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At the Queen's Command
At the Queen's Command
At the Queen's Command
Ebook674 pages10 hours

At the Queen's Command

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

2.5/5

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The colonies of Mistria are in turmoil. They face wars between the competing empires and and insurrection from natives and colonists alike. Prince Vladamier is a Norillian noble, and Nephew to King Richard. He has little political power, but struggles to ensure the colonists interests are represented back in the court. The one thing he does have is a wurm... one of the few existing "dragons" from a clutch of eggs discovered in the old world, hundreds of years ago. As Mistria swirl into chaos, Vlad is married off to an old world princess. This new alliance is supposed to help supply money and mercenaries to put down the various insurrections. But, nobody suspects that Vlad's wurm is about to undergo a change that will impact the worlds delicate political balance...
LanguageEnglish
Release dateNov 1, 2010
ISBN9781597802772
At the Queen's Command

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Rating: 2.4 out of 5 stars
2.5/5

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  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I'm not saying that Mr. Stackpole hasn't created a believable world. I'm saying I didn't enjoy the story.My primary reason for disliking the story was that the villain "reanimates" the dead. A lot of people love zombies, vampires, etc. This is probably your book! I don't, so it's not a book I'll ever read again; nor shall I read the rest of the series.Besides that primary point, I also didn't appreciate the bedroom scene.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Uneven - at times very engaging at times not so much - some events described in lavish detail, others of similar plot importance glossed over. Still, enjoyed it, never bogged down.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    When I first started reading this book, I was kind of annoyed because the author was clearly riffing off of the history of colonial America and just changing names and how boring is that? Seriously though, second chapter in and I was hooked. Stackpole created a world that is fantastical and otherworldly, yet because you recognized the historical context is still completely relate-able. The book was funny, sad, suspenseful and I could not put it down. I am completely looking forward to the next chapter in the Crown Colonies and only hope that it is as well written as this one was.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Um. Not good. I thought, for some reason, that this was a first novel, and was prepared to overlook some clumsiness - but it's most definitely not. Most of my complaints are of poor editing, and poor choices in marketing - the back blurb focuses on something that barely happens in this book (it'll be important in the sequel), and totally ignores what does happen. But the writing, particularly the dialog, is rather stiff and clumsy - language varies, in the narrator's voice, from simplistic to overblown. Maybe he wrote this first and can only now get it published? It really reads like a good writer's first (publishable) attempt. It's an interesting universe, though some of the correspondences are hard to figure out (though they seem to be important to the story); there are far too many characters without any redeeming characteristics, though. All the good guys (male and female) are severely handicapped by _being_ the good guys and actually behaving with honor. Overall, an interesting world poorly depicted. I'll certainly look for the next book in the series - I want to know what happens - but I'll get it from the library. I don't have any interest in owning or rereading this book.

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At the Queen's Command - Michael Stakpole

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