The Queen of Xana

by Fred Pilcher

The Queen of Xana is an adult fairy story, not for children, and a political allegory.  In the mythical land of Xana, Queen Julia governs as a typical medieval monarch in which the country's vast wealth is concentrated in a tiny aristocracy. Her daughter, and heiress to the throne, Princess Agatha, is champion of the impoverished commoners. The evil sorcerer Magi comes to Xana, kills the queen, and ravages aristocrats and commoners alike. Princess Agatha is protected by her fairy godmother, who declares that she can save her people only if she identifies her handsome prince incognito in the crowd on her very first try and makes love to him. She will not have a second chance. She succeeds by being alert when an extraordinary event happens. Then she asserts her right to rule instead of disappearing into pampered obscurity like most fairy tale princesses.  Queen Agatha now concocts one radial political scheme after another as she strives relentlessly to achieve her goal of prosperity for all. On the way she must deal with corruption on her own council of advisers, a vicious usurer, the school bully, barbarians kidnapping and enslaving her people, and invasion by a foreign army much larger than her own. And on the way she nurtures several children of humble background into adult greatness. But will the prosperity that she has created outlast her own lifetime?

250 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 17, 2018

About the author

Fred Pilcher is a retired college physics teacher who knows from experience with his pupils that through nurturing, nearly all young people can become productive citizens. His great sadness is that in American society and in many other countries millions of underprivileged children are denied this nurturing. Both the children and their countries are poorer for losing what they could otherwise produce. As a scientist, Fred understands that critical thinking and following where the evidence leads are the only reliable ways to understand the real world.

Away from the real world of hard evidence, Fred reads science fiction and fantasy. His favorite childhood movie was the Walt Disney 1950 cartoon, Cinderella, and he greatly admires women who are both strong and compassionate. Fred brings together all of these ingredients in this story of a princess who becomes a wise and inspired queen with a personal mission to achieve productivity, prosperity, and happiness for all of her people. Fred says, "In describing her means to achieve her glorious dream, I have, through a series of adventures, presented numerous viewpoints of moral and political philosophy with which readers may agree or disagree. If these viewpoints stimulate vigorous discussion and argumentation, pro and con analysis, and the like, then this book will have achieved a useful place in the world of literature."

Reviews

[Antonella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ever wondered how would an adult fairytale look like?!
I think, something like this.
A solid read, even though the climax of the story happens way too early.

[Anubha (BooksFullOfLife, LifeFullOfBooks) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I never read a more boring fantasy plot than this one. Adult fantasy? Really more like political fantasy. It was just about how Agatha since her childhood wants to help poor people and decrease the gap between rich and poor. But she is an ineffective and impractical administrator and only because of her fairy godmother's blessing she is able to become a prosperous queen. Though she is compassionate at heart but mostly she relies on her council of administrators for advices and suggestions rather than thinking herself. She meets people yes, she meets her subjects, helps them with small grants and is kind. And she is engaging in intercourse repeatedly throughout the story with her husband, Olaf, that's the only adult part.

There is this description of naked whether its a metaphor or literal isn't even accurately known to the author. Agatha dresses in a naked fashion, whether she actually was naked or wore simple plain clothes compared to royalty is upon the readers to decide but much emphasis is laid on the former (with uncertainty)

Everything happened within the first few 30-40 pages that it felt like just dragging on the story. We get it she was kind and a loved ruler. No need to write a 100 pages about her kind and compassionate nature duh. Its a fantasy for god's sake. And from wherever the genre of sci fi was associated with this book? Lord only knows.

[Victory (DKB) · Rating 4 out of 5]

To read my review, kindly visit the link below 👇
https://forums.onlinebookclub.org/vie...

[Kennie Morrison · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Queen of Xana is a 2018 historical medieval fantasy novel from author Fred Pilcher. It follows the story of Princess Agatha of Xana as she goes from Princess to Queen of the country of Xana while trying to lift her people from poverty to prosperity.

The Queen of Xana had potential with its premise. A young princess learning how to become the Queen she needs to be for her people and her country? Yes, please! It was something that I really wanted to get into. Sadly it doesn't exactly live up to its premise.

If you would like an in-depth review visit: http://thetorchentertainmentguide.com...

[Nichola Welham · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. i found the morals and values of Agatha very comforting. I wish real life was more lie this. i found the writing style easy to follow with no complicated plot lines. It was a nice enjoyable read. I read this whilst on holiday. I did find the authors comments throughout the story very strange. It was necessary to keep the reader on tract. It was a concept I was not familiar with.

[Ronica Roopak · Rating 1 out of 5]

To read my review, click below
https://forums.onlinebookclub.org/vie...

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yikes! 🥲🥲