I found this book to be very enjoyable and engrossing. Talia, a Borders child, learns she is to be married at the young age of thirteen. A young girl with a vivid imagination who longs to be a Herald is devastated by the news of her impending marriage and runs away from her strict and unyielding household. At the point of lowest despair, she is Chosen by Rolan and is brought to the Collegium where she undergoes training to become the Queen's Own, the Queen's closest confidante. During her internship, her gift of empathy goes rogue and she has to learn to bring it back under control or else lose everything she worked so hard to build. As she gains control of her gift, she learns about friendship and loyalty and what is really important.
On a diplomatic mission, she is captured and tortured, but is eventually rescued by Dirk. What she learns during her captivity has dire effects on the kingdom of Valdemar.
Queen's own actually contains the original Arrows trilogy. It was very engrossing and the author's writing style makes you empathize and sympathize with every thought and sentiment of her characters. I got very involved with the events in the story and was quite happy to learn the next trilogy begins seven years after this one ends. ( )

In the last few years, publishers finally clued in that women like to read urban fantasy with kick-butt heroines. However, before that became common, some established fantasy authors had done the same for young adult women (and adult women actually!). This is one of the best examples of such efforts.

I started reading fantasy because of Anne McCaffrey, who also has many strong young female characters for girls to identify with. I stumbled across Queen's Own via the Science Fiction Book Club as recommended to fans of McCaffrey. The protagonist is 13 year old Talia, who readers follow into adulthood. She has a harsh life growing up in the borderlands under constant threat of raiders. There, young women are practically servants and forced into marriage at very young ages. Talia is swept away from this by no less than a magic, and intelligent, horse! She's taken to the Herald's Collegium to learn to become a protector of her country. Her adventures in school, through internship and finally as advisor to the Queen give young women a character - a hero - to identify with. The plot is rich and no way condescends to younger readers. Talia faces mortal danger in duties, uncovers a vast conspiracy and even finds love. This isn't just a tale of a girl and her horse. I have reread this book many times over the years and enjoy each time. Highly recommended. ( )

excellent... I kind of miss the banter of Mindspeech that the Heralds usually have with their Companions in this trilogy. However, the detail of Talia's ordeals made up for that loss. It is interesting to watch a character grow up. The repetiveness of the prologues however was a little annoying, so I skipped them. ( )