Queen's Gambit Declined

by Melinda M. Snodgrass

William, Prince of Orange, learns that it is not political machinations but black magic that is keeping him from the throne, and he enlists the powers of The White Goddess to stem the rising tide of darkness

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fiction

244 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1989

About the author

MELINDA M. SNODGRASS

Melinda Snodgrass was born in Los Angeles, but her family moved to New Mexico when she was five months old making her almost a native. She studied opera at the Conservatory of Vienna in Austria, graduated from U.N.M. with a degree in history, and went on to Law School. She practiced for three years, and discovered that while she loved the law she hated lawyers so she began writing.
In 1988 she accepted a job on Star Trek: TNG, and began her Hollywood career. Her novels, The High Ground, In Evil Times and The Hidden World are available from Titan Books. She is the executive producer on the upcoming Wild Cards shows being developed for Hulu. Her passion (aside from writing) is riding her Lusitano stallion Vento da Broga.

Reviews

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is also alternative history.
MS Snodgrass doesn't really resolve the Old Religion vs New Religion problem and equating the new religion with science and the Old Religion with ignorance doesn't quite fit. William's choice is satisfying because we wouldn't opt for ignorance, especially not an ignorance which is class determined. The choice is not really that hard, even if it does mean we will have to co-exist with Louis and his monstrous palace of Versailles.
Louis and Mazarin are not lovable, in real or alternative history, but to make them demon possessed is a bit much. Bringing Castlemaine to France along with Buckingham as part of the demonic plot is also labelling those people a little on the harsh side for what they really were - self centered and power grabbing.
The thing I liked best was William's drive to keep his country independent, his stubbornness, and his naivete.

[Lisa (Harmonybites) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The style isn't what I'd call strong, and frankly there were a couple of times I considered abandoning reading this--because they style isn't strong and it seemed to be running along predicable lines. It may also have been the fault of a nasty cold that's shot my ability to really concentrate to hell that made it hard to initially connect with the book. Ultimately the book wasn't so predictable though, and in a way that's hinted at before you ever read the first line of the prologue, hinted at in the dedication where Snodgrass calls this an "anti-fantasy" and at the very title.

This is both alternate fantasy and historical fantasy, with a mix of historical figures and fictional characters. The central character is William of Orange, the man who later in life would become half of William and Mary after marrying the future Queen of England. At the start of the book he's days away from his 18th birthday, studying at the feet of the great philosopher Baruch Spinoza and dark forces are gathering that threaten his land, Holland. Magical forces at that, and this is where the book first seems to tread very familiar formulaic territory as William gains companions on a quest to gather magical talismans. And where things begin to veer off the line of history. Ultimately though, I did very much like where Snodgrass went with all this, how she fit all the pieces, and her Prince William is certainly an appealing hero. And after all, this book does what good historical fiction is supposed to do. It makes me want to learn more about the real William of Orange--and the real Baruch Spinoza. (And the glimpses with get of Merry Charles II of England and Louis XIV the "Sun King" of France are intriguing too.)

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Queen's Gambit Declined
by Melinda M. Snodgrass
Melinda Snodgrass has a love of history, her favorite ideas for writing is when she can change history. The history of England has a special place in her heart. William of Orange who was the rightful heir to the throne of Holland. Yes, she is looking into the rise to the throne of Holland of the man who will later invade and take over England. William of Orange as a child was a ward of the powers that be. Although he had the birthright his minority at the death of his father, has made a delay until his 22 birthday of his ascension to the throne. He is content until he finds that he has a magical advisory in this daring story of the nature of evil, and the folly of man. William must learn to balance of love, and hatred, war and peace. He also learns that forgiveness can be the greatest gift above magical objects and power.
The idea of the book is stated best in the author’s own words. “He who lives under the guidance of reason endeavors as much as possible to repay hatred with love and nobleness. He who wishes to avenge injuries by reciprocal hatred will live in misery. Hatred is increased by reciprocated hatred, and, on the country, can be demolished by love.” pg 224 White Magic for the Prince of Orange

[Millerbug · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was ok. The writing style was a little hurky, jerky for me. She skipped from one scene to another and sometimes it would seem like it ran together. It was weird. The story was pretty good, for the most part, I liked the ending. Although the bad guy was a very flat character, only mentioned like four times. It almost seemed like the book would have been written as a screenplay. The story wasn't real typical fantasy.

[Hirondelle (not getting notifications) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting take on historical fantasy - what if there was magic in the past affecting historical events and characters? In this case, the choice is interesting William of Orange as paladin of the forces of good ( very wiccan) against the forces of evil who took over cardinal Mazarin. Reminded me a lot of Judith Tarr´s novels, though I did get some philosophical quibbles about the concept.