This is the sequel to Trickster's Choice, beginning six months or so after the events in that novel. Alianne Cooper, daughter of Alanna the Lioness and George (Tortallan spymaster) has won her wager with the god Kyprioth and kept Sarai and Dove (the two elder daughters of the Balitangs) alive, but she has elected to stay in the Copper Isles and see the half-blood Queen crowned.

We begin the novel with the Balitang family arriving back in the city of Rajmuat, plunging themselves into political intrigue and gaining the attention of the Rittevon royal family, who suspect the Balitangs of having intentions towards the throne. While this is occurring, Aly and the other raka conspirators create civil unrest in the city in order to push the populace into rebellion against the ruling monarchs.

Aly spends a great deal of time desk-bound, reading reports, or visiting with the other conspirators - and this is where I feel the novel really lacked sparkle. The book reads like an account of someone doing a job - recruiting, reading reports, attending meetings. It just isn't all that exciting.

Tamora Pierce confesses in her acknowledgements that she has delighted in following J K Rowling's lead in writing larger books for children. This is all very well, but I think Pierce writes better in a shorter format. Her original quartets about Tortall were strong, snappy and fast-paced. The larger books suffer from bloating and, here, too many tedious details about the reports Aly reads and visits to the palace were included. Two of the early chapters in the novel concern Sarai and Dove visiting the palace, and I found it extremely hard to push through those - I've never had such trouble with Pierce's books before.

I also found that Sarai became a pretty dislikeable character - spoilt, headstrong, and only thinking of herself. I was thankful when we reached the fate Pierce gave to her, and Dove came to the forefront. While speaking about the characters, one of my favourites from Trickster's Choice - Nawat Crow - was absent for much of this novel, and his loss removed a lot of the gentle humour that delighted me so in the first book.

Another complaint I have is the "MacGuffin" of the darking characters. Sure, they're pretty cute - although they do have a tendency to come across in a childish manner with their lack of adult speech - but they do make Aly's job enormously easy when she is spying on the palace. It is a very lazy plot device and leads Aly to suffer no real peril or cause her to have to really think through obtaining information.

Since we're on the subject of peril, none of these characters seem in any real danger. Yes, a few of them die but this almost seems as though Pierce is going through a checklist and ticking off "necessary death of beloved character to generate scenes of mourning". I never felt that any of the main characters were in any danger of not surviving.

I did enjoy some parts of the book - the kudarung (winged horses of all sizes and colours) were a nice addition; Nawat's return was very welcome; and the epilogue did a neat job of showing a few nice details of Aly's life some months after the end of the revolution - but overall I was disappointed. This seemed Pierce-by-the-numbers, and it came across that she didn't have much fun writing the story. In her Notes at the end, Tamora Pierce encourages those interested to seek out historical sources of actual revolution and conquest - it is a shame that, in this case, those sources would be more exciting. ( )

Aly has been working as a spymaster for a group of Raka rebels intent on placing a prophesied ruler on the throne of the Copper Isles. The time for planning is over and the time for action is coming. Aly must use all the skills she learned growing up as the daughter of the Whisper Man of Tortall to keep her charges and herself safe and replace the wicked holders of the crown.

I enjoyed the Trickster books almost as much as I enjoyed the Alanna and Kel books. It seems that even though I have a few books to go in this world, that they are set before the others in time, and I'm going to miss seeing everyone grow up and have families like I have been able to do so far. The characters in these two were a ton of fun, although some of the plot was easily guessed ahead of time. Now on to the Bekka Cooper books. ( )

Tamora Pierce writes a fantastic book, and Trini Alvarado reads it in the manner in which it should be read--who could ask for anything more?! Absolutely WONDERFUL! ( )

Summary: When the Balitang family is recalled to the capital city after spending a year in exile, Aly is excited - being near the center of the government will make it that much easier to help spread the Raka rebellion that has been quietly fomenting amongst the servants and peasants in the countryside. However, the Raka are not the only ones plotting overthrow; the Luarin nobles are also displeased with the rule of the King's regents. Aly must use all her talents to navigate the two rebellions, bring down a kingdom, and restore the rule of the Copper Isles to the proper hands, all while keeping herself and those she cares about safe.

Review: This book shouldn't have been as enjoyable as it was. Aly spends most of the book acting as spymaster for the Balitangs and the Raka rebellion. However, the problem with acting as spymaster is that you have to sit around collating and distributing information while other people are doing all of the fun stuff, and the problem with writing a book about a spymaster is that your readers have to watch them... sit around collating and distributing information. Not exactly riveting action - and yet, it still managed to hold my attention.

Another reason I shouldn't have enjoyed this novel was that it was pretty predictable. Putting a prophecy in the beginning of your fantasy novel is kind of a double-bind situation. If the prophecy means what it says on first glance, then great, you've just given away the end of your book. But, on the other hand, most readers know that prophecies never mean what they say at first glance, and so will be scouring the text for clues as to the big twist. Even apart from the fact that Tamora Pierce's books all follow the same basic course, I figured out how most things in this novel were going to go from very early on. And yet, I still kept reading, wanting to know how the things I knew were coming were going to go down.

So, the fact that I kept listening, even in the face of predictability and mainly off-screen action, should speak pretty highly for the enjoyability of this book. I think Tamora Pierce's books are essentially YA fantasy comfort food: no big surprises, nothing too challenging, just reliable, solid, entertaining YA fantasy, complete with strong female characters, meddlesome gods, and little hints of romance. I was also thrilled to see the Darkings again. They were one of my favorite things (creatures? characters?) from the Immortals series, and they added some very cute, funny moments to Trickster's Queen. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Not great, but solidly good if you're in the mood for light YA fantasy. Plus, if you've already read Trickster's Choice, this one is pretty much required reading. ( )

Just couldn't resist stopping by the library yesterday and picking up this book. I started immediately and just finished. Quite enjoyable although the various plot twists were somewhat predictable. As in any revolution some of the important people die but Aly and her chosen mistress come out the other end doing what they were meant to do. For those who enjoy YA fantasy this pair of books is recommended.