Queen of Dreams is so fun. It opens with Ash, Zanya, and other members of the High Court preventing soldiers from burning an old woman as a witch. Rot in The Sheltered Lands is being spread by the regents who took control after Zanya murdered the evil king. There are intrigues, preparations for war, gods fighting gods, lovers sparring using their full abilities, lovers loving to their full abilities, and endless buckets of hope. The world building in this series is amazing and I am so excited that we will get more duologies centered around the Court of the High Dreamers.
Our Dragon god, Ash, is still horny for his consort, Sachielle, and her lover, Zanya. Zanya has manifested her powers as the avatar of the Endless Void and still learning her powers. Sachi is an object of desire for the Betrayer, and he steals her away. As in Consort of Fire, Sachi is the emotional center of Queen of Dreams, but here we also see her bring her skills to undermining The Betrayer in his own power center.
I massively overthink things and tie myself into knots trying to express all the visceral and thinky thoughts that I have about books. I am quite capable of hyper fixating on a single element and my whole review of a fun, exciting book will make it sound like a dry treatise on emotional labor. I refuse to make Queen of Dreams sound dull by going on and on about the way the trio love all aspects of each other and the contrast between that and the rigid, extractive control The Betrayer exerts on his court and his people. I love this exchange between Ash and Zanya:
“There’s only one thing to remember,” he said softly. “Sometimes the world needs monsters. Everything you learned today? You’ll have it to use against the Betrayer.”
She nodded, her eyes shadowed.
“He’s a monster for the sake of being a monster. You?” He smiled. “You’re her monster. And that makes all the difference.”
I received this as an advance reader copy from Montlake and NetGalley. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.