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Queen Ishtar's Academy #1
Kingdom of the Star Queen
In the dark, you find yourself.
-Ishtar, Goddess of Creation, Star Queen of the Lesser Kingdom
Humans have lived in ignorance for thousands of years. With the rising of the Second Moon, truth is revealed.
The original gods, the Annunaki of Nibiru, seeded our race here on earth for one purpose only—to mine the golden substance that keeps them immortal.
Throughout history, cultures took the meaning literally, considering gold a sacred treasure. They never imagined that the life-giving substance our creators referred to resides in human blood.
Chieko lives in a future where everyone has a purpose: to serve our Nibiruan creators, who look down on us from their home in the heavens. In return, they gave us peace, stability, and safety. In this new world, everyone had a job, a task, a goal—everyone, that is, except for Chieko.
Daughter to a mixed-race union in the Lesser Kingdom where the Star Queen rules with an iron fist, her very existence is treasonous.
She is a mistake, a shameful result of thoughtless action, and something to be hidden away until the day she dies.
Or at least that’s what she thought…
Dive into a world that mixes the science fiction of our past with the paranormal of our future.
-Ishtar, Goddess of Creation, Star Queen of the Lesser Kingdom
Humans have lived in ignorance for thousands of years. With the rising of the Second Moon, truth is revealed.
The original gods, the Annunaki of Nibiru, seeded our race here on earth for one purpose only—to mine the golden substance that keeps them immortal.
Throughout history, cultures took the meaning literally, considering gold a sacred treasure. They never imagined that the life-giving substance our creators referred to resides in human blood.
Chieko lives in a future where everyone has a purpose: to serve our Nibiruan creators, who look down on us from their home in the heavens. In return, they gave us peace, stability, and safety. In this new world, everyone had a job, a task, a goal—everyone, that is, except for Chieko.
Daughter to a mixed-race union in the Lesser Kingdom where the Star Queen rules with an iron fist, her very existence is treasonous.
She is a mistake, a shameful result of thoughtless action, and something to be hidden away until the day she dies.
Or at least that’s what she thought…
Dive into a world that mixes the science fiction of our past with the paranormal of our future.
- GenresYoung Adult
273 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 8, 2021
12 people are currently reading
59 people want to read
About the author
S.L. Harpel
9 books21 followersS. L. Harpel is the mother of three wonderful children and wife to one Naval Officer. Over the last ten years, they have traveled all over the world owing to their time in the US Navy. She enjoys using her travels to exotic places as inspiration for her novels. Though she is unsure where her feet will land her at the end of their military adventure, in her heart, S. L. Harpel considers Northern California to be her home.
Her childhood was spent along the Sierra Nevada foothills on the eastern edge of the Sacramento Valley. Moving the long distance to Idaho for College, S. L. Harpel met her husband the very first night she arrived on the BYU-Idaho campus. Just under a year later they were happily married.
Outside of a full-time writing career, S. L. Harpel enjoys homeschooling her three children. As a family, they take the opportunity each new move offers them to experience a little more of the world. When she isn't writing, teaching, or shuttling kids to and from competition cheer and football practices, she enjoys reading, crocheting, cross stitching, and enjoying the outdoors with her family- especially when the outdoors involves a tropical beach. She is well aware that most of her hobbies make her seem like an old woman trapped in a thirty-something-year-old's body.
She also has a small herd of bulldogs that are the best companions while working on a book- well, except when they start to snore really loud.
Her favorite authors are as eclectic as the rest of her tastes. Some of her favorites included: Agatha Christie (The original queen of mystery), Diana Gabaldon (S.L. Harpel considers herself an obsessive Sassenach), Stephanie Meyer (whom she tried to stalk while living near Forks, Wa unsuccessfully), J. K. Rowling (of course as she considers herself a complete nerd), Maggie Stiefvater, Kate Breslin, Marissa Meyer, Kiera Cass, and of course Suzanne Collins. The list could be so much longer, but she fears that space here is limited.
Her childhood was spent along the Sierra Nevada foothills on the eastern edge of the Sacramento Valley. Moving the long distance to Idaho for College, S. L. Harpel met her husband the very first night she arrived on the BYU-Idaho campus. Just under a year later they were happily married.
Outside of a full-time writing career, S. L. Harpel enjoys homeschooling her three children. As a family, they take the opportunity each new move offers them to experience a little more of the world. When she isn't writing, teaching, or shuttling kids to and from competition cheer and football practices, she enjoys reading, crocheting, cross stitching, and enjoying the outdoors with her family- especially when the outdoors involves a tropical beach. She is well aware that most of her hobbies make her seem like an old woman trapped in a thirty-something-year-old's body.
She also has a small herd of bulldogs that are the best companions while working on a book- well, except when they start to snore really loud.
Her favorite authors are as eclectic as the rest of her tastes. Some of her favorites included: Agatha Christie (The original queen of mystery), Diana Gabaldon (S.L. Harpel considers herself an obsessive Sassenach), Stephanie Meyer (whom she tried to stalk while living near Forks, Wa unsuccessfully), J. K. Rowling (of course as she considers herself a complete nerd), Maggie Stiefvater, Kate Breslin, Marissa Meyer, Kiera Cass, and of course Suzanne Collins. The list could be so much longer, but she fears that space here is limited.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 27, 2021
I like to do this to myself, finish books I don't enjoy 🙈
Edit:
I decided to bump this up to 2 stars instead of 1, I didn’t completely hate this book to be fair, it just annoyed me and disappointed me and there was very little I liked about it. I’m disappointed because I was hoping to at least enjoy it. I accidently came across this book here on GR and from reading the synopsis it sounded like something I would enjoy, and I was especially interested in a story about anunnaki.
I was confused at the setting, the events seem to take place centuries from the modern day (or even future, who knows), unless this was meant to be an alternative history that I didn’t know about, so I expected more differences with our world today. Apart form people being segregated into districts by their ethnicity with certain rules and wearing traditional clothing and having ID implants, I didn’t see anything else that would make think this story takes place ‘centuries’ from now. And the whole reason why anunnaki came back to earth felt a bit unoriginal.
Besides world building, I noticed some potholes when the protagonist one minute doesn’t know something but the next minute she remembers it from her memory with her dad, so which one is it? Plotwise, nothing really happens aside from a big plot twist at the end, which I saw coming from the beginning, and a small fight between two characters. This felt like half the book was missing.
On a positive note, I didn’t dislike the characters and I enjoyed some parts of the story.
Edit:
I decided to bump this up to 2 stars instead of 1, I didn’t completely hate this book to be fair, it just annoyed me and disappointed me and there was very little I liked about it. I’m disappointed because I was hoping to at least enjoy it. I accidently came across this book here on GR and from reading the synopsis it sounded like something I would enjoy, and I was especially interested in a story about anunnaki.
I was confused at the setting, the events seem to take place centuries from the modern day (or even future, who knows), unless this was meant to be an alternative history that I didn’t know about, so I expected more differences with our world today. Apart form people being segregated into districts by their ethnicity with certain rules and wearing traditional clothing and having ID implants, I didn’t see anything else that would make think this story takes place ‘centuries’ from now. And the whole reason why anunnaki came back to earth felt a bit unoriginal.
Besides world building, I noticed some potholes when the protagonist one minute doesn’t know something but the next minute she remembers it from her memory with her dad, so which one is it? Plotwise, nothing really happens aside from a big plot twist at the end, which I saw coming from the beginning, and a small fight between two characters. This felt like half the book was missing.
On a positive note, I didn’t dislike the characters and I enjoyed some parts of the story.
December 12, 2021
Kingdom of the Star Queen wasn't collecting dust on my TBR shelf for long. Not like all the other books sitting and waiting for me to jump into them. I'll admit that I didn't really even know about it until I saw it on an audible sale back in August.
That being said, I'm not mad about this random purchase one bit. I honestly enjoyed this book and getting to know the characters. Chieko was pretty interesting from the very first moment we met her as a baby. It was said to know that she was left by her mother because she couldn't get the attention or love that she desired. She was a baby and couldn't get that. It blew my mind.
So, she is being taken care of by her father and stepmother (of a sort). The only bad thing is - no one knows she exist. The reason why is because she was basically forbidden to be alive due to her being mixed-race.
Again, I'm shocked about so many things, but I just wanted to know why. Well, let's be honest here folks - I wanted to know anything and everything this book had to offer. The one thing I thought was going to happen, and eventually did, wasn't a huge shock to me. It made sense (in some ways) but as to what is going to happen in the next book, well, it will probably shock me.
I'm not sure why we got a little cliffhanger in this one. Or maybe it's the cliffhanger we got that confuses me. I think I was expecting something different than what we got. Which, if you are wondering, we get a reveal and then bam - it ends.
Not sure when the sequel will become a thing but I'm definitely excited for the possible trial coming Chieko's way. I'm ready for some competition.
That being said, I'm not mad about this random purchase one bit. I honestly enjoyed this book and getting to know the characters. Chieko was pretty interesting from the very first moment we met her as a baby. It was said to know that she was left by her mother because she couldn't get the attention or love that she desired. She was a baby and couldn't get that. It blew my mind.
So, she is being taken care of by her father and stepmother (of a sort). The only bad thing is - no one knows she exist. The reason why is because she was basically forbidden to be alive due to her being mixed-race.
Again, I'm shocked about so many things, but I just wanted to know why. Well, let's be honest here folks - I wanted to know anything and everything this book had to offer. The one thing I thought was going to happen, and eventually did, wasn't a huge shock to me. It made sense (in some ways) but as to what is going to happen in the next book, well, it will probably shock me.
I'm not sure why we got a little cliffhanger in this one. Or maybe it's the cliffhanger we got that confuses me. I think I was expecting something different than what we got. Which, if you are wondering, we get a reveal and then bam - it ends.
Not sure when the sequel will become a thing but I'm definitely excited for the possible trial coming Chieko's way. I'm ready for some competition.
April 11, 2021
* I was given a Advance Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review *
I absolutely loved this story. I had a few questions about the world in which the story took place, as I started reading, but all my questions were answered as I kept reading. And keep reading I wanted to do! The characters were well developed and easy to relate to/understand. I grew attached to them, was rooting for them, and had all the feels at the end of the story. I cannot wait for the next installment, so I can continue on the journey with them!
I absolutely loved this story. I had a few questions about the world in which the story took place, as I started reading, but all my questions were answered as I kept reading. And keep reading I wanted to do! The characters were well developed and easy to relate to/understand. I grew attached to them, was rooting for them, and had all the feels at the end of the story. I cannot wait for the next installment, so I can continue on the journey with them!
April 29, 2021
Such a good read
The characters are so well developed. I fell in love immediately with the main character which I totally related to since I'm such a tall lady too! I'm so excited to see where her journey takes her! The lore was so interesting and unfolded in such an imersive way that I felt part of their world! I can't wait to read the rest!
The characters are so well developed. I fell in love immediately with the main character which I totally related to since I'm such a tall lady too! I'm so excited to see where her journey takes her! The lore was so interesting and unfolded in such an imersive way that I felt part of their world! I can't wait to read the rest!
April 8, 2021
*I received an ARC of this book in return for an honest review*
Oh my - I throughly enjoyed this book! I enjoyed it so much I’ve ordered a paperback version 🥰
Kingdom of The Star queen is a YA dystopian sci-fi fantasy (the best of everything!) with Babylonian mythology and Japanese cultural references.
A race of Aliens or “gods” returned to earth bringing a second moon thousands of years ago claiming to have created humans to serve a purpose - to maintain the gods immortality. This has resulted in the segregation of races and outlawing mixed race coupling.
The main Character, Chieko is a “halfu” - mixed race and outlawed in the kingdom. A young teenage girl on the cusp of adult hood we follow the character in a journey of not only self discovery but also to find out the truth about these gods and why they are really here
An amazing story with great world and character development. I really enjoyed this book - I laughed, I cried and it had me rooting for the main character. There is a young budding romance - but I’m secretly hoping there is a second love interest introduced in the future books *cough* Watcher *cough cough* 😉
It’s left me wanting to know what happens. I’m already counting down until the author releases more of this series.
5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Trigger Warning ⚠️ - Racial Segregation
Oh my - I throughly enjoyed this book! I enjoyed it so much I’ve ordered a paperback version 🥰
Kingdom of The Star queen is a YA dystopian sci-fi fantasy (the best of everything!) with Babylonian mythology and Japanese cultural references.
A race of Aliens or “gods” returned to earth bringing a second moon thousands of years ago claiming to have created humans to serve a purpose - to maintain the gods immortality. This has resulted in the segregation of races and outlawing mixed race coupling.
The main Character, Chieko is a “halfu” - mixed race and outlawed in the kingdom. A young teenage girl on the cusp of adult hood we follow the character in a journey of not only self discovery but also to find out the truth about these gods and why they are really here
An amazing story with great world and character development. I really enjoyed this book - I laughed, I cried and it had me rooting for the main character. There is a young budding romance - but I’m secretly hoping there is a second love interest introduced in the future books *cough* Watcher *cough cough* 😉
It’s left me wanting to know what happens. I’m already counting down until the author releases more of this series.
5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Trigger Warning ⚠️ - Racial Segregation
Want to read
September 5, 2022This book was so cool. It reminds me a little of the Red Queen and Divergent. There is a very strong female protagonist. She is a secret rebel and does her very best to protect her family. Except she is a little different than everyone else in her community so she must stay hidden from the vampire/god figures who rule her world. I think the villains are awesome and I can’t wait for the rest of the series to come out this year because I need to know more.
June 6, 2021
Awesome book!
I really liked the world building and the characters. It was a bit slow in the beginning but then it got really good! I often related to Chieko and her relationship with Sky was developed really good. Definitely gonna read the next book!
I really liked the world building and the characters. It was a bit slow in the beginning but then it got really good! I often related to Chieko and her relationship with Sky was developed really good. Definitely gonna read the next book!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews