The Poisoned Crown

The Sangreal Trilogy #3

by Amanda Hemingway

Nathan Ward’s unique ability to enter his dreams and parallel worlds has followed him into adolescence. With Nathan’s growing maturity comes a deeper understanding of his mission; he must stop an insidious and pervasive evil. Queen Nefufar’s dark power is growing. In the strange world Nathan visits, land is a distant memory, save for the rumored islands and melting ice caps. The queen’s dream of extinguishing the lungbreathers, including man, and ruling over a watery kingdom of cold-blooded creatures is in reach.

Meanwhile, in another dimension, on Earth, there are rumblings of doom. Nathan senses a shift in the atmosphere, and the wizard of the Cosmos broods over the imbalance. There is one chance for Nathan must capture the third Grail relic, a poisoned iron crown that Nefufar keeps locked beneath the ocean in a chamber of air. But how can a mere boy make his way millions of miles down into the boiling, watery depths and capture the crown from a ferocious seadragon?

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Science Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Fiction

374 pages, Paperback

First published November 6, 2006

About the author

She has also written under the pseudonyms of Jan Siegel, and Jemma Harvey.

Reviews

[Juan Sanmiguel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nathan Ward must secure the last artifact, a poisoned iron crown. His dreams take him to a world almost covered entirely in water. In this world there are tensions between the air breathers and the water breathing mer-folk. They are both dominated by a queen who has hidden the crown. Nathan has to face threats from all sides since he is close to securing the crown. Can Nathan, with the help of his family and friends, get it together and save the multiverse? This is the last of The Sangreal Trilogy and a good end to. It follows the traditional heroes tale. Good development for all the characters especially for Nathan, his mother Annie, and his friend Hazel. Each come into their own and contribute solving of the big problem. Hope to see more from Ms. Hemingway.

[Beverly Fuqua · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series went steadily downhill from the first to last book. All authors should be required to have finished a series before the first book is published, because too many of them seem to lose interest (or something), and by the time the series is finished they're just phoning it in. Could not wait for this book to end, I did tough it out and finish, that's the only reason I gave it a 2. In my rating system the only books I give a 1 are those that are just too bad to keep reading. I wanted to see how this story ended, but by the time it did I didn't really care.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘In summer, magic is all sparkle and fun, and the spirits come to us dressed in their best, scattering smiles and flowers. In the winter, you get down to the bone, and the true nature of things is revealed.’ [p. 19]

The culmination of the Sangreal trilogy, in which Nathan's dreams take him to the landless world of Widewater in search of the eponymous crown. He's fifteen now, hoping to help the Grandir -- ruler of Eos, the last bastion of life in a dying cosmos -- perform the Great Spell to save his universe. Readers may have realised, as Nathan has not, that Nathan has not been randomly selected for this role.

Widewater is ruled by the goddess Nefanu, a water deity who hates air-breathing, warm-blooded life: she has engineered a war between the selkies and the merfolk, and Nathan -- with the help of a rebellious mermaid aristocrat and a brave, grieving albatross, must somehow negotiate his way through Nefanu's watery lair to the air-filled cavern which houses the final treasure. This isn't helped by his recent near-drowning experience, or his conflict with the smaller-scale, yet still antagonistic, water-spirit Nenufar.

Meanwhile in the village, Riverside House has been sold: the new owner is fascinated by Nathan's mother Annie, who experienced some unpleasant moments there. Turns out there's a leak somewhere, for the floor in one room is always wet ... Hazel, Nathan's best friend, is still experimenting with witchcraft, and still convinced that the Grandir is a supervillain. ... Bartlemy is questioning spirits about Nathan's destiny, but the answers he receives are incomplete: though that doesn't stop him guiding others in the ways of divination ... and Inspector Pobjoy, having elicited various accounts from Nathan, Hazel, Annie and Bartlemy, thinks they are all 'on Planet Zog'.

One can sympathise.

This novel felt somewhat unbalanced: the scenes on Widewater felt more climactic, more vivid, than the actual denouement of the series, which takes place on the ominously-named Scarbarrow Hill. There were some fairly adult scenes here, too, including a vial of milky fluid brandished by a man saying his seed is precious and he needs it; a foul-mouthed witch whose broken Franglais is parodically exaggerated; Annie's disclosure of Nathan's parentage, and his (typically teenaged) response; and, right at the beginning, the lingering death of a pleasant character.

I was hoping for more about Bartlemy, but apart from vague hints at his history there's no real revelation. Perhaps I need to read the author's other trilogy, beginning with Prospero's Children?

Overall, the Sangreal trilogy was an entertaining and engaging reading experience, with some unexpected twists and some satisfyingly predictable ones: but I did feel that The Poisoned Crown was less well-paced than the other two books in the series.

[Anne Hamilton · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wasn't expecting much of this story after The Traitor's Sword, but even so, it was disappointing. I didn't like any of the novels Hemingway wrote under the pseudonym Jan Siegel but I thought The Greenstone Grail was a promising start to this series.

I find it very perplexing that I don't like the Sangreal series because it has all the elements for a truly fabulous story. In fact, I found myself thinking half-way through, 'I'm not really enjoying this and I should be.'

That's the degree to which I wasn't engaged in the story. After some thought, I've decided the problem is that I'm the sort of reader who likes to get inside the story, to walk in the characters' shoes and follow the action from their point of view. Yep, I have no shame and will happily admit to the crime of naïve identification mentioned by Orson Scott Card.

Fact is, I like to be involved as a participant, not an observer.

However, I just can't find an 'in' to Hemingway's stories and I'm not sure why. I can't figure the reason I'm always outside, always an observer.

The characters I liked most (Bartlemy) and Kal (a newcomer, all too briefly present in this final novel) disappear in an unsatisfying way. Bartlemy's letter when he vanishes at the end of the book epitomises the problem for me: the character could have said goodbye, rather than send a letter. After all, he's been Nathan's guardian for fifteen years.

The emotional detachment this episode signifies seem to pervade not only the entire book but the author's attitude to her characters.

I suspect I didn't get engaged with the characters because, at some level, the author isn't really engaged with them. The aloof quality that is the hallmark of the Grandir throughout this trilogy seems to have permeated most of this final story to a massive degree.

What should have been a fantastic book was pretty mediocre, really. The plot was entirely predictable, the authorial comments intrusive (and will, I suspect, in a few years' time look quite patronising) and the point of view wasn't consistent.

And I initially wrote this review way back when I hardly knew what point of view was - so, to pick up on it, it must have been bad. I was disappointed greatly because I really wanted to like this series and hoped the final volume would turn it around.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the final book in the Sangreal Trilogy (which my library had to interlibrary loan from Parma, Ohio). I enjoyed all three books--compelling characters, interesting story. In this genre (sci fi -- fantasy continuum) I think it would be difficult for any current author to avoid borrowing themes from previous books. What makes this one interesting is what she does with it--the protagonist can travel from universe to universe to fulfill a prophecy (fantasy), but one of the central universes is very reminiscent of Dune. Even with this borrowing or acknowledgment of other works, the author's characters and their relationships make it well worth reading.

[Silvio Curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the way through this is similar to the previous books - looking for the last of the three enchanted objects in the universe where it was hidden. That plot ends about four-fifths of the way through and the remaining fifth is the ending for the series as a whole. That ending has more surprises for the characters than it does for readers but plenty of suspense from any perspective.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always sad to come to the end of a good trilogy...this was one of my favorite recent fantasy trilogies.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent conclusion to the trilogy with some interesting twists. The main characters were well developed, realistic and likeable.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Third book in the trilogy. The story wraps up nicely in this last book.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the first one, and the sequel, but I thought the 3rd one was a weak ending for such a great buildup

[JJ DeBenedictis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very strong finish to an excellent series. I really enjoyed the writing, the characters, and the story. I'm so glad I happened upon these books!

[Shalini · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was totally awesome!!

[Heather S · Rating 5 out of 5]

This ends so well. I dont want to spoil anything but I found the ending mostly unpredictable and satisfying.