Queenslayer by Sebastien de Castell – Review

Published: May 21, 2019

Publisher: Orbit Books

Series: Spellslinger #5

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 496 (Paperback)

My Rating: 3.0/5.0

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:

A failed mage learns that just because he’s not the chosen one it doesn’t mean he can’t be a hero in the fifth book of an adventure fantasy series from Sebastien de Castell.
Kellen Argos is an outlaw spellslinger with a bad reputation, a long list of enemies, and zero luck. When he accidently smears blood on the Daroman flag, he’s dragged before the queen to be executed for his act of treason.
Face-to-face with the young monarch, Kellen is offered a chance to save himself. If he can defeat the queen at a game of cards, he’ll walk free…if not, his life is forfeit. But what begins as a game reveals a conspiracy against the queen’s life. And now, Kellen is not only playing for his own freedom, but also for the future of an empire.

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The Spellslinger series has continued to be a great source of entertainment throughout the entire run of the series thus far. I will admit that I’m beginning to tire of some of the characters’ antics and flaws. Not actually sure any development is going on, but it could be argued that the characters are retaining their delightful sense of self while maturing in more subtle ways.

I did enjoy Queenslayer, but the books are becoming somewhat repetitive. Kellen and Reichis almost get killed someone, whether it be by Jan’Tep or people who hate those with the Shadowblack. Shalla shows up and tempts Kellen with the thought of returning home and he spits in her eye (figuratively). Reichis eats his enemies eyes, ears, etc (literally). Kellen somehow, despite his flaws and poor choices, ends up making things sort of okay in the end while he slinks off into the sunset with Reichis chowing down on buttered biscuits. The new characters just didn’t grab me the way others in previous books have. I’m definitely missing Ferius, as she was the only thing keeping Kellen from being a total dill weed.

I’m definitely getting some series fatigue so hopefully the months until the release of Crownbreaker will provide ample time for me to recover. I do look forward to seeing how this whole adventure will wrap up and if Kellen will in fact live or become the shadowblack monster he has long feared he would become.