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The Sibyl's War #3
Queen
Queen is the climactic conclusion to New York Times bestselling author Timothy Zahn's thrilling space adventure series, The Sybil's War...
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
384 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 14, 2020
37 people are currently reading
196 people want to read
About the author
Timothy Zahn
490 books8,638 followersTimothy Zahn attended Michigan State University, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in physics in 1973. He then moved to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and achieved an M.S. degree in physics in 1975. While he was pursuing a doctorate in physics, his adviser became ill and died. Zahn never completed the doctorate. In 1975 he had begun writing science fiction as a hobby, and he became a professional writer. He and his wife Anna live in Bandon, Oregon. They have a son, Corwin Zahn.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
February 23, 2024
Zahn closes up a really good trilogy. The main character isn't the only one who shows real growth through the trials and tribulations of saving their ship (and humankind in the process). He keeps the tension up all the way to the end and wraps up with a twist that I should have seen coming (but didn't). The groundwork was laid at the appropriate points in Knight and Queen, making this 'That's the right way!' and not 'Where did that come from?'
A satisfying read and the trilogy go to my Reread in the Future shelf, earning a permanent place next to many other works by Zahn.
A satisfying read and the trilogy go to my Reread in the Future shelf, earning a permanent place next to many other works by Zahn.
January 3, 2021
So I haven't liked this series from the getgo but since I was only one book away from the conclusion I figured I might as well finish it, y'know? And this book is slightly better than the other two, if for no other reason than that it's now open war between all the factions and there's none of the stupid attempts to hide the bleeding obvious.
That said, none of this has any effect on the factionalism among the humans. I can't say I know exactly how a gangbanger would react to being abducted and given guns (on a sidenote, the revelation that the big bad greenfire guns have only three shots apiece is violently embarrassing) but I feel like ‘doing everything their abductors say’ is probably not on the cards. Toxic masculinity can be pretty scary, but only if the characters seem believable in the first place. The amount of infighting in these books has always been pretty stupid honestly. You're abducted by aliens and immediately start blaming each other for it? And once you find out the aliens want to use humans as slave soldiers in their wars you decide you can trust them to cut a deal with you? Please. The past few years have shown me bluntly just how imbecillic humanity can be but there are limits.
Maybe in more subtle hands it could work anyway. The whole class division thing is at least a plausible way of creating interpersonal conflicts. It just seems phony. For one thing, Nicole never feels particularly working class nor does she really seem a psychologically-scarred gang member. She speaks English fluently with no slang or regional (Philly) dialect and is generally cerebral rather than impulsive. And the gang members, while impulsive and dumb, are much the same way. Plus what kind of doctor would say enslaving seven billion humans is a-ok so long as the one million best get preserved? It's like a bad parody of what uncaring elites would think.
The twists and revelations are pretty much what you'd expect. The book feels padded out. As if the one or two plotpoints we need have to be delayed so there's going to be a lot of nonessential fluff. But the nonessential fluff mostly ends up on the right side of entertaining and eventually it ends. None of it is great, but it at least manages a few good moments. I just wish it could have given us more. The whole series should have been a standalone novel, or possibly even a short story. There's just not enough here to justify an entire trilogy.
That said, none of this has any effect on the factionalism among the humans. I can't say I know exactly how a gangbanger would react to being abducted and given guns (on a sidenote, the revelation that the big bad greenfire guns have only three shots apiece is violently embarrassing) but I feel like ‘doing everything their abductors say’ is probably not on the cards. Toxic masculinity can be pretty scary, but only if the characters seem believable in the first place. The amount of infighting in these books has always been pretty stupid honestly. You're abducted by aliens and immediately start blaming each other for it? And once you find out the aliens want to use humans as slave soldiers in their wars you decide you can trust them to cut a deal with you? Please. The past few years have shown me bluntly just how imbecillic humanity can be but there are limits.
Maybe in more subtle hands it could work anyway. The whole class division thing is at least a plausible way of creating interpersonal conflicts. It just seems phony. For one thing, Nicole never feels particularly working class nor does she really seem a psychologically-scarred gang member. She speaks English fluently with no slang or regional (Philly) dialect and is generally cerebral rather than impulsive. And the gang members, while impulsive and dumb, are much the same way. Plus what kind of doctor would say enslaving seven billion humans is a-ok so long as the one million best get preserved? It's like a bad parody of what uncaring elites would think.
The twists and revelations are pretty much what you'd expect. The book feels padded out. As if the one or two plotpoints we need have to be delayed so there's going to be a lot of nonessential fluff. But the nonessential fluff mostly ends up on the right side of entertaining and eventually it ends. None of it is great, but it at least manages a few good moments. I just wish it could have given us more. The whole series should have been a standalone novel, or possibly even a short story. There's just not enough here to justify an entire trilogy.
June 8, 2020
I really enjoyed this series. This conclusion was exciting and I couldn't put it down. I intend to read more works by Timothy Zahn.
October 3, 2022
After picking these up on sale last year I'm happy that I worked them in this Summer. They were short easy and entertaining reads.
I thought this series finished strong with book three. So many things came together in the final installment. We learned the ultimate outcome of many individuals of each race as well as the ship itself. I thought it was nice to not only continue to learn about the individuals of the story but also their character as well. Nicole really came into her own realizing finally realizing her own strength. We also find out more of the personality and history of the Fyrantha. And of course we finally come to understand and feel pity from some characters.
The character building was probably the strongest aspect of book three in my opinion. As I mentioned earlier, we continue to learn more and more about so many of the characters who have been introduced through the first two books as well as a few more in this one. At one point in this read I told myself, I just don't know who to trust!
The pacing was consistent with the first two books. As long as you had no issues with either of those, there shouldn't be any problems with this one either. The ended was very exciting though and did leave me wanting to read more about the future of Nicole, the crew and their ship now that we understand so much more!
The world build was solid again as well as we continue to learn more about where the various characters are from and what their cultures are like. We also finally get some glimpses into the ships teleport capabilities!
Overall I felt these books were time well spent and were my first introductions into Timothy Zahn's works. I still have some of his more famous books on my shelf that I plan to get too next year. I think this series would be entertaining for a reader into Sci-Fi with some conflicting characters, living ships and aliens that are often much more than their initially appear!
I thought this series finished strong with book three. So many things came together in the final installment. We learned the ultimate outcome of many individuals of each race as well as the ship itself. I thought it was nice to not only continue to learn about the individuals of the story but also their character as well. Nicole really came into her own realizing finally realizing her own strength. We also find out more of the personality and history of the Fyrantha. And of course we finally come to understand and feel pity from some characters.
The character building was probably the strongest aspect of book three in my opinion. As I mentioned earlier, we continue to learn more and more about so many of the characters who have been introduced through the first two books as well as a few more in this one. At one point in this read I told myself, I just don't know who to trust!
The pacing was consistent with the first two books. As long as you had no issues with either of those, there shouldn't be any problems with this one either. The ended was very exciting though and did leave me wanting to read more about the future of Nicole, the crew and their ship now that we understand so much more!
The world build was solid again as well as we continue to learn more about where the various characters are from and what their cultures are like. We also finally get some glimpses into the ships teleport capabilities!
Overall I felt these books were time well spent and were my first introductions into Timothy Zahn's works. I still have some of his more famous books on my shelf that I plan to get too next year. I think this series would be entertaining for a reader into Sci-Fi with some conflicting characters, living ships and aliens that are often much more than their initially appear!
September 29, 2025
In the final chapter of the adventures of Nicole Hammond on the mysterious alien ship called the Fyrantha, we go to war against the ship's rulers. She has recruited a small army because it turns out that everyone wants to go home but doesn't have any experience leading troops into battle. This is the most action filled book in the series but the same things that bugged me in the first two bugged me in this one. Why did it take someone like Nicole to start this battle given that humans and other aliens have been living on the ship for so long. One of the bright spots for me was learning more about the shark like aliens who acted dumb but have a lot more to offer (and a secret language they use to communicate with across the ship). How did the kidnapping aliens not learn anything about the species they were kidnapping? Anyways at very least this was an interesting premise and an entertaining story.
February 23, 2020
I have read a number of books by the author and I have enjoyed them all. This appears to be the concluding book in a series titled the Sibyl's War. I have not read the previous installments of the series. While this is not intended to be a stand alone book, I could figure out the basic premises after a few chapters. I would recommend that anyone else read the previous books as it will make this one even more enjoyable.
I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook page.
I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook page.
April 26, 2020
The trilogy is now complete. First Nicole was a Pawn in other people's games, then she became a knight in the fight for Justice, now she is Queen of the Fyrantha.
This book was harder for me to get into than the first two. My biggest problem with it is it's supposed to be this big war story, and instead its more of a character piece. That's fine, I totally get where Zahn was going and he did a good job of it, but I think I was sold in the premise of the series that it would be a WAR, and that was present, but not in the way you'd expect. The war took a back seat to the characters and the worldbuilding.
Now for some positives. The last 120 pages really redeemed the book plot wise. It still wasn't what I expected(or wanted), but really was interested. I think that if Zahn had time to make it five books instead of three(adding Rook and Bishop) then it would've worked better. I don't necessarily blame him for that. But, as I said, the ending of the book was quite fun.
I really like the development of Nicole and Jeff and Kahkitah. They are just some sweet characters who are reluctant heroes who do the right thing in the end.
One unfortunate thing about Zahn is that as he's gotten older, he's used a lot more language than he used to. This is true both in his Star Wars books and his general Sci-Fi books. I don't know what the cause of it is, but it really saddens me that he's regressed in that aspect of his writing.
As a whole, this is probably my least favorite of the trilogy, but that by no means its bad. I just think it's mediocre. Zahn's characters are enough to make it into the "good" category for me. As a trilogy, I think its as, if not more cohesive than the first Cobra Trilogy, and below his standalones "Angelmass" and "Icarus Hunt", but I haven't read enough of his (non-Star Wars)books to rank it otherwise. 7.0 out of 10. Good job Zahn. Hope you can get another big series in the future.
This book was harder for me to get into than the first two. My biggest problem with it is it's supposed to be this big war story, and instead its more of a character piece. That's fine, I totally get where Zahn was going and he did a good job of it, but I think I was sold in the premise of the series that it would be a WAR, and that was present, but not in the way you'd expect. The war took a back seat to the characters and the worldbuilding.
Now for some positives. The last 120 pages really redeemed the book plot wise. It still wasn't what I expected(or wanted), but really was interested. I think that if Zahn had time to make it five books instead of three(adding Rook and Bishop) then it would've worked better. I don't necessarily blame him for that. But, as I said, the ending of the book was quite fun.
I really like the development of Nicole and Jeff and Kahkitah. They are just some sweet characters who are reluctant heroes who do the right thing in the end.
One unfortunate thing about Zahn is that as he's gotten older, he's used a lot more language than he used to. This is true both in his Star Wars books and his general Sci-Fi books. I don't know what the cause of it is, but it really saddens me that he's regressed in that aspect of his writing.
As a whole, this is probably my least favorite of the trilogy, but that by no means its bad. I just think it's mediocre. Zahn's characters are enough to make it into the "good" category for me. As a trilogy, I think its as, if not more cohesive than the first Cobra Trilogy, and below his standalones "Angelmass" and "Icarus Hunt", but I haven't read enough of his (non-Star Wars)books to rank it otherwise. 7.0 out of 10. Good job Zahn. Hope you can get another big series in the future.
February 9, 2020
Queen by Timothy Zahn
Knight is the sequel to Pawn and Pawn is followed by Queen. I’ve always enjoyed Zahn’s work. He writes a good story and his characters show moral strength. Nicole, a Philadelphia street wise alley rat has grown a great deal since Pawn and Knight. This volume finds her gaining confidence in her role and recognizing that she has something to give to others.
Zahn has done a good job in developing the character of Nicole. Her growth is accompanied by growing pains. She has alienated some human friends and gained some alien friends. The evil overlords, the shipmasters, soon discover that Nicole is what she claims, the Protector of the ship. They attempt to add allies to their mission of enslavement but that has unexpected results.
This is a saga of personal growth as well as a good space opera.
Zahn creates a great mini world within the Fyrantha, an alien warship/AI struggling to stay alive.
I enjoyed the book and recommend it.
This is an advanced reader edition and received no compensation for this review.
Knight is the sequel to Pawn and Pawn is followed by Queen. I’ve always enjoyed Zahn’s work. He writes a good story and his characters show moral strength. Nicole, a Philadelphia street wise alley rat has grown a great deal since Pawn and Knight. This volume finds her gaining confidence in her role and recognizing that she has something to give to others.
Zahn has done a good job in developing the character of Nicole. Her growth is accompanied by growing pains. She has alienated some human friends and gained some alien friends. The evil overlords, the shipmasters, soon discover that Nicole is what she claims, the Protector of the ship. They attempt to add allies to their mission of enslavement but that has unexpected results.
This is a saga of personal growth as well as a good space opera.
Zahn creates a great mini world within the Fyrantha, an alien warship/AI struggling to stay alive.
I enjoyed the book and recommend it.
This is an advanced reader edition and received no compensation for this review.
February 10, 2025
“Here we go again,” —C-3PO, Return of the Jedi.
Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes you plow through three mediocre books in thrall to the sunk cost fallacy.
Queen is the third and final novel in the Chronicle of the Sibyl’s War trilogy. I have reviewed both of the previous novels, but here is a quick recap:
Nicole Hammond is fighting for control of the starship Fyrantha. The Shipmasters abduct humans to repair the vessel because some humans, like Nicole, can speak to the ship telepathically to find out what needs fixing. The captured humans have accepted this for decades because the Shipmasters have a side gig selling enslaved aliens to serve as conscripted soldiers. Then Nicole came along and blew the lid off things.
With an uprising looming, the Shipmasters bring in some of their customers to help. The Koffren, big dumb lugs who wear metal masks and carry guns loaded with spider-goo, see an opportunity to take control of the ship for themselves. Meanwhile, Nicole rallies the other slaves together to fight back. But doubt has crept in since Nicole’s plans left a character dead in the last book. I won’t spoil who, because the character was so minor that I forgot his name.
Author Timothy Zahn has set the stage for this conflict across two books. So how does it play out? Mostly the characters just talk and talk and talk.
At one point, I almost threw my Kindle across the room. Nicole enters a room and encounters two aliens who want the drone in her possession. The Shipmasters only feed these aliens when they capture a drone for themselves. What follows is about five pages of negotiation. Nicole will not hand over the drone, but her friends will train the aliens how to hunt for one. They explain how to take advantage of the grass and bushes. The aliens can’t follow these instructions. Nicole offers to have her friends capture another drone for them. But the aliens ask what happens if her friends are defeated in combat? Nicole’s friends say they will split up. But what of the water that bisects the room? The aliens can wait on the other side and the friends will throw it across.
On and on it goes, until the aliens finally just lunge for the drone and the story moves on.
There are entire conversations in this book that play out like this:
“I will do the thing.”
“How will you do the thing?”
“I will perform the steps.”
“What steps are those?”
“I have them in a list here.”
“Isn’t it dangerous?”
���Not if we do it carefully.”
“How will you be careful?”
I could excuse some leaden dialog if the characters were interesting. Sadly, everyone is straight out of central casting. There’s the angry guy, there’s the sullen gal, there’s the schemer. Half of Nicole’s allies are tough, noble warriors ready to lay down their life for the cause.
Nicole is supposed to be wise from her time on the streets, but Zahn refuses to give us any insight into what she has seen or done or how that informs her character. Instead, he plays coy with lines like “Not because she was squeamish about watching someone cut off someone else’s head. She’d seen far worse during her time with Trake’s gang.”
Damn, that implies that Nicole has seen some shit. But she’s so softhearted that Zahn feels the need to remind you, again and again, that Nicole used to be in a gang. Then we we get Philadelphia gang bangers saying things like “crapadoodle” and “freaking butt wipe” and the whole flimsy construction begins to fall apart.
I normally stay away from online theorizing, but I’ve read some suggestions that this series was a casualty of a tight deadline and publisher meddling. The rumor goes that Macmillan—which only published YA fiction from Zahn in the past—decided to market this to adults and roll the dice. I have no idea if this is true. I mean, I’m just some dweeb on the Internet. But it would explain why the story feels so toothless.
It’s not a great excuse, though. There are ways to write young adult fiction without pulling your punches. Just look at Joe Abercrombie’s Shattered Sea series.
Timothy Zahn is a writer of considerable talent and skill, but this time he took the night off.
There are two back-to-back situations where the heroine seemingly walks into a trap, all is lost, and then — surprise! It was part of her plan all along. Sorry, we just left those details out to drum up some suspense. This kind of narrative trickery works great in a movie like “Ocean’s Eleven” or “Fight Club” where the rug-pull recontextualizes all the scenes that came before it. Here it just smacks of manufactured drama.
There are even little inconsistencies, like when Nicole says there are still 12 shields that need to be fixed, and a page later, there are still “thirteen gaping holes” in their defenses. Did anybody edit this?
Never mind.
Overall, I found all three books underwhelming. I think there is a halfway-decent story here if an editor had condensed them into a single book. I’m left wondering why this had to be a trilogy. Did Zahn sign a contract for three books? Did he stretch his idea to fit? It reads like a draft zero, the early version of a story where an author is still figuring out the characters and plot before tightening it up.
I’m glad this isn’t my first experience with the author. I know he can do better.
Crapadoodle indeed.
Also posted on my blog thing.
Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes you plow through three mediocre books in thrall to the sunk cost fallacy.
Queen is the third and final novel in the Chronicle of the Sibyl’s War trilogy. I have reviewed both of the previous novels, but here is a quick recap:
Nicole Hammond is fighting for control of the starship Fyrantha. The Shipmasters abduct humans to repair the vessel because some humans, like Nicole, can speak to the ship telepathically to find out what needs fixing. The captured humans have accepted this for decades because the Shipmasters have a side gig selling enslaved aliens to serve as conscripted soldiers. Then Nicole came along and blew the lid off things.
With an uprising looming, the Shipmasters bring in some of their customers to help. The Koffren, big dumb lugs who wear metal masks and carry guns loaded with spider-goo, see an opportunity to take control of the ship for themselves. Meanwhile, Nicole rallies the other slaves together to fight back. But doubt has crept in since Nicole’s plans left a character dead in the last book. I won’t spoil who, because the character was so minor that I forgot his name.
Author Timothy Zahn has set the stage for this conflict across two books. So how does it play out? Mostly the characters just talk and talk and talk.
At one point, I almost threw my Kindle across the room. Nicole enters a room and encounters two aliens who want the drone in her possession. The Shipmasters only feed these aliens when they capture a drone for themselves. What follows is about five pages of negotiation. Nicole will not hand over the drone, but her friends will train the aliens how to hunt for one. They explain how to take advantage of the grass and bushes. The aliens can’t follow these instructions. Nicole offers to have her friends capture another drone for them. But the aliens ask what happens if her friends are defeated in combat? Nicole’s friends say they will split up. But what of the water that bisects the room? The aliens can wait on the other side and the friends will throw it across.
On and on it goes, until the aliens finally just lunge for the drone and the story moves on.
There are entire conversations in this book that play out like this:
“I will do the thing.”
“How will you do the thing?”
“I will perform the steps.”
“What steps are those?”
“I have them in a list here.”
“Isn’t it dangerous?”
���Not if we do it carefully.”
“How will you be careful?”
I could excuse some leaden dialog if the characters were interesting. Sadly, everyone is straight out of central casting. There’s the angry guy, there’s the sullen gal, there’s the schemer. Half of Nicole’s allies are tough, noble warriors ready to lay down their life for the cause.
Nicole is supposed to be wise from her time on the streets, but Zahn refuses to give us any insight into what she has seen or done or how that informs her character. Instead, he plays coy with lines like “Not because she was squeamish about watching someone cut off someone else’s head. She’d seen far worse during her time with Trake’s gang.”
Damn, that implies that Nicole has seen some shit. But she’s so softhearted that Zahn feels the need to remind you, again and again, that Nicole used to be in a gang. Then we we get Philadelphia gang bangers saying things like “crapadoodle” and “freaking butt wipe” and the whole flimsy construction begins to fall apart.
I normally stay away from online theorizing, but I’ve read some suggestions that this series was a casualty of a tight deadline and publisher meddling. The rumor goes that Macmillan—which only published YA fiction from Zahn in the past—decided to market this to adults and roll the dice. I have no idea if this is true. I mean, I’m just some dweeb on the Internet. But it would explain why the story feels so toothless.
It’s not a great excuse, though. There are ways to write young adult fiction without pulling your punches. Just look at Joe Abercrombie’s Shattered Sea series.
Timothy Zahn is a writer of considerable talent and skill, but this time he took the night off.
There are two back-to-back situations where the heroine seemingly walks into a trap, all is lost, and then — surprise! It was part of her plan all along. Sorry, we just left those details out to drum up some suspense. This kind of narrative trickery works great in a movie like “Ocean’s Eleven” or “Fight Club” where the rug-pull recontextualizes all the scenes that came before it. Here it just smacks of manufactured drama.
There are even little inconsistencies, like when Nicole says there are still 12 shields that need to be fixed, and a page later, there are still “thirteen gaping holes” in their defenses. Did anybody edit this?
Never mind.
Overall, I found all three books underwhelming. I think there is a halfway-decent story here if an editor had condensed them into a single book. I’m left wondering why this had to be a trilogy. Did Zahn sign a contract for three books? Did he stretch his idea to fit? It reads like a draft zero, the early version of a story where an author is still figuring out the characters and plot before tightening it up.
I’m glad this isn’t my first experience with the author. I know he can do better.
Crapadoodle indeed.
Also posted on my blog thing.
April 15, 2020
Queen: A Chronicle of the Sibyl's War by Timothy Zahn is a highly recommended conclusion to the Sibyl's War science fiction three book series.
Nicole Hammond is a Sibyl, a special human that has the ability to communicate with a strange alien ship called the Fyrantha. In previous books the ship teleported Nicole Hammond on board to help repair its machinery. Nicole was a former member of a Philadelphia street gang and now she must use her street smarts to help the ship. The ship has now appointed her the Protector of the ship and its inhabitants. When Queen starts we are right in the middle of a war that started in Pawn and Knight, the two earlier books in the series. Nicole works with a variety of alien races to fight for control of the ship from the Shipmasters who have taken it over and their strong arm enforcers, the Koffren, as they battle for the freedom of everyone living on it.
My first recommendation is that you read Pawn and Knight before starting Queen. Trust me on this as it will make reading it much more enjoyable right from the start. Those who have will not have to work as hard as I did in order to piece together the backstory and keep sorted out the various aliens who help her or who live on the ship. It would also, I imagine, help you to envision the layout of the ship as the battle rages between areas and decks. I truly wish I had read the first two books first before jumping right into the battle for control in Queen.
Once I got the backstory and current situation basically sorted out in my head, I enjoyed the complicated plans, strategy, and tactics Nicole and cohorts used in the conflict. And make no mistake, there is a whole lot going on in this space opera. Complications and set backs are overcome as Nicole works with her wide variety of allies. As the Protector of the ship, she has an inside to help evade trouble and plan her strategic actions. Nicole is a very well developed character. We are privy to her thoughts as she coordinates everything and evades the Shipmasters, so readers can see her growth as a character.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Macmillian
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2020/0...
Nicole Hammond is a Sibyl, a special human that has the ability to communicate with a strange alien ship called the Fyrantha. In previous books the ship teleported Nicole Hammond on board to help repair its machinery. Nicole was a former member of a Philadelphia street gang and now she must use her street smarts to help the ship. The ship has now appointed her the Protector of the ship and its inhabitants. When Queen starts we are right in the middle of a war that started in Pawn and Knight, the two earlier books in the series. Nicole works with a variety of alien races to fight for control of the ship from the Shipmasters who have taken it over and their strong arm enforcers, the Koffren, as they battle for the freedom of everyone living on it.
My first recommendation is that you read Pawn and Knight before starting Queen. Trust me on this as it will make reading it much more enjoyable right from the start. Those who have will not have to work as hard as I did in order to piece together the backstory and keep sorted out the various aliens who help her or who live on the ship. It would also, I imagine, help you to envision the layout of the ship as the battle rages between areas and decks. I truly wish I had read the first two books first before jumping right into the battle for control in Queen.
Once I got the backstory and current situation basically sorted out in my head, I enjoyed the complicated plans, strategy, and tactics Nicole and cohorts used in the conflict. And make no mistake, there is a whole lot going on in this space opera. Complications and set backs are overcome as Nicole works with her wide variety of allies. As the Protector of the ship, she has an inside to help evade trouble and plan her strategic actions. Nicole is a very well developed character. We are privy to her thoughts as she coordinates everything and evades the Shipmasters, so readers can see her growth as a character.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Macmillian
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2020/0...
April 19, 2020
Sorry to see this series wrapped up in three books (instead of the originally projected five books).
I really enjoyed this series. Nicole is a spunky, street-wise girl snatched off a Philadelphia street in the first book Pawn to serve on a work crew repairing the alien ship Fyrantha. As the team's Sybil, she has to use an inhaler and then the ship's computer tells her what repairs her crew is to do next. (Unfortunately, the inhaler is ultimately lethal so the fewer squirts used the better.)
Another gang member, Bungie, is captured at the same time. Bungie, however, has no intention of doing any work. Instead he hides out and periodically causes trouble. This is an excellent plot device as Nicole then is able to explore much more of the ship (instead of spending all of her time with her own work crew).
This is an old ship. Somehow, somewhere in its history is AI mind has been fractured. Nicole comes to control the part under the Caretaker's control. The alien Shipmasters control another part. In Queen, another alien race shows up intending to take over the ship as well.
As I said, this is a great space opera read. Nicole meets various other alien races brought to the ship to fight each other so that the Shipmasters may decide which races will make the best slave proxy fighters race (the ship then goes to the planet with the best fighters and sells off that planet's inhabitants to the highest bidder as proxy fighters).
Highly recommended and I’m sorry that this series had to end so soon!
I really enjoyed this series. Nicole is a spunky, street-wise girl snatched off a Philadelphia street in the first book Pawn to serve on a work crew repairing the alien ship Fyrantha. As the team's Sybil, she has to use an inhaler and then the ship's computer tells her what repairs her crew is to do next. (Unfortunately, the inhaler is ultimately lethal so the fewer squirts used the better.)
Another gang member, Bungie, is captured at the same time. Bungie, however, has no intention of doing any work. Instead he hides out and periodically causes trouble. This is an excellent plot device as Nicole then is able to explore much more of the ship (instead of spending all of her time with her own work crew).
This is an old ship. Somehow, somewhere in its history is AI mind has been fractured. Nicole comes to control the part under the Caretaker's control. The alien Shipmasters control another part. In Queen, another alien race shows up intending to take over the ship as well.
As I said, this is a great space opera read. Nicole meets various other alien races brought to the ship to fight each other so that the Shipmasters may decide which races will make the best slave proxy fighters race (the ship then goes to the planet with the best fighters and sells off that planet's inhabitants to the highest bidder as proxy fighters).
Highly recommended and I’m sorry that this series had to end so soon!
December 13, 2020
Sibyl's War book three.
The Fyrantha is a huge ship. Warship, zoo, peacekeeper. Its purpose now fractured. The shipmasters who pit alien species against each other in arenas to see who would make the best slaves/cannon fodder to sell, control the drive and teleport. The Caretaker which maintains the ship talks with the sibyls that relay those repairs to human work crews.
Nicole Hammond who was taken from the streets of Philly started out as a sibyl and has become protector. She has intervened in several of the arenas thwarting the shipmasters tests, but in so doing bring focus on humans. Now the shipmasters have brought some Koffren aboard. They aren't test subjects like the other aliens. They are the buyers.
Enter book three. Nicole, Jeff, the Ghorfs and their allies must figure out a way to get to the teleport room and hopefully get weapons, but things get worse. The shipmasters have weapons and an intimidating appearance. The Koffren are the real deal, more have come aboard and they've started acting independently. Add to this betrayals and Bungie who has always worked against the Protector's goals and Nicole has her work cut out.
Fun, fast read. Action packed, goes from one dangerous situation to another. Nicole coming out alive by using her street wits, planning, fortuitous arrival of an ally or using strengths that her opponent underestimated. 4.9 of 5 stars.
The Fyrantha is a huge ship. Warship, zoo, peacekeeper. Its purpose now fractured. The shipmasters who pit alien species against each other in arenas to see who would make the best slaves/cannon fodder to sell, control the drive and teleport. The Caretaker which maintains the ship talks with the sibyls that relay those repairs to human work crews.
Nicole Hammond who was taken from the streets of Philly started out as a sibyl and has become protector. She has intervened in several of the arenas thwarting the shipmasters tests, but in so doing bring focus on humans. Now the shipmasters have brought some Koffren aboard. They aren't test subjects like the other aliens. They are the buyers.
Enter book three. Nicole, Jeff, the Ghorfs and their allies must figure out a way to get to the teleport room and hopefully get weapons, but things get worse. The shipmasters have weapons and an intimidating appearance. The Koffren are the real deal, more have come aboard and they've started acting independently. Add to this betrayals and Bungie who has always worked against the Protector's goals and Nicole has her work cut out.
Fun, fast read. Action packed, goes from one dangerous situation to another. Nicole coming out alive by using her street wits, planning, fortuitous arrival of an ally or using strengths that her opponent underestimated. 4.9 of 5 stars.
June 13, 2022
Timothy Zahn is the author of nearly fifty novels. Queen: A Chronicle of the Sibyl’s War was published in 2020. It is the third book in his Chronicle of the Sibyl’s War series.
I received an ARC of this book through https://www.netgalley.com with the expectation of delivering a fair and honest review. Sibyl Nicole Hammond is the primary character.
As a Sibyl on the spacecraft Fyrantha, she is one of the few humans who can communicate directly with the ship. The ship was built by unknown aliens and is now home to different sentient species, including humans. The Ship Masters who currently control the Fyrantha evaluate, then sell off species they determine to be battle worthy. She has turned into a rebel and has evolved into a leader.
Hammond leads the humans and their allies in revolt against the Ship Masters. It is the only way she sees to save humanity.
I enjoyed the 7+ hours I spent reading this 378-page science fiction novel. This novel dives right into the plot. You will be a bit lost if you have not read the prior books. I at least had read Knight, the second novel in the series. As with that novel, while I like the chosen cover art, I don’t see much of a connection to the plot. I give this novel a rating of 3.8 (rounded up to a 4) out of 5.
You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).
I received an ARC of this book through https://www.netgalley.com with the expectation of delivering a fair and honest review. Sibyl Nicole Hammond is the primary character.
As a Sibyl on the spacecraft Fyrantha, she is one of the few humans who can communicate directly with the ship. The ship was built by unknown aliens and is now home to different sentient species, including humans. The Ship Masters who currently control the Fyrantha evaluate, then sell off species they determine to be battle worthy. She has turned into a rebel and has evolved into a leader.
Hammond leads the humans and their allies in revolt against the Ship Masters. It is the only way she sees to save humanity.
I enjoyed the 7+ hours I spent reading this 378-page science fiction novel. This novel dives right into the plot. You will be a bit lost if you have not read the prior books. I at least had read Knight, the second novel in the series. As with that novel, while I like the chosen cover art, I don’t see much of a connection to the plot. I give this novel a rating of 3.8 (rounded up to a 4) out of 5.
You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).
September 15, 2020
** Minor spoilers ahead .** This final entry in the Sibyl's War trilogy is more enjoyable than the previous two. The protagonist, Nicole, finally starts growing into her role as Protector. Given how annoying she was in the first two books, this is a definite improvement.
Bonus points for fulfilling some subtle foreshadowing throughout the prior two books. Nicole's old gang leader was frequently referenced through Nicole's internal monologue, and now gets brought unexpectedly into the final book.
The book does suffer from a consistent minor flaw in Timothy Zahn's writing. Across many novels, the protagonist develops clever plans that require a large group of antagonists to all dance to the hero's tune. "I need all 87 of you to meet me on the beach at 9:17 AM so we can... discuss terms of surrender" or something similar. The antagonists invariably comply, or deviate only slightly, rather than just rejecting this out of hand or being seriously wary for a potential trap.
Bonus points for fulfilling some subtle foreshadowing throughout the prior two books. Nicole's old gang leader was frequently referenced through Nicole's internal monologue, and now gets brought unexpectedly into the final book.
The book does suffer from a consistent minor flaw in Timothy Zahn's writing. Across many novels, the protagonist develops clever plans that require a large group of antagonists to all dance to the hero's tune. "I need all 87 of you to meet me on the beach at 9:17 AM so we can... discuss terms of surrender" or something similar. The antagonists invariably comply, or deviate only slightly, rather than just rejecting this out of hand or being seriously wary for a potential trap.
May 27, 2020
Nicole Lee was abducted from her life in the gangs of Philadelphia to a huge alien ship called the Fyrantha where she becomes a Pawn (paper) of the ship masters who capture aliens to test their war making ability and sell the location of their planets. Humans, for some reason, are the only beings who can repair the ship. The ship mind has been broken into four parts and one of them declares Nicole Protector, raising her value to Knight (paper). As the war against the ship masters and other aliens who bring an armada to attack the ship, Nicole can only win and become a Queen (hard from Tor) if she unites all her friends and gets them to work together. Timothy Zahn tells a fun tale, but the ending was abrupt and felt unearned like a deus-ex-machina solution where a god-like being solves all problems.Review printed by Philadelphia Free Press
March 25, 2022
When I read the first two books, this one wasn't out yet. But I am a diehard Zahn fan (at least the non-starwars stuff), so when I checked back in and this book was out, I added it to the pile.
An easy read, even though it had been a while since I had read the previous books. Sat down one night and made it all the way through. Some things that seemed like they maybe should have been more significant (like repairing the core), just ended up being side shows and minor reveals at the end, but overall the action moved fairly well even though our hero's seemed to be able to out think the aliens at most every turn.
An easy read, even though it had been a while since I had read the previous books. Sat down one night and made it all the way through. Some things that seemed like they maybe should have been more significant (like repairing the core), just ended up being side shows and minor reveals at the end, but overall the action moved fairly well even though our hero's seemed to be able to out think the aliens at most every turn.
July 6, 2020
An epic conclusion to the trilogy. I wish there was more but the story is wrapped up nicely, so I can't really complain. This is the third and final book, and they are all very well interconnected, so if you're going to read it make sure to read Pawn and Knight first.
I really loved the message and the characters, and Nicole had a great character arc that ended in a very satisfying way.
All in all, if you want a fun adventure in space, running from the bad guys, outsmarting them and an awesome powerful (but mysterious) spaceship, this is the one for you.
I really loved the message and the characters, and Nicole had a great character arc that ended in a very satisfying way.
All in all, if you want a fun adventure in space, running from the bad guys, outsmarting them and an awesome powerful (but mysterious) spaceship, this is the one for you.
July 17, 2021
This is a three book science-fiction series that tells the story of a rundown spaceship controlled by alien overlords that are capturing humans. Humans and human women have the unique ability to interface with the fragmented consciousness of the ship to find out the myriad repairs needed. Over the three books the story evolves to explain the role of Nicole, one of these ship “communicators“ termed a Sybil. We find out who’s controlling the ship the story behind it and see Nicole transition from a beaten down street wise woman to a strong protector.
April 15, 2020
Queen is the end of the Sibyl's War at least the war to take back the ship. Small spoiler (Nicole Hammond takes on another war at the end of the book). A fitting end to the series. We get to know more about the ship and why only humans can do repair work. How it came to be so deadly for Sibly's and how to win a war little by little and being very underestimated. Nicole, Jeff and the crew face tension, danger, betrayal, and death as they fight to make the ship whole again.
January 17, 2025
Space sci-fi
Wonderful conclusion to this trilogy about the spaceship Fyrantha and the various species, including humans, who have been tasked with her repair. Nicole and her group of resistance fighters must repair the ship, free the wisps, contain the shipmasters and the Koffren before facing off against a new threat. In the end, they will have a chance to create a new destiny for them all.
Wonderful conclusion to this trilogy about the spaceship Fyrantha and the various species, including humans, who have been tasked with her repair. Nicole and her group of resistance fighters must repair the ship, free the wisps, contain the shipmasters and the Koffren before facing off against a new threat. In the end, they will have a chance to create a new destiny for them all.
May 22, 2020
What a great story!
Even if I didn't read the other instalments in this series it wasn't hard to understand the plot and the world building.
Mr Zahn is a master storyteller and this excellent story, so well plotted, was a gripping and entertaining read.
Great world building, characters and plot: strongly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
Even if I didn't read the other instalments in this series it wasn't hard to understand the plot and the world building.
Mr Zahn is a master storyteller and this excellent story, so well plotted, was a gripping and entertaining read.
Great world building, characters and plot: strongly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
January 8, 2021
Boy, did this series go downhill fast. I'm very glad it ended when it did. I only stuck with it because I wanted to see how it turned out, and the ending was actually okay. Getting there was really tedious, though. If I had a dollar for every time Nicole winced, I'd have a mountain of money piled up to the sky...
February 4, 2022
Probably the weakest Zahn series that I've ever read. So many times the escape plan is just to run away, and it miraculously works out or we find out later that it was a "plan". Where this worked to great effect in the Blackcollar series, here it just seems like Nicole is Teela Brown from Known Space.
May 8, 2022
couldn’t put it down
Love love love zahn. Never includes useless language, sex or violence; always gives me main characters that, though flawed, are easy to cheer for; and keeps surprising me so much that now I expect a surprise. Does that still count as being surprised?? Don’t know. Don’t care. Will continue to grab whatever titles he puts out as fast as I can get them.
Love love love zahn. Never includes useless language, sex or violence; always gives me main characters that, though flawed, are easy to cheer for; and keeps surprising me so much that now I expect a surprise. Does that still count as being surprised?? Don’t know. Don’t care. Will continue to grab whatever titles he puts out as fast as I can get them.
March 30, 2024
By this point in the series I'd honestly lost most of my interest because everything mysterious had been explained. Continued to read out of inertia and boredom at work, but only got 48% through in 3 days because I kept tabbing away to go to Reddit.
Abandoned the book a week later after putting my 16 year-old shiba inu down because it (like everything else) just didn't seem to matter anymore.
Abandoned the book a week later after putting my 16 year-old shiba inu down because it (like everything else) just didn't seem to matter anymore.
August 18, 2020
Last book of the trilogy. It ties together all the mysteries of the ship Fyrantha with an exciting fight for control of the ship and then for its defense. Leaving open the possibilities of a sequel. Typical of Zahn, it has multiple quirky alien characters.
November 14, 2020
Liked the first two boox in the series better than the conclusion. Thought this one was too slick, too many pat solutions and escapes. I didn't totally foresee how it would end, but that was because it was just too out there.
June 9, 2022
This series was very clearly meant to be longer than 3 books - which is the only reason that could explain the slow pacing of books 1/2 and the frenetic pace of book 3. Definitely the most engaging book of the series and one that I will definitely recommend.
October 2, 2023
I got this whole trilogy at once from the library.
9 months later, I'm not actually sure if I finished book 3 or not. I'm sure I started it, but I just couldn't care what happened. The protagonist never gelled for me.
9 months later, I'm not actually sure if I finished book 3 or not. I'm sure I started it, but I just couldn't care what happened. The protagonist never gelled for me.
March 12, 2026
The last in the series got to 4 stars. Great use of resources by the "motley army". Still go tricky to follow. Kind of rushed the ship's backstory. But at least it was more exciting to read than the first two. Lots of action.
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