Monday, March 8, 2021

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Two-Faced Queen by Nick Martell

 



Full Disclosure:  This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on March 23, 2021 in exchange for a potential review.  I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way - if I felt conflicted in any way, I would simply have declined to review the book.

The Two-Faced Queen is the second book in Nick Martell's epic fantasy series*, "Legacy of the Mercenary King" which began last year with The Kingdom of Liars (Reviewed by me HERE).  I had mixed feelings honestly about The Kingdom of Liars - on one hand, its protagonist was a genuinely compelling voice, torn between his ambitions of restoring his blood family and heritage and the found family he had discovered in their place, the setting of court intrigue was fairly solid, and the hints of a more epic scope were intriguing.  On the other hand, the book barely touched some of the issues it presented, like class conflict and a corrupt nobility, with some characters who are basically just blatant archetypes, and the sheer amount of long-term mysteries it was juggling was a bit much.  

*I could've swore I first saw this series advertised as a trilogy, but now I only see it listed as a "series".  

The Two-Faced Queen.....is very similar to the first book in many regards, with the story still juggling a LOT of long-term plot mysteries in the background of a single book-long plot.  In a way, it's a weird second novel, as its central plot features characters and character-arcs that feel like they should have played a more prominent role in the first novel, and nearly all of the long term plot arcs of this series barely move forward at all.  The series' central protagonist remains decently compelling in his oft-reckless crazy nature (and yet definitely a little more mature) as he tries to navigate it all....but I'd hoped for more through 2 installments this long.  

------------------------------------------------------Plot Summary---------------------------------------------------
A lot has happened to Michael Kingman since he set out to clear his father's name and the Kingman family heritage:  he found out the truth behind his father's alleged killing of the prince, he discovered the source of his magic and that his memories had been hidden from him, and....he found himself accused of killing the King himself after the King committed suicide in front of him.  The only thing that saved him from the executioner's axe was the intercession of the mysterious Mercenary known as "Dark", who somehow possesses two fabrication magics, Ice and Darkness....and is the son of the man Michael now knows is his true enemy. 

Now, Michael is hated throughout the City of Hollow, especially by the Princess to whom he was once bound - a Princess whom is expected to soon be crowned Queen...and will do anything to avenge her father on him.  The Rebel Emperor, with ties to his old family, is right outside the city gates with her forces pressing on...and she has her own plans for Michael.  Dark's tutelage of Michael is incredibly frustrating, as the Mercenary refuses to tell him anything.  And the man who Michael once trusted as much as his own father, the one who took everything from him, remains at large and in power.....

But all of that may not matter soon, as Michael soon finds himself involved in an influx of refugees who are suddenly targeted by not one but two deadly murderers...including one with ties to the City's past and a habit of playing games with his targets...and taking their hearts when he's done with them.
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With the exception of interlude periods, The Two-Faced Queen is told entirely from Michael Kingman's first person perspective.  Michael is in many ways still the same type of guy as in the last book - he often doesn't look before he leaps, desperately seeks answers in dangerous ways, and often has to be reminded that he can't let his individual ambition come ahead of the wellbeing of the city.  And yet, he's also a bit more mature as a result of the first book, understanding how he's driven away the lower-class friends that made up his old found family even as he's regained more of his actual family after the first book, and desperately wants to make amends to prove himself.  There's even a really nice sequence where Michael actually goes to apologize to one of those former allies, not because he needs them for something, but because he knows he did them wrong.  Michael will always be driven by his family legacy of being history-changing dogooders, interceding everywhere in the world, but this version of Michael is a bit more aware of what such actions will cost him.  

Which is key here, because things have only gotten worse in the City - the rebellion has gotten closer to the City Gates, Michael's childhood friend (and really, his childhood love) wants him dead and Michael really doesn't want her to keep thinking of that, the city now hates him since they think him a king-killer, and the city now has a new refugee problem led by his previously unknown grandfather.  And of course there's the Immortal who took him under his wing, who Michael pissed off the last time he saw him by destroying his most precious shrine. And then there's the two killers that have come to the city for some purposes - a serial killer from the city's past who toys with his victims & kills by tearing out hearts and an assassin from a legendary order of assassins who might be targeting Michael.

Dealing with those two killers forms the basis for this book's plot which is the start of where this book feels very frustrating.  The Heartbreaker Serial Killer has such a significant presence in not only the City of Hollow but many of the characters we already knew from the last book, and we really should've known more about him in book one.  And he - and the assassin Famine (whose part in this plot feels really underbaked) - feel like clear side quests to the major plot-long arcs that we were primed for in the prior book, which move forward a little bit here but otherwise don't progress that much.  Which is just tremendously frustrating, since it basically was one of the major cliffhangers of the last book.  Instead this book just greatly increases the mysteries and long term plot arcs, and things move a bit too slowly for my taste.  

And again the characters outside of Michael sometimes work and sometimes feel like bare archetypes.  Two major characters from the last book take forever to reappear, and one only shows up for small moments despite being one of the biggest in the series.  Serena - the titular Two-Faced Queen - never really feels at all like the character who cameos in the first book, and her relationship with Michael in the past and Michael's possible romance with her...didn't really work for me?  And again issues of class and corruption are clearer here than in book 1 but still often get lost in everything else.  The book is so concerned with expanding an already too big world, that it just doesn't seem to focus on what's already there which just made me more frustrating than everything.  And these are not short books!  

Like, I usually complain when books in series do not have satisfying book-long plot arcs, and this book definitely does, so that's not the problem here.  But I also expect to have some movement on the long term plots in each book, especially when one such arc is setup by the major reveal in the last book.  If this is a longer than three book series, I'm not sure I'll continue.  If it is a trilogy, I'll probably check in to get some payoff.  Because I AM intrigued, even if the series continues to be unfulfilling so far.  
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