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The Queen's Assassin
Naida is living a lie.
A peerless battlefield surgeon. A talisman for the army. A symbol of hope in an impossible, grinding war.
A fraud.
Society, led by the queen, has long held that the Esselrode people and their abilities are inherently, irredeemably evil, a truth which Naida has been brought up to believe. But as one of them, feeling compelled to use her powers again and again to heal those on the brink of death, it's hard to accept. It's even harder to live a lie, conflicted about her hidden identity, when the truth could save lives.
Taken from the battlefield where she thrives to a court where her life hangs ever more precariously in the balance, Naida is about to learn that there are even greater secrets, and conspiracies, afoot . . . and that her dangerous truth could change the course of a nation . . .
James Barclay is back with a brand-new standalone adventure which will tug on your heartstrings and keep you glued to your seat. James is truly a fantasy great, and this new novel will satisfy all fans of the genre.
A peerless battlefield surgeon. A talisman for the army. A symbol of hope in an impossible, grinding war.
A fraud.
Society, led by the queen, has long held that the Esselrode people and their abilities are inherently, irredeemably evil, a truth which Naida has been brought up to believe. But as one of them, feeling compelled to use her powers again and again to heal those on the brink of death, it's hard to accept. It's even harder to live a lie, conflicted about her hidden identity, when the truth could save lives.
Taken from the battlefield where she thrives to a court where her life hangs ever more precariously in the balance, Naida is about to learn that there are even greater secrets, and conspiracies, afoot . . . and that her dangerous truth could change the course of a nation . . .
James Barclay is back with a brand-new standalone adventure which will tug on your heartstrings and keep you glued to your seat. James is truly a fantasy great, and this new novel will satisfy all fans of the genre.
464 pages, Hardcover
First published June 9, 2022
15 people are currently reading
516 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
September 20, 2024
It's been a long time since I've read any James Barclay, and with this one, I was right at home from the off. The writing flows really well and there's a compelling bunch of characters to follow. The single POV character, Naida, was quite an interesting proposition, and I thought she was written well, with some lovely one-liners to add a touch of humour to the book, too.
I've seen plenty of books where magic is outlawed, but not many of them deal with the early stages of this forbiddance and the reasons for it - although, of course, you'll have to wait for the end to find out what the real reason is here. I liked this element and the way it was portrayed, and I liked finding out how and why everything had been manipulated to lead us to this precipice.
What I didn't like so much was the abrupt ending. Once everything had been resolved, the book just ended. There was no falling action to speak of, there wasn't even a scene change. Given the twists and the excitement around the reveal, I thought this sudden ending was a bit of a let down.
In terms of the reveal, I would say there were two key parts, one of which was reasonably obvious from the moment a certain tidbit of information was brought up some chapters earlier. The other part, I think was actually well hidden, but brought everything into perfect clarity once we knew it. This worked really well for me, as it served to tie up the loose ends of the plot quite nicely.
I've seen plenty of books where magic is outlawed, but not many of them deal with the early stages of this forbiddance and the reasons for it - although, of course, you'll have to wait for the end to find out what the real reason is here. I liked this element and the way it was portrayed, and I liked finding out how and why everything had been manipulated to lead us to this precipice.
What I didn't like so much was the abrupt ending. Once everything had been resolved, the book just ended. There was no falling action to speak of, there wasn't even a scene change. Given the twists and the excitement around the reveal, I thought this sudden ending was a bit of a let down.
In terms of the reveal, I would say there were two key parts, one of which was reasonably obvious from the moment a certain tidbit of information was brought up some chapters earlier. The other part, I think was actually well hidden, but brought everything into perfect clarity once we knew it. This worked really well for me, as it served to tie up the loose ends of the plot quite nicely.
September 24, 2022
Nonsensical plot start to reinstate the secret rightful dynasty - 1.5 (out of spite)/ 5
Not gonna lie, I want to give it a 1 because I hate it. But its not on the level of 50 Shades hate so The Queen's Assassin is just lucky.
(After completing this rant, I changed my mind = 1/5)
Premise
Naida is a combat surgeon in the frontlines of an ongoing war. Wherever on the battlefield, those around her are immediately taken by her presence, uplifting them to fight even harder.
Narrative style
Third person limited but... it felt personal at times. Maybe its me but there are moments where I felt the narrator was being more of conveyer of Naida's thoughts or sprinkled in their own "comments".
Weirdly enough, we followed Naida the entire time until the last 50 pages. There is a "final" battle where Naida runs off to seek the aid of the queen and leaves Elias to fight Herron. The author felt the need to add a second POV in the last pages?! It was maybe 3 or 4 paragraphs sprinkled in between Naida's, each about 10 to 20 lines of Elias and his fight with Herron. It was weird and it put me off. I love multi POVs but this entire book was with Nadia. Why switch in the last pages to give you A fight/ event through the eyes of someone else? What made this section so important that it needed to be illustrated? Its just... no....
SPOILERS// SPOILERS// SPOILERS
1) Naida is sent to assassinate the queen under her cover as the new royal chief medical doctor - love the idea. But Naida feel into those optimistic protagonists that will go against the person that is setting them up. Naida goes against the Lord Marshal who "hired" her to do a job - an assassination. And she decides to befriend the queen for the betterment of queen, Naida, and her interests in healing others. But she's terrified she'll be exposed. So she keeps digging in the royal secrets instead of killing the queen like orders.
** A maximum of 2 weeks is the timeline from start to finish
Ludeney keeps telling her that she needs to do this or she'll get exposed, does nothing to have her fear him or his threat except opening his mouth and taunt her. And least they had a positive conversation over lunch in regards to medical care in the city.
** Thought process in my head after reading that chapter **
- Ludeney: You have failed me. She should be dead already.
- Naida: I've only been here for two days. I need to establish my presence and I rather get drunk with the queen and picky swear with her than kill her, I wanna be besties with her.
- Ludeney: You're playing around. Do you know how important this is? She is evil and she has a plan to destroy us all. Kill her.
- Naida: No! I am a doctor and I save people and I will save her!! We need her.
- Ludeney: She is playing you. You will see.
- Naida: You don't know here. You just want the throne and want to use me!!!
- Ludeney: She is using you. Kill her before its too late.
- Naida: Never!!!
- Ludeney: I will tell her who you are if you dont.
- Naida: You wont but let me dare you because its a smart move.
- Ludeney: Fine...
- Naida: So I know I'm like suppose to kill the queen for you but I need help.
- Ludeney: Im listening...
- Naida: You want me to kill her but we really need to look at our public healthcare system. Time out on you threatening me and me not doing the job I am suppose to do or Ill get the fire pyre?
- Ludeney: I would love to look into this. Wait wait. Let me get the servants to get us a good lunch so we can discuss this.
- Naida: I am so glad we can talk like this 😄
I've saved you from reading an entire chapter. You're welcome.
2) The completely useless plot and threat of denouncing Naida's true identity
Lord Marshal Ludeney arrives to where the current camp is set up to pick up the legendary battle surgeon only to find out it was actually "Naida", a person with a talent whom he hunted for 14 years. He uses this opportunity threatening to expose her secret if she does not comply and kill the queen. So she goes to the capital to "complete" the mission.
The problem I have here is that Ludeney after finding out it was Naida, threatens her, has spies on her, and his masterplan was to install the rightful rulers back on top (because that will fix the problem). Since her parents are dead, the rightful ruler by default is Naida. Do you understand where I am going here? The entire threat Ludeney dispensed on Naida was a lie. He was never going to kill or reveal her identity because he wanted her to be his new queen. But he remained ambiguous about his plan telling her during the story that he was looking to put the rightful rulers and it wasn't something she should worry about because he had his way AKA he already had something in mind.
This, in my opinion, is an overly complicated plot that makes no sense. Its not even a good bluff by Ludeney or the author. It was nonsensical.
And there was no deeper meaning to this. Ludeney was not testing Naida to see if she was going to be a morally, ethical person. None of that! He just wanted her to kill the queen and then tell her she was going to become queen. Also this is just me saying but I really doubt he didn't know the miracle surgeon wasn't Naida - I mean her personally hand picked this individual for the job before even leaving the capital (so he already knew this particular person was hired to kill a royal). I think he was just preparing all his ducks in a row before cornering her with his bad bluff. I mean.. he hunted her for at least a decade after her parents died. It wasn't to kill her, it was to groom her to become his queen without telling her right? She just.. evaded him...
3) Ludeney's people are telling Naida in some cryptically useless way that the queen is a bad person. 450 pages and all you get from them is "you don't know her. She's a bad person." Yeah... fun...
Basically, the author made an overly complicated plot with a bad threat to simply get the protagonist to get to their final destination - the throne. How this story would have gone better?
a) Ludeney could have come clean the moment he meet with Naida.
"Naida, I know you hate me and your family is dead but .. you're a member of the royal family that use to rule the land before this dynasty took over. For the good of the people, how about we help each other out? Also the queen is two faced b*tch and will stab you the moment an opportunity presents itself. I know she has genocidal plans for those that share the same talents as you and I want for us to team up and put an end to this"
b) Everyone that tells her the queen is bad juju, actually give her examples of the bad things she does in the dark. "She's bad, I just need to tell you she is evil. Spare yourself the embarrassment and kill her. You'll find out soon enough how evil this woman is. You'll see." Took 400+ pages. (I like surprises but this wasn't a surprise, it was annoying...)
4) Secret royals
I loath this type of storytelling. Naida was unaware of her royal lineage and that her family/ dynasty were the original rulers before talents became "evil" and Eva's dynasty took over.
The red alert started going off when our narrator kept telling us how before the current dynasty, a talent dynasty use to rule with nature and gods instead of fanatical pessimistic crazies of the strong will survive and the weak will die (AKA nature will take it course fanatical purity version though).
Then you get the bit where her parents kept quiet and didn't try to defend themselves when they were charged, tortured for "starting" a plague. And they were holding on to this big secret. Oh no! (I wish Naida was adopted or we got a "Luke, I am your father" moment, not this.)
Of course Ludeney knew, but you know, plot stupidities. With a side of "Don't worry your pretty little head Naida, just kill her. We already have plans for the new and rightful ruler but Ill keep you in the dark).
5) Her identity revealed
From the first chapter, it is narrated in excess how:
- No one knows who she really is
- If they did, she would be be dead after all she is the most wanted criminal in the world (she keeps telling herself scenarios in a way of what would happen, how people would react.)
- She fears for her life every waking moment (yet she goes against Ludeney's orders, don't ask me.)
She ends up revealing her talent to her girlfriend first, like 350+ pages in. And then reveals her identity. Then in the next 50 pages she does the same for her army entourage. People are a bit angry for the deceit but they follow her regardless. Since she was a lifesaver in the army, they just went along with it.
Now before anyone lynches me for being too dark or cynical, you need to understand why I am criticizing it. The entirety of this book is Naida being afraid (and reminding you) that she is in hiding, that she thinks/ believes she will be betrayed because of who and what she is. And when it is revealed to all around her, no one goes beyond the "you didn't tell me/ you lied to us how could you" which turned to "well... you did save a bunch of our own so its fine and you are still the same person".
This sense of turmoil, distress, pain, fear, doubt and hopelessness is completely lost in that moment. Its as if the author simply wrote that acceptance is easier than you think. Oh and all of that was digested in like 1 hour of the book's timeline. This whole story timeline is like... a few days (half the book = 3 days.)
"The Queen's Assassin"
So... who's the queen and who's the assassin in this title huh?
The Queen/ Eva, The Assassin/ Naida
The Queen/ Naida, The Assassin/ Eva (and her people)
The Queen/ Naida's mother (not that she makes an appearance or anything but she was murdered by Eva's tactics), The Assassin/ Eva and her people.
The title can give you a little to think about...
Good premise. That's it.
I gained nothing from this reading. Maybe others will find it better, I just point out things that makes absolutely no sense or are trope-like to say the least because I expect better. This is valuable time I would like back including me writing all this.
Not gonna lie, I want to give it a 1 because I hate it. But its not on the level of 50 Shades hate so The Queen's Assassin is just lucky.
(After completing this rant, I changed my mind = 1/5)
Premise
Naida is a combat surgeon in the frontlines of an ongoing war. Wherever on the battlefield, those around her are immediately taken by her presence, uplifting them to fight even harder.
Narrative style
Third person limited but... it felt personal at times. Maybe its me but there are moments where I felt the narrator was being more of conveyer of Naida's thoughts or sprinkled in their own "comments".
Weirdly enough, we followed Naida the entire time until the last 50 pages. There is a "final" battle where Naida runs off to seek the aid of the queen and leaves Elias to fight Herron. The author felt the need to add a second POV in the last pages?! It was maybe 3 or 4 paragraphs sprinkled in between Naida's, each about 10 to 20 lines of Elias and his fight with Herron. It was weird and it put me off. I love multi POVs but this entire book was with Nadia. Why switch in the last pages to give you A fight/ event through the eyes of someone else? What made this section so important that it needed to be illustrated? Its just... no....
SPOILERS// SPOILERS// SPOILERS
1) Naida is sent to assassinate the queen under her cover as the new royal chief medical doctor - love the idea. But Naida feel into those optimistic protagonists that will go against the person that is setting them up. Naida goes against the Lord Marshal who "hired" her to do a job - an assassination. And she decides to befriend the queen for the betterment of queen, Naida, and her interests in healing others. But she's terrified she'll be exposed. So she keeps digging in the royal secrets instead of killing the queen like orders.
** A maximum of 2 weeks is the timeline from start to finish
Ludeney keeps telling her that she needs to do this or she'll get exposed, does nothing to have her fear him or his threat except opening his mouth and taunt her. And least they had a positive conversation over lunch in regards to medical care in the city.
** Thought process in my head after reading that chapter **
- Ludeney: You have failed me. She should be dead already.
- Naida: I've only been here for two days. I need to establish my presence and I rather get drunk with the queen and picky swear with her than kill her, I wanna be besties with her.
- Ludeney: You're playing around. Do you know how important this is? She is evil and she has a plan to destroy us all. Kill her.
- Naida: No! I am a doctor and I save people and I will save her!! We need her.
- Ludeney: She is playing you. You will see.
- Naida: You don't know here. You just want the throne and want to use me!!!
- Ludeney: She is using you. Kill her before its too late.
- Naida: Never!!!
- Ludeney: I will tell her who you are if you dont.
- Naida: You wont but let me dare you because its a smart move.
- Ludeney: Fine...
- Naida: So I know I'm like suppose to kill the queen for you but I need help.
- Ludeney: Im listening...
- Naida: You want me to kill her but we really need to look at our public healthcare system. Time out on you threatening me and me not doing the job I am suppose to do or Ill get the fire pyre?
- Ludeney: I would love to look into this. Wait wait. Let me get the servants to get us a good lunch so we can discuss this.
- Naida: I am so glad we can talk like this 😄
I've saved you from reading an entire chapter. You're welcome.
2) The completely useless plot and threat of denouncing Naida's true identity
Lord Marshal Ludeney arrives to where the current camp is set up to pick up the legendary battle surgeon only to find out it was actually "Naida", a person with a talent whom he hunted for 14 years. He uses this opportunity threatening to expose her secret if she does not comply and kill the queen. So she goes to the capital to "complete" the mission.
The problem I have here is that Ludeney after finding out it was Naida, threatens her, has spies on her, and his masterplan was to install the rightful rulers back on top (because that will fix the problem). Since her parents are dead, the rightful ruler by default is Naida. Do you understand where I am going here? The entire threat Ludeney dispensed on Naida was a lie. He was never going to kill or reveal her identity because he wanted her to be his new queen. But he remained ambiguous about his plan telling her during the story that he was looking to put the rightful rulers and it wasn't something she should worry about because he had his way AKA he already had something in mind.
This, in my opinion, is an overly complicated plot that makes no sense. Its not even a good bluff by Ludeney or the author. It was nonsensical.
And there was no deeper meaning to this. Ludeney was not testing Naida to see if she was going to be a morally, ethical person. None of that! He just wanted her to kill the queen and then tell her she was going to become queen. Also this is just me saying but I really doubt he didn't know the miracle surgeon wasn't Naida - I mean her personally hand picked this individual for the job before even leaving the capital (so he already knew this particular person was hired to kill a royal). I think he was just preparing all his ducks in a row before cornering her with his bad bluff. I mean.. he hunted her for at least a decade after her parents died. It wasn't to kill her, it was to groom her to become his queen without telling her right? She just.. evaded him...
3) Ludeney's people are telling Naida in some cryptically useless way that the queen is a bad person. 450 pages and all you get from them is "you don't know her. She's a bad person." Yeah... fun...
Basically, the author made an overly complicated plot with a bad threat to simply get the protagonist to get to their final destination - the throne. How this story would have gone better?
a) Ludeney could have come clean the moment he meet with Naida.
"Naida, I know you hate me and your family is dead but .. you're a member of the royal family that use to rule the land before this dynasty took over. For the good of the people, how about we help each other out? Also the queen is two faced b*tch and will stab you the moment an opportunity presents itself. I know she has genocidal plans for those that share the same talents as you and I want for us to team up and put an end to this"
b) Everyone that tells her the queen is bad juju, actually give her examples of the bad things she does in the dark. "She's bad, I just need to tell you she is evil. Spare yourself the embarrassment and kill her. You'll find out soon enough how evil this woman is. You'll see." Took 400+ pages. (I like surprises but this wasn't a surprise, it was annoying...)
4) Secret royals
I loath this type of storytelling. Naida was unaware of her royal lineage and that her family/ dynasty were the original rulers before talents became "evil" and Eva's dynasty took over.
The red alert started going off when our narrator kept telling us how before the current dynasty, a talent dynasty use to rule with nature and gods instead of fanatical pessimistic crazies of the strong will survive and the weak will die (AKA nature will take it course fanatical purity version though).
Then you get the bit where her parents kept quiet and didn't try to defend themselves when they were charged, tortured for "starting" a plague. And they were holding on to this big secret. Oh no! (I wish Naida was adopted or we got a "Luke, I am your father" moment, not this.)
Of course Ludeney knew, but you know, plot stupidities. With a side of "Don't worry your pretty little head Naida, just kill her. We already have plans for the new and rightful ruler but Ill keep you in the dark).
5) Her identity revealed
From the first chapter, it is narrated in excess how:
- No one knows who she really is
- If they did, she would be be dead after all she is the most wanted criminal in the world (she keeps telling herself scenarios in a way of what would happen, how people would react.)
- She fears for her life every waking moment (yet she goes against Ludeney's orders, don't ask me.)
She ends up revealing her talent to her girlfriend first, like 350+ pages in. And then reveals her identity. Then in the next 50 pages she does the same for her army entourage. People are a bit angry for the deceit but they follow her regardless. Since she was a lifesaver in the army, they just went along with it.
Now before anyone lynches me for being too dark or cynical, you need to understand why I am criticizing it. The entirety of this book is Naida being afraid (and reminding you) that she is in hiding, that she thinks/ believes she will be betrayed because of who and what she is. And when it is revealed to all around her, no one goes beyond the "you didn't tell me/ you lied to us how could you" which turned to "well... you did save a bunch of our own so its fine and you are still the same person".
This sense of turmoil, distress, pain, fear, doubt and hopelessness is completely lost in that moment. Its as if the author simply wrote that acceptance is easier than you think. Oh and all of that was digested in like 1 hour of the book's timeline. This whole story timeline is like... a few days (half the book = 3 days.)
"The Queen's Assassin"
So... who's the queen and who's the assassin in this title huh?
The Queen/ Eva, The Assassin/ Naida
The Queen/ Naida, The Assassin/ Eva (and her people)
The Queen/ Naida's mother (not that she makes an appearance or anything but she was murdered by Eva's tactics), The Assassin/ Eva and her people.
The title can give you a little to think about...
Good premise. That's it.
I gained nothing from this reading. Maybe others will find it better, I just point out things that makes absolutely no sense or are trope-like to say the least because I expect better. This is valuable time I would like back including me writing all this.
August 1, 2024
The first 375 pages of this book were hard to get through. The last hundred or so pages actually made me interested in the story. Take that how you will.
June 19, 2023
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬 & 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬: Adult fantasy, court and political conspiracy, medical conspiracy, plague, healing magic, secrecy, battle field surgeon, sapphic relationship
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:⭐️⭐️⭐️/ ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟
𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
The Queen’s Assassin was a decent and classical adult fantasy novel.
Our main character Naida is a rough, straightforward battlefield surgeon who gets rewarded with the position of the Queen’s personal doctor after heroically contributing to the victory of the queens army at the main battle front. Whilst this storyline ended up being a little bit foreseeable (“our badass battlefield surgeon gets thrown into court, where she doesn’t fit in and upsets the natural flow of court life and everyone gossips”), I really liked Naida as a character, especially when it came to her loyalty to her army friends and passion for her profession. I was also really surprised to discover that Naida was sapphic, which I absolutely did not expect when buying this book. Along with that, Queen Eva was an interesting character as well and reminded me a TINY, TINY, TINY little bit of Sabran.
My favourite element of this book however ended up being the palace itself, which had an unique architectural style and history. (The castle has towers built and added for every monarch of the last 400 years and each tower was build in the design and style of the time period. )
Nevertheless, whilst this book did have an interesting and promising plot surrounding a plague, a medical conspiracy and fittingly featured healing magic, both the story and characters felt a little bit two dimensional. The author also kind of abandoned a structural part of the story as well as one characters main motive and personality trait, which was a bit lacklustre. It also genuinely irritated me that the entire story supposedly took place over the course of just one week, which was odd since I got the impression that a significantly longer period of time had passed whilst reading the actual story. There were also a surprising number of missing words and missing blank spaces to be found throughout the entire book.
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:⭐️⭐️⭐️/ ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟
𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
The Queen’s Assassin was a decent and classical adult fantasy novel.
Our main character Naida is a rough, straightforward battlefield surgeon who gets rewarded with the position of the Queen’s personal doctor after heroically contributing to the victory of the queens army at the main battle front. Whilst this storyline ended up being a little bit foreseeable (“our badass battlefield surgeon gets thrown into court, where she doesn’t fit in and upsets the natural flow of court life and everyone gossips”), I really liked Naida as a character, especially when it came to her loyalty to her army friends and passion for her profession. I was also really surprised to discover that Naida was sapphic, which I absolutely did not expect when buying this book. Along with that, Queen Eva was an interesting character as well and reminded me a TINY, TINY, TINY little bit of Sabran.
My favourite element of this book however ended up being the palace itself, which had an unique architectural style and history. (The castle has towers built and added for every monarch of the last 400 years and each tower was build in the design and style of the time period. )
Nevertheless, whilst this book did have an interesting and promising plot surrounding a plague, a medical conspiracy and fittingly featured healing magic, both the story and characters felt a little bit two dimensional. The author also kind of abandoned a structural part of the story as well as one characters main motive and personality trait, which was a bit lacklustre. It also genuinely irritated me that the entire story supposedly took place over the course of just one week, which was odd since I got the impression that a significantly longer period of time had passed whilst reading the actual story. There were also a surprising number of missing words and missing blank spaces to be found throughout the entire book.
July 7, 2025
The dialogue of this book is brilliant and the main character has some v funny retorts. The overall plot was good although the ending was quite predictable. I felt certain parts, especially the characters’ friendship/political/friendship dynamics were quite rushed so I didn’t feel super connected with them. Reading this book from a post Covid-19 perspective made it much more interesting and relatable- the distrust of the gifted very much mirrors anti-vax sentiments. I think the overall themes of how power influences public thought through illusions of agency were addressed well but the core characters and their stories weren’t tackled as thoroughly as I personally tend to enjoy in books but maybe that’s just personal taste 🤷♀️
July 26, 2023
- 3.5 stars -
- Healing magic
- Hidden identity
- Standalone
- Political conspiracy
- Third pov
- Queer - F|F
Naida, a battlefield surgeon, is suddenly appointed as the queens personal doctor and sent to the palace. When she gets there she uncovers political agendas to get rid of the gifted as a means of increasing profit, and fights to right these wrongs all while trying to keep her own secrets.
You might be like me when you first see this book and see the word “assassin” and immediately pick it up thinking you’ll get a badass female assassin. However, this book subverts that in a sense as it’s very political - Naida wields her new position as the queens doctor to uncover the truth about conspiracy going on currently in the capital to try to stop a plague.
The timeline also only takes place over about a week, which is a bit unrealistic, and feels really rushed by the end.
The characters generally aren’t as fleshed out as they could be, with only Naida really being the focus of the book. For instance, people warn Naida of the queen and how she’s putting up a front but we don’t see any expansion as such on the why and how. The plot twists were also relatively easy to guess, although they made for an entertaining story.
- Healing magic
- Hidden identity
- Standalone
- Political conspiracy
- Third pov
- Queer - F|F
Naida, a battlefield surgeon, is suddenly appointed as the queens personal doctor and sent to the palace. When she gets there she uncovers political agendas to get rid of the gifted as a means of increasing profit, and fights to right these wrongs all while trying to keep her own secrets.
You might be like me when you first see this book and see the word “assassin” and immediately pick it up thinking you’ll get a badass female assassin. However, this book subverts that in a sense as it’s very political - Naida wields her new position as the queens doctor to uncover the truth about conspiracy going on currently in the capital to try to stop a plague.
The timeline also only takes place over about a week, which is a bit unrealistic, and feels really rushed by the end.
The characters generally aren’t as fleshed out as they could be, with only Naida really being the focus of the book. For instance, people warn Naida of the queen and how she’s putting up a front but we don’t see any expansion as such on the why and how. The plot twists were also relatively easy to guess, although they made for an entertaining story.
August 4, 2022
A rare thing in the fantasy genre - a standalone novel.
The Queen's Assassin is quite a departure from James Barclay's action-heavy Raven series. I would describe it more like a conspiracy thriller, although we did get to see Barclay's flair for describing combat.
It is a thrilling read. My main criticisms are that most of the characters aren't massively well fleshed out, the protagonist is very much the focus. The ending feels very sudden, but I guess much like thriller movies - the aftermath isn't really the focus here.
Overall, it was fun to read this sort of story in a fantasy setting. Barclay makes it clear the first draft was completed in 2019, but the events of the book definitely hit home in our current political and social climate.
The Queen's Assassin is quite a departure from James Barclay's action-heavy Raven series. I would describe it more like a conspiracy thriller, although we did get to see Barclay's flair for describing combat.
It is a thrilling read. My main criticisms are that most of the characters aren't massively well fleshed out, the protagonist is very much the focus. The ending feels very sudden, but I guess much like thriller movies - the aftermath isn't really the focus here.
Overall, it was fun to read this sort of story in a fantasy setting. Barclay makes it clear the first draft was completed in 2019, but the events of the book definitely hit home in our current political and social climate.
December 17, 2023
Yay more Barclay
With every book, Barclay improves. This ibe doesn't have all the battle tactics of earlier works, he's leaned instead into the political intrigue which has always been part of his stories and brought it to the fore.
His great skills is, as always, in writing characters that leap off the page and weaving the story around them. I never fail to find myself gripped right away, and not many authors can manage that quite so consistently.
Also, I enjoy that as he gains in strength, his own leanings become more confidently written. Nobody reading a Barclay book needs to wonder where he might stand on human rights (i e. people deserve to have them). Given where we are these days, it's nice to read someone I know would stand on my side.
With every book, Barclay improves. This ibe doesn't have all the battle tactics of earlier works, he's leaned instead into the political intrigue which has always been part of his stories and brought it to the fore.
His great skills is, as always, in writing characters that leap off the page and weaving the story around them. I never fail to find myself gripped right away, and not many authors can manage that quite so consistently.
Also, I enjoy that as he gains in strength, his own leanings become more confidently written. Nobody reading a Barclay book needs to wonder where he might stand on human rights (i e. people deserve to have them). Given where we are these days, it's nice to read someone I know would stand on my side.
June 9, 2022
Feels like there’s too a big a gap between Barclay books, which makes it all the more special when the new one comes along, and The Queen’s Assassin doesn’t disappoint.
Meet Naida, battle surgeon and a medic gifted in secrets as well as genius. When she’s taken from the war and thrust into a new life as the Queen’s doctor, she learns that being famous and favoured in the royal court can be twice as deadly as any battlefield.
Barclay nails it again with an engrossing adventure, intricately plotted, wonderful characters and world building - just great fantasy fun. The Queen’s Assassin ticks all the right boxes.
Meet Naida, battle surgeon and a medic gifted in secrets as well as genius. When she’s taken from the war and thrust into a new life as the Queen’s doctor, she learns that being famous and favoured in the royal court can be twice as deadly as any battlefield.
Barclay nails it again with an engrossing adventure, intricately plotted, wonderful characters and world building - just great fantasy fun. The Queen’s Assassin ticks all the right boxes.
September 4, 2024
It was an amazing and refreshing read. The plot slowly unravelled, like an elegant game of chess where every move of the main character would bring the reader a new perspective, but not the solution of the conflict.
The female main character is well-written, and while she does have the Talent, that doesn't mean she will succeed in everything she wants to do, and with each step, she receives the help of her friends.
Contrary to what the book's description said, I didn't find myself staying on the edge of my seat. However, I did feel like I was sipping a nice cup of wine and savouring it.
@booksommelierxiii
The female main character is well-written, and while she does have the Talent, that doesn't mean she will succeed in everything she wants to do, and with each step, she receives the help of her friends.
Contrary to what the book's description said, I didn't find myself staying on the edge of my seat. However, I did feel like I was sipping a nice cup of wine and savouring it.
@booksommelierxiii
June 4, 2025
I loved this! It saddens me that I will never get to experience reading this book for the first time again. It was interesting all the way through and with an ending, I 100% appreciated. Well done James 👏
August 22, 2025
Not bad, the premise was decent and it was an enjoyable enough read but I wouldn't say it was an exceptional fantasy. The characters aside from Naida lacked development and the world-building was quite thin.
October 13, 2025
The first half had me asking more and more questions wondering how it was going to end. Loved reading a well written book that wasnt part of a longer series, and it ended nicley (however a bit predictable).
August 29, 2022
I enjoyed this book and the world but the end was very rushed. It feels weird to say "This stand-alone fantasy book should have been longer or perhaps a two-parter" and yet...
November 16, 2024
Thiis story was about Nadia, a battlefield surgeon, who used her powers secretly to save soldiers. Didn't guess the plot twists and I enjoyed the ending.
July 10, 2024
There were a lot of great ideas here in terms of world building and plotting and I really liked Naida as a character despite consistently misreading her name as Nadia. Sadly the pacing was a little wild and other characters deserved to be fleshed out more.
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