The Hundredth Queen

The writing style is enjoyable and the constant action kept the book alive. Going into the book, I had two main expectations: fights/duels ("[Kali was] ordered to fight for her place") and "the stoic but kind Captain Deven Naik."

If you are looking for cool fight scenes, rigorous training, or warriors getting fussy about honor and cheating, this is not the book for you. Those one-on-one fights I had been so anticipating ended up being, for the most part, the decorative content of two paragraphs in between the other events of the book. Our dear protagonist Kali was not prolific in her descriptions of violence, which speaks well of her sensibilities and character but not of her qualities as a gripping storyteller.

Regarding the Captain: show more no spoilers here, but his actions are more aptly described as inconsistent and dramatic rather than stoic.

While no resolution is made, a main theme of The Hundredth Queen is the impotency of women in this constructed society. I was shocked by how dispassionate Kali was in her description of what we would call abusive situations. The more I thought about it, the more repulsive it seemed, and I nearly stopped reading. But I think that's the point. If Kali's worldview sees these things as normal, it is a direct product of the environment in which she grew up. Of course she isn't outraged by these things, they happen all the time. Therein lies the heart of the matter. The theme I took away was the unresolved question: what atrocities have we normalized because they are 'the way things have always been'?

I do not mean this as a political rant, and I do not believe the book had such pretensions either. I merely wish to describe how shocking it is to read about a heroine whose mindset is not 'revolutionary' to the other members of their society. show less

This book just made me mad

The initial premise was intriguing, a woman chosen to be the 100th wife to a king and her fighting to keep her position. But then it gets muddled by Avatar-Air-bender-like beings, a king who wants to raise the dead, and a forbidden love between the protagonist and her guard...

It could work if the editor actually did their job or the author was more skilled. Unfortunately neither was the case.
Conversations between characters were just info dumps, events aren't given enough time to build up relevancy before they are resolved, and the love story is superficial at best.

I just got more and more annoyed as the book went on. I couldn't even finish it; I got through 70% of it before I just skimmed through the rest. show more By the looks of it, I don't miss out on much.

This is definitely a do-not-buy. show less

“Let the sky lead me, the land ground me, the fire cleanse me, and the water feed me.”

The Hundredth Queen is an imaginative fantasy that blends beautiful imagery and persistent characters. We follow Kalinda, an orphan ward of the Sisterhood, as she’s chosen to be the hundredth queen for the tyrant Rajah Tarek. Kali must fight for her place in the palace, while hiding a dangerous secret about herself. The Hundredth Queen is filled with mystery, romance, and a beautifully imagined world of power, control, and retribution.

Things I Liked:
Kali was a pretty solid main character. I love that she was inquisitive and hard working, determined to better herself and dedicated to the values of the Sisterhood. She tries to take all the agency show more she can in this heavily patriarchal society. Though she is naive and rash, she fights for her beliefs and those she loves, and that is always admirable.

I absolutely loved everything about the Bhutas. They were my favorite part of the story. I’m a sucker for elemental magic and I loved the power displays and the history they brought to the story. Bhutas >>>>>>.

I really loved the imagery in the story. Everything felt very vivid and clear, it made it super easy to become enveloped and invested in this world.

Things I Didn’t Like:
Even though this story is clearly a fantasy novel, it was hard for me to not connect the fantasy setting to the real-world influences. It made the setting feel just slightly off, and not quite as distinct as I would have liked.

I’m not usually an insta-love hater. I understand it’s place in the story and can usually get behind it, or at least be okay with it because I understand it’s purpose. However, this was a little heavy on the insta-love. It was a little too much, a little too quickly. I like the relationship that develops between Kali and Deven, but the start was a little rushed for me personally.

While I loved the imagery, and it captivated me enough to become invested in the world, I would have liked some more information and more world building. Kali and others constantly mention the 5 godly virtues, but they are never mentioned all at once (and if they are I missed it - sorry). It would have been nice to establish the culture and religion more, so I could connect this with the world the characters live in. I felt like the actual tournament provided good action, but we only really knew 3 of the girls competing so the deaths held little impact, besides fueling Kali’s anger. I also felt like Kali really didn’t have enough time to learn/practice her powers. For the book to focus on her trying to understand what powers she possess, and what she’s capable, we really didn’t get to see her explore them much at all.

I felt like most of the side characters were not really developed outside of their relationship to Kali. I understand this is her story, but the other characters really just felt like they were along for her story, they didn’t have much on their own.

The Hundredth Queen is a solid fantasy story, that brilliantly sets up it’s sequel The Fire Queen, to have more action, more challenges, and more powers. This is a richly imagined story with fantastic magic wielders and slightly weak characters and world building. The Hundredth Queen is a good story, with an even more promising future.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. show less

Action packed and intense

It’s full of pain and heartache along with joy and love. It’s has great descriptions so I felt like I could see them and the setting in my mind. I have had this on my TBR list for some time now and I’m glad I finally was able to read and enjoy it. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you should!

Thrilling fantasy debut, an orphan girl blossoms into a warrior, summoning courage and confidence in her fearless quest to upend tradition, overthrow an empire, and reclaim her life as her own.

As an orphan ward of the Sisterhood in the ancient Tarachand Empire, eighteen-year-old Kalinda is destined for nothing more than a life of seclusion and prayer. Plagued by fevers, she’s an unlikely candidate for even a servant’s position, let alone a courtesan or wife. Her sole dream is to continue living in peace in the Sisterhood’s mountain temple.

But a visit from the tyrant Rajah Tarek disrupts Kalinda’s life. Within hours, she is ripped from the comfort of her home, set on a desert trek, and ordered to fight for her place among the show more rajah’s ninety-nine wives and numerous courtesans. Her only solace comes in the company of her guard, the stoic but kind Captain Deven Naik.

Faced with the danger of a tournament to the death—and her growing affection for Deven—Kalinda has only one hope for escape, and it lies in an arcane, forbidden power buried within her. show less

I certainly liked the Hundreth queen and I loved Kalinda and Devan. Wonderful world building of the Tarachand Empire and interesting character development. I'd certainly recommend this book and plan to read the Fire queen, the second book in the series.
Jack Murphy

I tragically did not review the book when I read it the first time. Emily R. King is an excellent author and if she did not outline this book prior to writing it, she's a remarkable "seat of the pants" writer. "Outliners" near always have tidy plots that are a joy to read. "Pantsers" are fun too, you're as surprised as they were when they write something. This one was brilliantly tidy. Having read it, I know that she knew how the book would end before she finished the first chapter.

That's a spoiler by the way. Now you know that there are things in chapter one that are relevant in the climax of the book and beyond.

Briefly, Kalinda lives under a monarchy, but she is physically in a 'far off' monastery type of place that is a woman only show more facility. The monastery is funded by 'benefactors', who from time to time show up to "claim" a woman as wife, mistress, or some other form of chattel.

TRAGICALLY... THERE ARE SPOILERS AHEAD, not the "ruin the book" kind, but spoilers. Not the kind you can blank out and still have the review seem coherent. I do recommend the book later...

In Kalinda's case the benefactor who claims her is the monarch. Kalinda is to be his hundredth wife, which is of considerable significance for a number of religious reasons.

Being chosen is the worst thing Kalinda thinks could happen to her regardless of who it is. The monarch only makes it infinitely more grievous and complicated.

If I might criticize the book... it would be that fully one third of it is Kalinda's travel from the monastery to the palace for her wedding. While there's enough going on to keep you reading, it isn't much more exciting than driving from Los Angeles to Sacramento on I5. In fact, it is a bit analogous. If you've made the drive, you could say, OK, I see that: there is "Cajon Pass", Bakersfield, and Fresno… a few things happening during the travels. In the book though there is implied sexual tension that you won't get while driving from Los Angeles to Sacramento. At least not if you are driving alone.

Even though Kalinda is the chosen 100th wife, if she were to post that on Facebook it would NOT be "in a relationship", it would read, "it's complicated".

I want to recommend the book. It is dressed up like a romance novel, and written a bit like one in places, but this book was written by an impressive author who appreciates her audience and demands excellence from herself in her writing. You could develop a relationship with an author like this. So much so, I've already grabbed up three more of her books and audiobooks.

Before revising this review (which you've read), I glanced at my notes. I did not write many notes but the notes I did write were pretty detailed about the prologue. Maybe this is a memory thing, I confess... I forgot I read this book, but from my notes, I don't think there is much of anything related to the book in the prologue. There is a couple passing comments, but the prologue appears to have taken place entirely outside of the geography of the novel.

Well, I know there are at least 2 more books, probably 3 in this series, so the prologue may be relevant at some point.

If you read this book I believe you'll enjoy it and continue with the series. It is not a dull book.

I read The Hundredth Queen (again) in 5 sessions on May 2, 3, and 6, 2019. I previously read it on June 6 through August 2, 2017. I previously "really liked it" (4 stars) and now I remember why, and agree with my good choice. Tragic that I write of my previous reading as if it was a mystery to me, but it was. I suppose that will become a serious issue as time passes. show less