Editorial Reviews for Nominees
|
|
Editorial Reviews for Nominees
|
|
Score: 94+/100 (9.4+ out of 10)
The Queen of Fairy is the much-anticipated fifth book in The Madigan Chronicles fantasy series by Marieke Lexmond! By our accounts, it is the best book in the series since the original! But what makes it so interesting and exciting? Well, it serves as the convergence of multiple conflicts that were built up in previous book. It also seems to serve as a kind of culmination—a homecoming, in a sense—for all the major characters. For all intents and purposes, this really does seem like what the author has been building to this whole time. Though there is expected to be one more book in the series, this seems to be the peak or climax of it all. And if that weren't enough of a selling point, this book finally pulls back the curtains completely on the magical, mystical, mysterious, and dangerous Land of Fairy, a place we've gotten glimpses and visitations of here and there, but never quite went all-in with. Most of all, it pulls back the curtain on Fairy's frightening, intimidating, and ruthless supreme leader, Queen Mab. She is pretty much the Darth Sidious or Sauron of the series. Mab has been the series' overarching villain/antagonist for a while now. She is practically a deity to those in Fairy and a feared (and revered) figure outside of it. What's really interesting about this book is that it kinda subverts your expectations of Mab. Throughout the series, she has always been big, huge, extravagant, undaunted, unfazed, and—with few exceptions—unchallenged. Even in the beginning of this book, she is bullying, bossing around, and beating people up. She straight-up says: “I can do what I want.” She is like the sun in the middle of the solar system, no matter how big and amazing you think you are, she will always outshine you. We just imagined her as this huge, larger-than-life figure adorned in the brightest, bolded, most over-the-top jewelry and clothing. And, for the most part, that's true. However, was she always like that? Surprisingly, no. She was once small and vulnerable like all of us once were as babies. That's right, this book actually brings us to the beginning—her origins. We learn that Mab was born to King Oberon, whom you may remember as the Fairy King from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. As an aside, this is kinda fitting considering that Mab herself probably gets her name from another Shakespearean work, Romeo & Juliet, in which she was mentioned by a dying and agitated Mercutio. That's a nice homage. Mab's mother appears to have been Etzli, who also has blood-ties to the Madigans (our protagonists). Oberon says: “[s]he’s difficult, my little Mab...” Can you imagine Mab being little? Complicating things and adding even more intrigue, we learn that Mab wasn't the only daughter or child of King Oberon and Etzli. No, that fortunate (and somewhat unfortunate) distinction goes to Ceri, who becomes a very central figure in this story, sorta like how Snowflake was a central figure in the last one. Ceri is kinda undergoing a Simba-arc (from Lion King). She is the only other viable or legitimate heir to Oberon's throne in Fairy, a throne on which Mab sits and pretty much has perpetual orgies on. No, really, that's pretty much Mab's thing. She even has orgies while her attendants are dressing her in armor for battle! It's kinda funny, weird, and amusing at the same time. Anyway, this book teaches us a lot more about Mab and the Land of Fairy than we previously knew. We now know that Mab wasn't the first supreme ruler of the realm and is actually the offspring of a previous monarch. That's interesting in and of itself. We also learn that Mab isn't the undisputed or only ruler of the realm. There are even people whom Mab is either wary of or even (somewhat) reverent to. For example, she is extra courteous to Birdwing, who was given authority over the Sky, at an event. She is also very wary of Ceri and of the threat she presents to her claim to authority. Furthermore, she still considers Lucy, the villain of the series's first arc who gave her a run for her money in a previous installment, a “thorn in her side.” The other thing that's really great about this book is how it fleshes out fairies and their lore/mythos. Fairies are people, but they are different from humans in a lot of ways. First of all, they love bright, extraordinary outfits and colors. So what if their outfits are often made of bones, they rock them. They also have much higher libidos (“urges”) than humans. Both of these things actually explain a bit of why Mab is the way that she is. To us, she seems gratuitous, excessive, and sex-crazy, but in the context of her people and her realm, she's not so weird after all. It's implied that King Oberon, while seemingly a better person, had some of the same inclinations. The other thing we learn is that Mab actually had a lot of insecurities growing up as a fairy. Fairies weren't loved, embraced, and accepted everywhere. The same way we look at the way they look and act as a bit weird, a lot of other groups of people likely felt the same way about them. So, we're told that Mab actually really loves and feels at home in the Land of Fairy—it's “[s]omewhere she can indeed be herself.” Well, that's kinda... humanizing. So, Fairy is almost like her safe space where she doesn't have to be judged, persecuted, or treated as weird or different. Despite all this humanizing, Mab is still terrifying. She can manipulate people with her fairy dust. She can transform into a giant soul/ghost-centipede creature like she's Giratina from Pokemon. She'll wreck you with a variety of overpowered fairy magic. All in all, she's a force to be reckoned with and someone that no one witch or fairy is going to manage to take down, though the likes of Lucy and Ceri have tried in epic fashion. Really, only one thing is going to be able to stand up to Mab and have any hope of victory... and it's something that the author has been building up throughout the whole series: FAMILY. Make all the Fast & Furious jokes you want, but this series has always been about FAMILY, specifically the wild, crazy, and often-dysfunctional Madigans and their forty-dozen sets of twins and in-laws. That all finally comes together with lines like: “We'll get through this as a family” Our protagonists are called “a team.” There are even allusions to the game of chess, particularly when it comes to Bridget strategizing as a Captain-America-like leader. Like pieces on a chess board, each Madigan has their own strengths, weaknesses, roles, and limitations. Similar things are said about the magic in this book. In fact, the quotes about magic were some of our favorites: “Magic is a double-edged sword; it cuts both ways. Make sure you want to be cut as deep as you cut with it.” “It’s an ability, not an assignment. How you choose to use your gift is entirely up to you. Much like any other magical talent. You can help the souls, release them, but you can as easily trap them.” What this does is establish the how & why behind magic and its limitations. In other words, it explains why the characters can't just magically wish their problems away. It also helps that every character seems to have their own unique ways of using their magical gifts. Cephalop, for example, can transform into a more monstrous version of his octopus self. Both Lucy and Set primarily use fire magic, which makes sense because Lucy is romantically involved with the fire demon, Vhumut, and Set is their child. It makes sense that Set would be frying giant spiders with fireballs instead of using lightning or something. Diane also still serves as the psychic/precog/oneiromancer of the group. Tara's husband, Sheamus, can still help the group and communicate to them as a ghost. Maeve has her siren/mermaid powers. Snowflake's affinity for the fragments of the Cup of Plenty come into play. All of this comes together in one of the best climaxes/final battle scenes of the year! Also, the various conflicts/tension between the twin sisters in the series still comes into play. For example, Tara and Lucy are constantly feeling each other's feelings, often providing each other with comfort, energy, or positivity. It's kinda ironic having an evildoer/troublemaker in Lucy begging for help or providing support from/to Tara, but it does show a bit of her growth. Freya also has some tension with her family, which was a major plot point in previous books, saying, “I had to deal with incredible anger, feelings of being incomplete, and the lesser witch of the family. Moody, incapable Freya.” Check it out on Amazon!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
February 2025
Categories |