The Queen's Gambit

The Stories of Nether and Mandria #4

by Deborah Chester

The throne was her destiny-until Princess Pheresa lost her groom, Mandria's heir, to the dark magic. Now her fate is uncertain. Her enemies are strong. And her only ally is the last man she would ever choose-and the one man she should never love.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Romance, Magic, High Fantasy, Adult

464 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 26, 2002

About the author

The internationally published, award-winning author of 41 novels, Deborah Chester has written Regency romances, historical romances, young adult, science fiction, and fantasy. She is a tenured professor of professional writing in the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma, where she teaches novel and short story writing.
She holds a B.A. with General Honors and an M.A. in Journalism; both degrees are from the University of Oklahoma, where she studied professional writing from author/teachers Jack M. Bickham, Robert L. Duncan, and Pulitzer-nominee Carolyn Hart. Chester has been writing professionally since 1978, and has used three pseudonyms – Jay D. Blakeney and Sean Dalton and C. Aubrey Hall for some of her science fiction and fantasy works.
In 2004, she was inducted into the Writers Hall of Fame of America.

Reviews

[Genna · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I'm kind of torn on this one. The protagonist drove me batty. She's spoiled, selfish, weak and whiny, yet utterly convinced that she deserves to be queen (though, when you compare her with the alternatives, she probably does). That said, she starts to see the error of her ways near the end of the book and makes good steps towards fixing herself and becoming a better person and a much better queen. Character development is a good thing! I approve of women becoming stronger! I'm wary, though, because the change of heart happened so near the end of the book that I didn't get a chance to see if it'd really taken hold and really changed her, or if it was just a passing fancy.

Also, as a disclaimer, I picked this up in a second-hand sale and hadn't realized that this was the fourth book in a series, so I'm not sure what I missed in the first three. It felt like this book stood on its own better than most books-of-series do, (which I greatly appreciated, since the ending, while it left plenty of room for a next book, also didn't leave me hanging). I'm suspicious because it seems to have taken Pheresa nearly four books to stop being a twerp (assuming she was a twerp in the first three, which seems likely based on the recaps). It makes me disinclined to go back and read the ones I missed and suspicious that she will revert to being a twerp in the next one.

Edit: Largely tangential: I'd like to give props to whoever did the cover art. I see so many cover illustrations where it's obvious the artist didn't read the book, but this one absolutely did and did a REALLY good job of depicting a small yet pivotal scene with a beautiful illustration.

[Kelsey Hanson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh. I liked the original series, but I gotta say it's kinda going downhill with this one. One specific gripe that I have about Chester is that she isn't especially good at well-rounded strong female characters. For some reason all of her women characters (even "strong" ones like Alexeika) come across as overemotional inept idiots. And it wouldn't bother me so much except all the male characters are noble and strong or if they are villains at least wickedly cunning. In a way, Game of Thrones has ruined stories like this for me because I find myself longing for a Cersei Lannister or Arya stark character. Not much was working for me in this novel. Pheresa (who I still maintain was a decent character in the first trilogy) is the worst monarch ever and spends most of the novel either trying to convince people to make her queen or screwing up her life. Talmor while not a bad character also seems like a poor stand-in for Faldain. The one upside was that Thum and Dain were in this book... albeit briefly. Since I purchased the last three books I gotta finish this series just for the closure but this wasn't a great start.

[Kitty Foil · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am going to preface this with I have not read the Sword, the Ring or the Chalice, but this book stands up pretty well on its own, even without that context. This book is fantasy in the vein of Tolkein; the society seems to be pretty explicitly based on a medieval Europe, but everything has a weird fantasy name. This is the story of Pheresa, an ambitious woman who aspires to be queen in a society that is so patriarchal that the people plotting against her do not want her to be queen because she is not a man, even if the other candidate doesn't have the temperament, moral compass, or qualifications to be king (remind you of someone?), and at the peril of the entire country. Everybody underestimates her because she is a woman, even the people who like her. Pheresa has character flaws and she has a lot to learn about being queen, but she is not condemned by the author for her ambition. This is a plus, because I think that in another book she could've been the villain, especially if that book were written by a man. The other important character in this book is Talmor. Talmor is in love with Pheresa, but that romance takes a back seat. This courtly love, like in medieval chivalric romances. Talmor expresses his love through nobility and heroism. It is like Guinevere and Lancelot, but with less cuckoldry (and trust me her husband deserved to be cuckolded, but one of Pheresa's character traits is a strong moral compass).

[Lorisha A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging

[Hafiza · Rating 1 out of 5]

TSTL heroine

The first three books in this series were amazing. This book can almost be read as a stand alone.
The heroine is a twit. Stunningly beautiful with blonde hair, she uses her looks as well as childish whiny behavior to become queen. Then suddenly around 95% into the book, she suddenly changes and become brave and noble?!
The hero, Talmor, fell in love with her at first sight after he was stuck dumb by her beauty while rescuing her from a bad guy.
Ugh ..,

[Jake · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read her trilogy of The Sword, the Ring and the Chalice, so I picked up this one, but didn't like it at all. I'm not sure if my tastes changed, or it was the book itself. I also tried her Ruby Throne trilogy, but couldn't even get through the first book.

[Ransom · Rating 3 out of 5]

After The Sword, The Ring, and The Chalice, this book disappointed me. I wanted a great tale about Pheresa, and it seemed like it was fragmented and the ending wrapped up too easily.

This book wasn't on par with the rest of Chester's work.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book. Get to see what happened to Pheresa after the events in The Chalice.

[S.A. Parham · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the storyline had great potential, and I liked the lead male character, the main character (female) was just too passive for me to want her to succeed. A good story, but not memorable.

[Jakob Barnard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review will be posted on epicplains.com later this month.

[Natasha DeLeon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not like this book. It was very hard to finish and the lead female was a huge cry baby not like a queen at all.