the series so far, but after this promising start, The Queen of Sinister falls flat. The cast of side characters is initially interesting, but never as likable as you'd hope based on previous books, and — even worse — a bit predictable.

After its strong start, The Queen of Sinister adapts the now familiar pattern of travel across the ravaged English countryside and the mystical Far Lands, on a quest for an item or solution (in this case, a cure for the plague), interspersed with some horror, some mysticism, and plenty of action scenes. Readers will recognize the world's mystical underpinnings from the previous books, but — maybe because all of it is by now very familiar — Mark Chadbourn occasionally starts to sound preachy here.

Combine all of this with a plot that at times seems quite haphazard, and The Queen of Sinister is easily the weakest novel in the series so far. If you loved the previous books, you'll probably find some things to like here, but in the final analysis, The Queen of Sinister comes across as a weak novel in a generally strong series. Here's hoping that Mark Chadbourn will regain command of his formula and pull it all together convincingly in the trilogy's final volume, The Hounds of Avalon.

(This was also published at the Fantasy Literature website, where I'm a reviewer: www.fantasyliterature.com - comes check us out!

[Tristan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not alone in my statement: This one is not Chadbourn at his best.
I read it mostly because I would miss out stuff in the third book.

don't get me wrong, it introduced us to some really nice and wonderful concepts. Caitlin is a broken woman. she has more people in her head, one of which turns out very important (I shall not spoil it)
the otherworld is great. I really liked the parts where they'd be there.

the ending was a let down though.
all in all, I can't say this was a very enjoyable read. It was nice, but it could've been so much more.

I don't know if I'd reccomend reading this as the second one in the series, but than again. If you read this as the first book, I don't know if anyone would actually pull through it. The Devil in Green was Mark's better writing. without a doubt.

[Annmarie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one of those simple fantasy books that would probably be enjoyed more if one were a teenager and less apt to be annoyed by the author's insertion of his little pieces of boring philosophy about mankind and heroes vs evildoers into the book. Repetitive insertion, too. I gave up and skim read to the end as the story just wouldn't grab me, much as I like a good dystopian tale. Everyone's dying from mystery plague after magic and gods have somehow risen and messed with the world (detailed in 1st of series, i didn't read it), brave young woman physician takes on epic quest to save everyone, mystical overtones, blah blah. Sounds promising, but not so much.

[Brogzkiez]

it really bugs me to see the negative comments. sayin this book has no connection to the 1st series. they have obviously not read the kindom of the serpent series at all, which is the last of all three..once you have read all nine books maybe people will appriciate this rare and powerfull story.. i myself think mark chadbourn is an amazing writer, who has reseached his work very thorourly. i personaly like the "boring", spiritual, philisophical speals mark writes..it realy has nothing to do with the story in general..its whats behind the scenes that holds the truth..ok thats all for now lol..x

[Dan Smyth · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book that's more about the idea of Celtic Gods coming into our world than about something that happens within that background. Lots of pointless worldbuilding, as there is no real story. The main character is pretty much too weak to do anything of note, and relies on the gods to pull her out of a mess. Wouldn't suggest this one to readers that like fantasy. If you're into the old school science fiction books that just have people wandering around new worlds, you might enjoy this one though. My official review is at:

http://elitistbookreviews.blogspot.co...

[Suburbangardener · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 2 in the "Dark Age" trilogy is a real let down after the incredible "The Devil in Green." I hope the author kicks it back up a notch in the final book of this trilogy. "The Queen of Sinister" is the weakest book in the "Age of Misrule" series. Most of the characters weren't likeable (the only one I did like was a side character, Thackeray, who I hope shows up in "The Hounds of Avalon"), and the plot wasn't as gripping as the others. Kind of a disappointment there.

[Joelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of the same from Chadbourn. I still enjoyed it but I did feel at times I was being preached at (why do characters always make the same points about past civilisation vs future rebuild, usually several times per book)[return]I did find it a bit more jumbled between several characters and plots, and it did leave a lot of loose ends, which might be tied later or not.

[Veronica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very disappointed with the book as it held much promise when I started. I found the characters to be unlikeable and the events they became involved with unbelieveable even for a fantasy. There were too many loose ends at the end and I have yet to figure out the title's relevance to the story.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did, but once I got into the "meat" of the story, I couldn't put it down. Chadbourn has a deft way of weaving a story, and the descriptions of the various characters really brought them to life for me. I'm definitely looking forward to reading his other work.

[Nicholas VanTilburg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark Chadbourn weaves a tale of mythic proportions by mixing the tales from many civilizations in an epic story that spans many books. Once again, with The Queen of Sinister, he has done an amazing job keeping you guessing till the very end.

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book ended better than it began. I can't wait to read the Hounds of Avalon to see how this book and the one before it fit in with the first trilogy. The world Mark Chadbourn has created becomes richer and more complex the more I read.

[bluetyson]

isbn,original

[Espen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mark Chadbourn is perhaps one of the author's I've read that displays such consistent quality in everything he writes. Once more, a well-written book, but with the same downsides as previous books.

[Christiana Demetriou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Left this book dusted in my book shelve for over 2 years before i decided to read. If you like fairy tails with a thriller twist you are spot on.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic!

[Cat Tobin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the Age of Misrule trilogy by the same author, but the Dark Age trilogy isn't up to that standard. Still, this one felt more like a return to form than The Devil in Green was.

[Susan Mcfate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ch4
God does not love evil talk in public unless it is by someone who has been injured thereby. God is Alert, Aware.