The Councillor

The Councillor #1

by E.J. Beaton

This Machiavellian fantasy follows a scholar's quest to choose the next ruler of her kingdom amidst lies, conspiracy, and assassination

When the death of Iron Queen Sarelin Brey fractures the realm of Elira, Lysande Prior, the palace scholar and the queen’s closest friend, is appointed Councillor. Publically, Lysande must choose the next monarch from amongst the city-rulers vying for the throne. Privately, she seeks to discover which ruler murdered the queen, suspecting the use of magic.

Resourceful, analytical, and quiet, Lysande appears to embody the motto she was raised with: everything in its place. Yet while she hides her drug addiction from her new associates, she cannot hide her growing interest in power. She becomes locked in a game of strategy with the city-rulers – especially the erudite prince Luca Fontaine, who seems to shift between ally and rival.

Further from home, an old enemy is stirring: the magic-wielding White Queen is on the move again, and her alliance with a traitor among the royal milieu poses a danger not just to the peace of the realm, but to the survival of everything that Lysande cares about.

In a world where the low-born keep their heads down, Lysande must learn to fight an enemy who wears many guises… even as she wages her own battle between ambition and restraint.

Genres: Fantasy, Queer, Adult, LGBT, Fiction, Lesbian, High Fantasy

448 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 2, 2021

About the author

E. J. Beaton is the author of the fantasy novel The Councillor, out now from DAW/Penguin. She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize for Poetry. Her previous work includes a poetry collection, and she has been shortlisted for several Australian poetry prizes. She studied literature and writing at university, completing a PhD in English (Creative Writing). She lives in Melbourne, Australia.

Reviews

[Petrik · Rating 4 out of 5]

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ARC provided by the publisher—DAW Books—in exchange for an honest review.

The Councillor is a Machiavellian fantasy novel I didn’t know I wanted.

I think this book deserves more buzz; other than a few glimpses on social media, the only occurrences where I heard about The Councillor was from Nils and Elliot Brooks. The Councillor is a Machiavellian fantasy novel and debut by E.J. Beaton. The death of the Iron Queen Sarelin Brey has fractured the realm of Elira, and now the city-rulers are vying for the throne. The story follows Lysande Prior, a scholar chosen as the new Councillor, and her quest to choose the next ruler for the kingdom. In the meantime, she also has to seek who murdered the queen. This, as you can probably guess, is a slow-paced novel filled with politics, scheming, conspiracy, and assassinations, and they’re handled wonderfully. Do not start reading this book expecting there will be a lot of battle scenes. Except for a tournament—that takes up a small section within the entire novel—and the climax sequences, battle scenes aren’t a priority, and that’s completely okay. I will, however, add that the battle scenes were incredible, and I hope the sequel will feature more action sequences because they were so good.

“Strength without swords.”
“How does one conquer without a sword? Without a weapon?”
“The real leader conquers with her mind. Princess Santieri’s phrase, second century, was it not?”

For me, there are two key points that made me enjoy reading this novel; the first one being Lysande herself. Lysande, as the main character, is a great character that surprised me several times. The narrative in The Councillor is told exclusively through Lysande’s perspective, and she’s quite a complex character; she’s mostly composed on the outside, fiery on the inside. Plus, Lysande is really not your typical hero. As she tries her best in her own way to live up to the examples and expectations established by Sarelin Brey, Lysande also has her own internal conflicts and addictions—drugs, sexual fetish—to control. I also enjoyed reading the relationship development between her and Derset, Litany, and Luca Fontaine. And despite Lysande being a morally grey character, some parts of her—like her intoxicating passion for books and stories—were so charming.

“It comforted her to smell the leather and to feel the presence of so many books around her. She could never be alone in a realm of shelves, where characters from ancient stories might speak to her in smooth metaphors and pleasantly gnarled phrases; places she had never seen might spring into life, painted in full range of hues that her imagination supplied, offering a pale green forest, a mountain daubed with gray limestone, or an ocean splintered by the dying sun.”

The second main positive factor of the book, and definitely my favorite one, would have to be Beaton’s prose; it is beautiful and rich with quality, and it has the power to manipulate the readers. There’s something about Beaton’s prose that felt so seductive to me; the letters inked into this novel reminded me of Robin Hobb’s level of prose. Beaton has previously published a poetry collection and has been shortlisted for the ACU Prize for Poetry and the Ada Cambridge Poetry Prize. Not only that, but Beaton’s Ph.D. thesis also included analysis of Machiavellian politics in Shakespearean drama and fantasy literature, and all of these permeated into her storytelling and poetic writing style.

“Books are rewarding companions, Your Excellency,” she said. “A good poem can speak to your soul in ways that people rarely do, and every relationship with a book is a mutual one. Stories are never forced to accept your affection.”

Honestly, though, the only reason The Councillor didn’t receive a higher rating from me was because of its pacing. The book consists of 15 chapters, and they’re all long chapters; almost every chapter took me around 30-60 minutes to read. This and the relatively slower-paced narrative made the pacing of several scenes in the middle sections of the book felt sluggish for me to read. However, this is overall a minor criticism; the positives aspects of the novel totally outweigh this.

“Confidence before the nobility. Humility before the people. Books had a strange way of making themselves useful in your life, words sprouting up when you least expected them.”

The Councillor is a smartly-crafted political debut imbued with elemental magic, monsters, chimera, intense tournament, and intrigues. As I’ve mentioned earlier, The Councillor is a slow-burn novel, and although it indeed took me a bit longer to read than my usual reading pace, I think the prose was utterly worth savoring. If I’m not mistaken, this is a duology, and I’m curious to find out how the series will end, and don’t worry, there’s no cliffhanger here.

Official release date: 2nd March 2021

You can pre-order the book from: Amazon US | Book Depository (Free shipping) | Bookshop (Support Local Bookstores!)

The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions

Special thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing!

My Patrons: Alfred, Alya, Annabeth, Ben, Blaise, Devin, Diana, Edward, Estefani, Hamad, Helen, Jimmy Nutts, Joie, Lufi, Melinda, Mike, Miracle, Nicholas, Summer, Zoe.

[John Gwynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Confidence before the nobility. Humility before the people. Books had a strange way of making themselves useful in your life, words sprouting up when you least expected them.”

A smartly-crafted tale of Machiavellian politics, privilege and power, driven by a fantastically nuanced, flawed protagonist and wrapped in sharp, lyrical prose.

The Councillor by E. J. Beaton is politically driven fantasy with fantastic prose. A great debut that adds something fresh to the genre.

[William Gwynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our booktube review of The Councillor is now on our channel - The Brothers Gwynne - The Councillor - Book Review

Firstly, thank you to Julie Crisp who supplied me with an early digital copy of The Councillor in return for an honest review.

The Councillor is a debut novel by E.J. Beaton, in what I believe is designed to be a duology. It is a Machiavellian fantasy tale that offered me something completely new and fresh. It is dominated by political intrigue, unique characters and a well established world. This is a book where you do not know what is going to happen, and then when the penny drops, it all makes sense. That feeling when you put all the pieces of the puzzle together was amazing.

“Strength without swords.”
“How does one conquer without a sword? Without a weapon?”
“The real leader conquers with her mind.”

One of the many strengths of this story is the prose. It is rich, but stripped back as well, in what I thought was a perfect style for the tone, in dripping bits of information slowly, whilst allowing the plot to progress. There is a lot to take in, but E.J. Beaton brilliantly avoids unnatural exposition, and expertly implements it into the story.

My favourite part of this story was the characters. Rarely have I had the pleasure to journey through a story with such developed, refined and believable characters, from the central protagonist and PoV, Lysande, to the supporting cast of Derset, Litany, Luca Fontaine and many more. Accompanying this, their dialogue was masterful, and managed to relay their motivations and personalities wonderfully. If for nothing else, you must read The Councillor for these figures!

“Confidence before the nobility. Humility before the people. Books had a strange way of making themselves useful in your life, words sprouting up when you least expected them.”

Another aspect of The Councillor that I enjoyed was the way some general tropes were adapted and given a fresh depiction. For example, Lysande is not of the nobility, and as such, when made 'The Councillor', designed to choose the successor to the throne, she is faced by the elitist perspective of the noble families of Elira. Whilst this is similar to much I have read before, E.J. Beaton approached this concept from a new angle, and made these tropes so much more enjoyable.

The plot of The Councillor is driven primarily by political intrigue, interactions and the acquiring of information, where Lysande tries to discover who murdered her Queen, and who to choose as the next ruler. This is done in a way that builds the tension from page one all the way to a huge climax at the end. And when I say ‘huge’, that is what I mean. The story erupted into an epic scale in one of what is only two action sequences in the story, with an immersive, shocking bang. The only factor that pulls this from being a perfect read is that there was probably a small part in the middle third that I thought was focused more on the bigger picture, when I was just yearning for more of those wonderful character interactions. But that by no means is a bad thing, it means that it was great, but just dipped from brilliance temporarily.

‘Oh, you could tell yourself that you were doing it for the people and you could turn the pages of tracts in your mind, making all the connections to justify it, but it was still a ladder, stretching up into mist, the top obscured. For the people — the other side of that coin was the people for oneself.’

The Councillor has been advertised as a Machiavellian fantasy. And indeed it is! It is full of brilliant political intrigue and twists and turns throughout. But, whilst this is great, I would say that the shining light of this debut is the characterisation. It is some of the best that I have had the pleasure to read in fantasy. Each character is fleshed out, fully developed and acts in ways that complies perfectly with their motivations. It was wonderful to read.

5/5 STARS

Also, I now have a booktube with my brother - The Brothers Gwynne

[Edward Gwynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read, not my usual choice but this has made me want to read a lot more political-based fantasy.

[Nils | nilsreviewsit · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Councillor is the upcoming debut by E.J. Beaton, an author who you’re going to want to keep your eye on because my gosh has she created a stunning novel here. Classed as a machiavellian fantasy, this is a story filled with enigmatic characters, vibrant world-building and a plot which continuously keeps you on your toes.

Lysande Prior, our main protagonist, was once an orphan, but when she captures Queen Sarelin’s attention with her extraordinary knowledge of languages, her life at the orphanage is swapped for a life in the palace as a scholar. Her days from then on are fairly smooth sailing, that is until tragedy strikes, and she is left with the weight of the kingdom upon her shoulders. Lysande must enter a world of deadly politics, she must find a way to unite the city leaders, and above all she must unravel the mystery behind the rival tyrant ‘White Queen’, long thought to be dead.

Applying all her knowledge of history, monarchies, battles and of the White Queen herself, Lysande must use it to decipher how best to deal with the situation she finds herself in. Praised by her beloved Queen Sarelin as ‘the girl with the quill’, Lysande sets forth to discover whether a pen can actually be mightier than a sword.

‘If you wanted to arrive at your own view, you had to stand above others and look beyond their heads, to take in the horizon from a new height. You had to choose that precise level for yourself and decide what you wished to see.’

There are many aspects I loved about The Councillor, but what immediately drew me in were the complex characters which Beaton presents to us. The book is told solely through Lysande’s eyes and this allows us to understand her inner thoughts and vulnerabilities. Although Lysande outwardly appears in control and confident, we observe a woman wearing a mask, and once stripped away, her insecurities, her drug addiction, her loneliness and grief are all laid bare. We see many sides to her character, even her amatory obsessions and lustful nature, for as much as Lysande is a scholar she is also a woman with strong sexual impulses. She is not a perfect character by any means, and that’s a real plus for me because I wouldn’t have been as extremely drawn to her if she were. There are certainly times where we may question Lysande’s actions, yet this worked to make her a realistic character, for our choices in life cannot always be the right ones.

‘Oh, you could tell yourself that you were doing it for the people and you could turn the pages of tracts in your mind, making all the connections to justify it, but it was still a ladder, stretching up into mist, the top obscured. For the people — the other side of that coin was the people for oneself.’

I absolutely loved how this passage showed Lysande owns her flaws, she recognises her own thirst for power, for glory, she contemplates her own motives and that makes her so well fleshed out. The Councillor is very much an exploration of power and what it can do to one’s mind.

Beaton also managed to distinctly flesh out many of the supporting characters who play key roles too. Throughout, we see a beautifully crafted backstory of Lysande and Queen Sarelin’s budding bond, she paints a vivid picture of a battle-worn warrior queen contrasted with an insecure young scholar coming into her own. Their strong friendship was truly endearing, even when Lysande began to see the Queen was not quite the flawless idol she aspires to live up to.

Then there were the city leaders - Jale Chambois, Dante Dalgerath, Cassia Ahl-Hafir, and Luca Fontaine, each with their own eccentric and quirky characteristics. Out of these I was most taken with Luca Fontaine, and very much enjoyed the intellectual dynamics between himself and Lysande as they played many kinds of games - I was also most intrigued by his unusual animal companion. Yet, no character is ever trustworthy and I found myself captivated by speculating their every move.

I fell deeply in love with Beaton’s exquisite lyrical prose and dazzling world-building too. To coincide with Lysande’s nature, Beaton deftly weaved in the world-building, magic system, and variating cultures in a sophisticated scholarly way. We see Lysande observe customs whenever conversing with the other city leaders, she would recite and recall in her mind passages which she’d read in books which correlated to whatever part of the world or magical ability she was scrutinizing. Most importantly though, she listened to stories and always remembered them on the chance they may become relevant later. Consequently we discover aspects of the various cultures through Lysande’s observations, and so we get an enriched knowledge of the culture within each city - for example in Pyrrha they swap desserts between guests a number of times before they are allowed to eat it, Castle Sapere in Rhime holds inventions of great wonder and elaborate artistry, Lyrian’s seek the sun in times of distress and the people revel in flamboyant beauty. It is within these vivid intricate details where the world feels fully realised. We become lost in a world of regency and decadence. However, nature also plays a vital role throughout, castles of stone and metals coexist with jungles and wild creatures.

‘Heads turned across the hall as a troupe of musicians marched in, blowing trumpets, plucking strings, and beating drums. The sound billowed in a harmony that spoke of silver and gold and treasures from places Lysande had read about. Her fingers tingled.’

This is also a book where people can love whomever they want without judgement. A person’s sexual orientation isn’t even a factor which needs to be questioned, and people can be themselves. Men are free to enjoy finer arts and fashion, women can be battle-worn conquerors, they are able to stand on equal grounds. The land of Elira shines as the beacon of diversity, a notion we can only hope to aspire to. Yet in any land it is inevitable to have some form of prejudice, and in The Councillor that lies within class and magical ability. You see those that are poor are left to starve and fester, and those who wield elemental powers are executed. This conflict builds to an absolutely explosive climax, one where you are left pondering who was right and who was wrong.

As much as this is a story about political strife and what it takes to rule, it is also a story of love in all its variations, addiction, privilege and of loss. Like the motif of the Chimera — a hybrid creature — which runs deeply throughout this novel, Beaton never allows the narrative or her characters to be placed in any one box. The Councillor is certainly one of the most sophisticated, intricately woven, and mesmerising debuts I’ve read.

E-ARC provided by DAW via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All quotes used are taken from an arc and are subject to change upon publication. Thank you for the copy!

The Councillor is out 2nd March 2021 - you can preorder a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Councillor-J...

[Library of a Viking · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Any soldier can kill something she hates. It’s only when you kill something you’ve come to love that you learn how to lead”.

The Councillor by E.J. Beaton is a Machiavellian fantasy that follows Lysande Prior, and her quest to choose the next ruler in Elira. When Queen Sarelin is assassinated, Lysande is appointed Councillor and is tasked with selecting the next Monarch. However, far away from home, the White Queen is stirring and possesses a danger to the realm and everything Lysande cares about.

My expectations for this book were high after hearing praise from Petrik Leo and The Brothers Gwynne. Did this book live up to my expectations? It absolutely did!

The Councillor is a book full of political intrigue and satisfying twists throughout the whole story. Beaton’s prose is beautiful, and she is able to set the tone perfectly. Beaton makes the reader feel so immersed in Lysande’s story that even the slow parts are enjoyable to read! The tension slowly builds up throughout the story, and the reader is rewarded by an epic and heartbreaking conclusion.

The best aspect of The Councillor are the characters. Each character feels distinct, complex and are well realised. Beaton’s characters gave me Joe Abercombie vibes since each character has it’s own unique tone and demeanour.

Before starting this book, it is important to be conscious that The Councillor is not a typical fantasy, with many battle scenes or complex magic systems. The Councillor is a Machiavellian fantasy that heavily focuses on political intrigue, tension and exhilarating dialogue. If you enjoy political fantasy, then you need to read The Councillor.

The artwork for the cover needs to be praised as well. It is a beautiful cover that captures the tone of this story well.

I adored this story, and Beaton has convinced me that I need to read more political focused fantasy books! I am looking forward to reading whatever E.J. Beaton writes next.

5 / 5 stars

Thanks to DAW Books and NetGalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

[Nicholas Eames · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was excellent! Intrigue, politics, addiction, sex, murder...I'm sorry, was there something else you needed to hear before reading this?

The author's a poet, I hear, and BOY is that evident. The writing is superb, and more than once I found myself going back to listen to a particularly beautiful passage for a second (or third) time. Also, the narrator (Moira Quirk, of Gideon/Harrow fame) was the perfect choice, I think. She does erudition extremely well, and was ideally suited to the Machiavellian tone of this book.

Looking forward to the next!

[The Nerd Daily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally published on The Nerd Daily | Review by Kriti Khare

How often is the main character in a fantasy novel a scholar? While as readers, we can find glimpses of ourselves in all sorts of characters, one of the best experiences involves following the storyline of a protagonist that we relate to at the deepest level possible. Lysande from The Councillor is that person for me. A scholar who is tasked with the responsibility to decide the next ruler of Elira, Lysande, a commoner that royals (“silverbloods”) have paid no heed to in the years at the palace, is now a key player in the destiny of the realm. She must learn the ways of the court and use all the knowledge that she has gained from her studies to not just appoint the right ruler, but also, maybe, make a difference to the lives of the common people.

Read the FULL REVIEW on The Nerd Daily

[Anna Stephens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Smart, intrigue-filled fantasy with excellent magic and compelling characters, this is a great debut that tackles power and privilege in a world in which magic is abhorred and magical people condemned to death.
This is not your average "magic people come out on top" novel. Instead, it's a critique of power structures that will feel achingly familiar and a cutting examination of privilege - who has it, how they keep it, and how that affects society - and particularly those who don't have it.
Couple this with magic and monsters, secrets and betrayals, and a very nuanced protagonist - I hesitate to say heroine, because Lysande Prior's motives are far too muddy for simple heroism - and this is a book that you'll want to pre-order. Out March 2021 from DAW Books.
Speaking of Lysande, her character feels startlingly real. She begins by being thrust into a position of power she never wanted and doesn't really understand, and then she grows into it in ways not even she expected. But she's also greedy, and has secrets of her own - some far more startling than others - which serve to make her human and relatable.
From drug addiction to slavery, social structures to sexual fetishes, The Councillor is fresh, invigorating, and compelling fantasy.

[Jordan (Forever Lost in Literature) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Find this review at Forever Lost in Literature!

The Councillor is described in the blurb as a "Machiavellian fantasy," and that really is a perfect way to describe this book. This is a book for fans of highly political fantasy, with a focused lens on the subtle arts of negotiation, scheming, manipulations, secrets, and power. There are also some incredibly well-drawn characters that only add to the many layers present in this story.

The story kicks off after Queen Sarelin's death when Lysande is appointed Councillor. It is up to Lysande to determine who should become ruler next, while also quiet attempting to figure out who played a role in the death of the queen. Lysande is thus surrounded by a myriad of people with varying levels of power, all of whom want more power, and she has no idea who she can actually trust. This, as you might suspects, sets up a tense, unpredictable setting in which all the players begin their dance of politics. This book is basically the equivalent of an enormous jigsaw puzzle with oddly shaped pieces that supposedly fit together, but you aren't sure you're going to figure out how.

The story is told solely from Lysande's perspective, which I appreciated in the sense that it really helped to keep me on my toes in not knowing anything at all about the other characters other than what Lysande already knows. I might have liked more perspectives in order to better understand everyone's motivations and background, but I like the mystery this allowed, as well as the ability to thus spend more time in Lysande's head getting to know her and her strategies. I absolutely loved Lysanda's stoic determination in the face of every unimagined obstacle that is thrown her way. When this novel starts, Lysande may already be a close confidante of the queen, but she is also technically just the palace scholar. She is from a poor background and is not an elite and she has no seeming desire to be in any sort of leadership position. So, when she is thrust into the position of Councillor she is constantly aware of her perceived shortcomings and lack of knowledge around what she should be doing or how to handle various situations. Because of this, she often relies heavily on her own historical studies of past leaders and events, which allow her to shape her persona and actions as Councillor. I really appreciated this aspect and focus on the importance of having histories to provide guidance, as well as seeing someone who truly is not sure how to handle these situations essentially "fake it 'til you make it," as I think Lysande ended up executing her role excellently.

I should mention, however, that I would consider Lysande a bit of a morally grey character, which matches the many other morally grey secondary characters that appear throughout this book. It's hard to know what is necessarily "good" in this world since everyone has their own bias, but it was a lot of fun exploring everything via the different characters that we meet, all of whom have very strong and distinct personalities. A few of the more intriguing characters we meet are Luca Fontaine, Cassia Ahl-Hafir, and Litany. Litany in particular is full of surprises, and Luca is one of those mysterious figures that holds an abnormal form of charisma and intrigue that you can't help but find yourself drawn to, even though you know there's something uncertain and unpredictable about him. I'd go as far to say that there is not really any character in this book that I would deem 'unintelligent,' and it's precisely because this book is full of highly intelligent people that you never know what to expect or where something new is going to pop up.

The world of The Councillor also feels rich and teeming with culture and expansive lands. We get to hear quite a bit of background about various places and peoples, but I would have loved the chance to learn even more about the world (though that's certainly not a complaint, as I'm very satisfied with what was provided in this book). This also appears to be a sex positive and queernorm world, which I also find refreshing in fantasy where we can set aside the many prejudices that plague our own world and imagine something new. Because Lysande deals with a bit of a drug problem, we also get to explore some more details in this world in the way of things like the drugs and drug sources that helps to just make everything feel that much more expansive and detailed. There is also, of course, some magic present in this world, though I hesitate to say too much about it in fear of adding any spoilers. It's an interesting magic that I would really love to learn more about, as I feel as though it wasn't expanded on quite as much as it could've been.

The pacing of the The Councillor felt very steady throughout, and it's definitely a slower pacing overall. If you're looking for something with a lot of action, this isn't it. There are certainly some more action-heavy scenes, but for the most part this book's action takes place in the form of dialogue and more subtle activities and thinking. There are also a lot of fine details given throughout about the world, the politics, and the history which does keep things on the slower side at times. I thought the pacing worked extremely well for the story and have no complaints, but I also understand that some people will prefer something that moves a bit more quickly.

Overall, I had an amazing time reading this book, even if I did find myself a little lost at times because of all the details. This is a book I can absolutely see myself re-reading and getting even more from it. If you like an involved, highly political fantasy, then you must put The Councillor on your radar! I cannot wait to see what E.J. Beaton has in store next. It's five stars from me!

[Rach A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

ahem.

ahem.

ahem ahem ahem.

Luca...Lysande...gah.

I NEED MORE.

Okay okay okay actual coherent thoughts:

I loved this!! This was clever and intricate and so so sexy. If you love the sound of: detailed political shenanigans, a bisexual scholar learning how to rule a kingdom, a brooding prince who wear's a snake as an accessory, falling in love with an entire casts of characters, like seriously oh my god this entire cast is amazing, and THE SEX, actually letting women be full of desire and be so in control and also a little bit of BDSM vibes near the end and it was just so very sexy. I really loved this one. Australian fantasy is winning in 2021.

Now I need more Luca/Lysande.

[C.L. Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is 100% my jam.

Thirsty MC? check.
Thirst getting MC into trouble? check.
Complicated relationships from past and present? check.
Political maneuvering (with and without unfortunately attractive personnages)? check.
And a lot more.

All in all, really enjoyed and can't wait for book 2!

[Kahlia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Councillor is a Machiavellian inspired fantasy set in the fictional kingdom of Elira. Well, sort of. There’s a definite Renaissance-influence in the world-building, with a series of city-states all banding together against those that surround them. (Oh, and they produce a lot of wine, and olives). The main character, Lysande Prior, also shares a lot of her history with Niccolo Machiavelli himself: both serve roles as political understudies and advisors, both write treatises on the subject of power, and both are shrewd, cunning and intelligent.

But where Machiavelli was known for the ruthless that gave Machiavellian political philosophy his name, Lysande is a much more likeable character, concerned about the welfare of her community and her friends, and willing to put her smarts to good use to protect them. The result is a compelling character arc.

I should note here that Lysande is also an interesting character because she’s unlike so many others we see in fantasy. She’s mildly addicted to a drug that has effects not unlike cocaine (so I’m told), and she has a strong sense of sexual desire, even about those she intellectually knows it’s not a good idea to get involved with. None of this is ever justified or excused, it’s just a part of who Lysande is – and we get to see how she grapples with the consequences. I don’t enjoy reading about drug addiction as a general rule, but I did appreciate that this book is more in line with actual drug use in society (i.e. high functioning individuals you’d never expect) and that we weren’t treated to a sermon or a pity party about it. This is also a good place to note that Lysande is bisexual (and there are flashbacks to a past f/f relationship) and it’s entirely unremarkable.

As for the plot, don’t expect too many battle scenes or clashing armies (though there are a few). The battle for Elira is mostly one of wits. Lysande is a scholar at heart, and we see her puzzle her way through events, calculatingly cultivate alliances, and rethink everything she thought she knew about former Queen Sarelin. A lot of this book is spent second-guessing the motives of the city-state leaders Lysande is ostensibly meant to choose between. It’s compelling stuff, and I love seeing a quieter, more intellectually focused fantasy that shows off a different set of character traits and exudes a different kind of intensity and energy.

I did have a few small issues. The pacing was a little slow in the middle (not helped by the giant chapters, with nowhere good to take a break). I also thought some of the big reveals about the villain and the true extent of magic in this society came a little late given this is a standalone novel: the last hundred pages were riveting, but they also had to do a lot of work to wrap up all the plot threads and create a compelling rationale for what had come before, and it didn’t always pull it off. I haven’t seen any news of a sequel, but I really hope there is one, since I think this world is ripe for a follow up that revisits some of the characters from this book and maybe gives us a glimpse into some of the other city-states we spent less time in.

This was an excellent debut. As I said, I’m really hopeful we’ll see something else set in this world, but if not, I’m still looking forward to seeing what Beaton writes next.

This review is also available @firstbreathsreviews.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

This marvelous book deserves the chimera on the cover because it is a rare beast indeed: a political fantasy with that's also a page-turner with a lot of heart AND a queernorm world.

When the Iron Queen Sarelin Brey is murdered, her royal scholar and friend Lysande is shocked to find out that she has been selected by Brey to choose the next monarch from the city-rulers who now circle like vultures. Lysande's role is further complicated by myriad factors: her humble origins, her desire to seek Brey's murderer, her growing drug addiction, and the dangerous elemental White Queen.

If you like your fantasy heavy on cutting conversations, internal monologues, and critiques of existing power structures, this book is for you. I LOVED it. The author's background in analyzing Machiavellian politics in Shakespearean drama and fantasy literature definitely shines through. It's a fully fleshed and flawed world.

Lysande, the main character, stands out amongst other fantasy heroines. She has a drug addiction she hides from others. She makes mistakes. She desires other people and is shown as bisexual, but it's unremarkable in this world where same-sex couples aren't a big deal.

It's hard to believe this is a first novel and hard to come up with flaws. I guessed some of the twists in advance but not all of them, and that was great. I occasionally couldn't figure out why characters were journeying from one place to another, but that's a frequent problem in fantasy for me.

I'm truly looking forward to the next volume!

[Sahitya · Rating 5 out of 5]

CW: drug addiction

I think it’s a 4.5 but I’m rounding up.

This book was nowhere on my radar and I hadn’t even seen much promos or reviews of it. But then I saw my favorite author Tasha Suri gush about it endlessly on Twitter and I couldn’t resist the temptation.

The author seems to be a poet and this is her debut novel, and that doesn’t surprise me at all, because the prose in this book is exquisite. It has been a long time since I’ve highlighted so many lines and paragraphs in a fantasy novel and I can’t wait to revisit this again because I’m sure I’ll find more gems on a reread. The author is also extremely good at creating tension and the buildup is intense, with me waiting page after page to see where the next strike would come from, who would live and who would die, who is trustworthy and who isn’t. The plot is quite a bit of slow burn, and there’s more of planning and scheming and thinking involved rather than action, so it may not be for fans of more fast paced fantasy. The only little gripe I had was that I could guess who the traitor was very early on and I think the gut punch may have been stronger if it was more of a surprise.

I also enjoyed the world building and magic system here. First coming to the magic, it’s elemental - so not something very new, and the magic wielders are persecuted, which is also a tried and tested trope. And while we don’t get to see a lot of magic in action, the few fighting scenes were excitingly written and I can’t wait to see how much more explosive it will get when the main villain shows up in the next installment. The world also is interesting here, with a new ruler of Elira being chosen from among the leaders of five city-rulers by an appointed Councillor. There are existing tensions with two border kingdoms as well as an older foe, the White Queen - and I loved how the author wrote about strategies to implement in the conflict, not just limiting them to war but also to trade. However, even within Elira, each city has its own culture and traditions, and there are old feuds between them, and the author creates great tension between all the representatives as well as letting us experience the shifting dynamics when they all get to know each other. And to round off everything, we have unexpected magical beasts making an entrance which only takes the excitement up a notch.

Lysande is the kind of protagonist I love - a scholar who has read all the classic literature, military and strategy accounts and probably even some of the banned stuff - and who thinks through everything twice over before acting on it. She is an orphan who made it as a palace scholar only due to the benevolence of the Iron Queen Sarelin. But the nobles don’t like seeing her position elevated because she is a commoner, and she has to carefully thread the needle of showing the power of her new position as Councillor, as well as pick the nobles who might not mind her being their new patron. It is a fascinating interplay between power and privilege, never knowing which one will tip the balance of the scales.

At times, I was frustrated with how much Lysande idolized the now dead Queen but also appreciated when she came to see her faults as well, and learnt how she could be a different kind of ruler, prioritizing all of her people who are in need. She starts off with only the good intention of wanting to protect her kingdom, and maybe make the lives of people better while fighting their prejudices - but power is heady and it was so engrossing to see her get slowly seduced both by the idea of being powerful as well as being an object of adulation for the people. But she also has a drug problem which she is in constant denial of and I can’t wait to see how that will affect her during the long run.

The story is essentially about how Lysande deals with the four city-rulers who are up for the throne next, while navigating treacherous waters within, as well as from outside the kingdom from an older and powerful enemy. I enjoyed her observations about whomever she meets, and how she analyses their behaviors and decides how much she can trust them. All of the city-rulers were fascinating in their own right but Luca Fontaine was an enigma right from when his name was first mentioned, and me along with Lysande only wanted to know more about him. Litany is another amazing young woman who starts off as Lysande’s personal attendant, but grows to her shadow and confidant and I couldn’t love their bond more.

In the end, this was an exquisitely crafted political fantasy from the perspective of a scholar. If you are interested in a book with slow burn Machiavellian politics, a whole cast of very contrasting characters, a smart protagonist whose mind will wow you, a queernormative world where there are dangers and betrayals at every turn - then this debut fantasy will not disappoint you. And now I’m just sad that I have wait atleast an year for the next one.

[Siavahda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highlights
~Machiavelli, if Machiavelli wasn’t a dick
~The presents are code and the code is snark
~Who gets the crown? Everybody!
~Snakes
~Forget knives, the assassins have fireballs
~Do you want some kink with your romance, madam?
~Silver > gold
~A very pretty quill
~Bookworms kick ass, actually

Everyone is touting this book as a Machiavellian fantasy, so the first thing you need to know about The Councillor is that yes, it absolutely is Machiavellian.

The second thing you need to know about The Councillor is that it is absolutely not Machiavellian at all.

Read the rest at Every Book a Doorway!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can read this and all of my reviews on my bookish blog.

The Councillor was a fantastic and clever Machiavellian fantasy story that astonished me from page one.

“But for all that we talk of duty and higher purpose, I think that it is in doing that we find meaning.”

One of the first things that surprised me when I started this book was the writing. The writing was exceptionally beautiful. It was poetic, it was descriptive, it was dense, but it was so beautiful. It wasn't particularly easy to read, the chapters were very (VERY) long, the pages were dense and I thought it was taking me forever to read a page, but in the end, it was just so beautiful. This dense and slow aspect could be seen as a criticism though, the only criticism I could say about this book to be quite honest, because the rest was pure perfection, but the pacing was really slow and full of information. It didn't bother me to take my time with this book however and to read it slowly, but I know this kind of pacing will not be for everyone. Also, as a non-native English speaker, I will be honest, this book challenged me. I came across entirely new words that I had never seen before. But I didn't mind the fact that I was reading really slowly, because each word was important and interesting, I was completely captivated and I loved every word of this book.

“It comforted her to smell the leather and to feel the presence of so many books around her. She could never be alone in a realm of shelves, where characters from ancient stories might speak to her in smooth metaphors and pleasantly gnarled phrases; places she had never seen might spring into life, painted in full range of hues that her imagination supplied, offering a pale green forest, a mountain daubed with gray limestone, or an ocean splintered by the dying sun.”

The character's work was excellent. This book had one POV, with Lysande Prior as the main character. Lysande was a scholar, the closest friend of Queen Sarelin Brey and also an orphan who was taken under the Queen’s wing when she was younger. She was a scholar who suddenly got pushed into the light when she was made Councillor by her friend and her former queen, with the important task of choosing the next ruler of the realm, and privately find the queen’s murderer. The character's work reminded me a bit of Robin Hobb, because Lysande wasn’t perfect at all. She had qualities, a lot of them, but she was also flawed, ruined by a drug addiction, always trying to do the right thing, but also distracted and driven by her growing interest of power. Her thoughts were captivating, she had an amazing and clever mind, of course since she was a scholar, but it was so interesting to see her do parallels between everything going on around her and the political/strategic books that she read and kept with her all her life. Lysande was an incredible main character, and she quickly became one of my all-time favorite characters. Her growth through the book was absolutely amazing. Her relationships were also so well done, from the growing friendships to a breathless tension with her love-interest, I was captivated and moved by everything. My second favorite character of this book was without a doubt Luca Fontaine, a mysterious, cunning, bastard prince, who reminded me a lot of Loki with its cleverness, confidence and its mind games.

“For the first time, a ladder was hers to climb, its rungs not woven of fibers but fashioned of smooth and unbending metal. Who knew where she might scale it to? Restrain, constrain, subdue. This time, she labored to push the chant away.”

The plot was also amazing. Amazing for me, but probably too slow for a lot of people. This book was full of political intrigue, it was in fact an intrigue 100% political and I just loved it. Political intrigues have always been my favorite kind of plots in fantasy stories, and The Councillor is now my one and only reference for that genre. With Lysande trying to choose the next ruler of the kingdom and stopping the city-rulers from killing each other, and the city-rulers trying to win her over to get on the throne, the tension and the games of politics were fascinating and kept me on the edge of my seat. The dialogues between the characters were full of double meaning, I even had to read some sentences twice to be sure to not miss anything. The book was full of mischief, conspiracy and betrayals, and I really didn't see some of the plot reveals coming. The plot kept me intrigued during the whole read, I couldn’t stop second guessing everything, and be suspicious of everyone. Everything was clever, calculated and logical, like the motto of the Axium city: “Everything in its place.”

What amazed me the most though, was how the author succeeded in adding tension and emotion in some of the scenes. I don't know if it was the overall atmosphere or just the writing, but in some chapters, I ended up speechless, on the edge of my seat and even on the verge of tears. The stakes grew higher and higher the more I read, and the slow built tension between the characters was so well done, that even a small act could be mind-blowing. Everything could go wrong in just one second, and honestly some parts of this book left me breathless. There was just so much tension, honestly, I had never felt that way before.

“Confidence before the nobility. Humility before the people. Books had a strange way of making themselves useful in your life, words sprouting up when you least expected them.”

It was only a 400-ish book, but I felt like that I had spent so much time in this word. The world-building was fascinating, the history of this world and the magic with the elementals were so interesting, but the best part of all, was the feminist and LGBTQ+ norm of the world. In this world, women and men were equals. Women could be queens, wear armor and swords, know how to fight, command, have all the power, and it was normal for everyone. People could also love who they wanted to love, without fear, they could be with women and men without shocking anyone, they could just be themselves and it was normal. This was the dream world guys. This was the dream and E.J. Beaton created it in her book.

“Strange, isn’t it, how the meanings of things are determined not by their essence, but by what they symbolize.”

Overall, I was amazed from start to finish by The Councillor. Every aspect of this book was well crafted. And now, I need MORE. I need to learn more about this world, I need to learn how the plot will continue, I need to stay with these characters, because they all amazed me. I just need MORE.

This book is probably my favorite read of 2021, hands down.

[charlotte, · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gather yourself, like a star-plant, she told herself. Bind yourself to a wooden stake and stay upright, so that your branches do not spread.

On my blog.

Actual rating 4.5

Rep: bi mc, mlm and wlw characters

Galley provided by publisher

If you enjoy the twisting and turning politics and mystery of books such as The Queen’s Thief or City of Lies, then The Councillor is a book you won’t want to miss out on.

It follows the palace scholar and close friend of the queen, Lysande Prior, who becomes the interim ruler, or Councillor, while she tries to discover what happened to the queen. As Councillor, her own interests compete with those of the other city-rulers, as they jostle for the chance to become the next monarch.

First of all, perhaps my favourite thing about this book is the way each ruler is chosen. It’s not on a hereditary basis that the crown passes on. The country has a number of cities, each with its own ruler, and the crown passes between those city-rulers by vote. Given the number of fantasies I’ve read, where royal inheritance is just automatically assumed to go through a bloodline, this was very refreshing. It also led very easily to a world where same gender relationships (of which there are a few here too) don’t butt up against the trouble of needing an heir. It’s just a nice break from it really — for all that fantasy is innovative, there are some things that often stay the same.

I also loved seeing a female character who has sexual urges. I don’t mean like that’s rare, but the fact that it was so prevalent… well possibly I’d say that’s rare. But I loved it here, and that it’s not couched within a romance. Lysande has sex with people because she wants to have sex with them and that’s it.

I think, just in general, this book was a refreshing take on fantasy. From the aforementioned successions and sex drive, to the fact that it’s a book full of politics and thinking — I loved basically everything about it. There was nothing I would say I didn’t like. It’s probably one of the best books I read in 2020, it’s that good.

All of which to say, I will be begging everyone to read this in March. You can count on that.

[Clare · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never thought I'd describe a political thriller with a scholar MC as 'epic,' but that's exactly what this is.

In fact, the protagonists I usually love (magic powers, lethal martial arts skills etc.) pale in comparison to Lysandre's Machiavellian power moves as she outmanoeuvres her rivals. She's a genius, on a par with the MC from Queen's Gambit, and like the Queen's Gambit she finds solace in drugs (the magical kind, in this book.)

I could gush about this amazing debut for days, so instead I'll just list what I loved about it:

1. The twists. So. Many. Twists. And they all made sense in hindsight, I just wasn't clever enough to spot the clues!

2. The tension. You don't know who's a friend, or who will stab you in the back. Plus, all the characters are flawed in their own ways. There's no 'heroes' here.

3. The prose. Apparently this author wrote poetry before this, and you can tell. It's beautiful.

4. Gender equality! And an LBGTQ+ fantasy world! And the author doesn't make a big deal about it. It's just how the world is, and I love it. Even small things like "ladies and lords" made me realise how much I needed a book with gender equality.

5. The world-building. Magical creatures, Elementals, dragoncherry cake. All the cultures are fictional, but they seemed so real!

6. Lysandre, the epic scholar orphan protagonist. How I love her.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book if you like:
- a slower paced book with lots of political intrigue
- really intelligent women
- warrior women and women with daggers
- elemental magic and magical beasts
- gay princes who have fallen for the one person they absolutely shouldn’t have
- discussion about class, oppression and persecution with a common main character surrounded by nobility

and finally:
- a prince who just wants to be smacked around in bed by women who are his intellectual equal

[Rosamund Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to read an advanced copy of this book.


In a world where family connections mean everything, Lysande, an orphan, is nobody. Until, that is, she taken from her orphanage by Sarelin Brey, the queen, and chosen to become part of her household. From a young age, Lysande is obsessed with writing and study, and Sarelin encourages her to be a scholar. As she grows up, Lysande juggles her scholarly work with advising Sarelin and following political intrigues within her country of Elira. But following Sarelin’s poisoning and sudden death, Lysande’s world is upturned, and not just by grief. Sarelin has entrusted a vital and terrifying duty to Lysande: she is appointed Councillor, and must choose which of the five rulers of the city-states will be placed on the throne.

This novel grips the reader from the very beginning. Lysande is a character who truly shines and captures our attention completely. Although she prefers to be by herself in the library, she is no wallflower: she is determined, courageous, and tough as nails, not allowing the complex politics of Elira to get the better of her. Though reluctant at first, Lysande quickly comes to thrive in her role as Councillor, learning to make rapid decisions and weigh up her allies and enemies,. Her insights are vital, as the realm comes under further attack at the hands of the magical White Queen, an old enemy whom Sarelin Brey thought she had defeated for good.

The world of Elira is rich and detailed, and refreshingly populated by queer characters and characters of colour. Though birth and aristocracy matter hugely in the story, there is no discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, or skin colour. This means that marriages between two queens or two princes are possible, and much of the political power rests with women. As well as giving space to powerful and politically savvy women, the novel also challenges concepts of toxic masculinity: in this world, it’s not shameful for men to allow women to take the lead, and they don’t have to take on a dominant role in relationships. Men can equally enjoy perfumes and beautiful clothes, and like to be pampered. By not only allowing women a central role, but also giving male characters space to express themselves in different ways, Beaton points out the inequality in our own society much more shrewdly and successfully than other writers of feminist fantasy.

Lysande is a refreshing characters in lots of ways: though she wants to overturn inequality in her society, she is a flawed person, working in a world that’s trying to squeeze her out. Magical people in Elira are routinely killed, and though Lysande knows this is wrong, she struggles to find ways to stop it. Growing up an orphan, she has witnessed poverty and loss, but, even though she has some political power as the Councillor, she quickly realises how hard it is to make lasting change. Lysande constantly has to compromise, and to weigh up what she can do to promote the most good, without ever truly knowing who her allies are. She’s also impetuous, quick to throw herself into danger, and throughout the novel she’s in the midst of grief, following the death of Sarelin, and her realisation that Sarelin was not the perfect queen Lysande long believed her to be. All this complexity makes Lysande a very memorable and believable character.

This novel also deals with the issue of addiction with care and nuance, something I’ve never seen in a fantasy novel before. Lysande routinely takes “scale”, a drug that seems to be somewhat similar to cocaine in impact, but is made from the ground-up scales of magical creatures called chimeras. Though the scale causes unpleasant side-effects, Lysande takes small quantities daily, and craves the clarity of through and calm the drug brings her. Beaton captures how Lysande incorporates the drug into her daily functioning, and never reduces her personality to “drug addict”: important representation, given how often narratives reduce substance-abusers to nothing more than their addiction. This nuanced take gives the novel an additional dimension.

I recommend The Councillor to anyone who enjoys Machiavellian politics, morally grey characters, and stories about the ways in which we come to compromise ourselves, no matter how idealistic we may be. It’s refreshingly free from tropes about “chosen ones” or “destiny”: instead, it’s a story about the ways in which our life experiences shape us, and how strength of character and hard work are more important than anything that is handed to us. It’s a moving, gripping and complex story, and a really exciting debut. I look forward to more from this world!

[Colleen Dunlap · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the fantasy novel I have been waiting for! There are diverse characters, a bisexual female lead with what could be argued is an anxiety disorder, interesting political intrigue, magic, and immersive world building! To me it's a sign of a well-written novel if you can start to guess the twists as they approach (but still have just that little bit of doubt to keep you in suspense) and E.J. Beaton walked that line perfectly. I am anxiously awaiting the next in the series, and cannot wait to reread this first novel again and again!

Along with the fantastic characters (I'm not sure I've related to any character in the last few years as much as I did to Lysande), the writing is beautiful. The story frequently straddles the line between prose and poetry, and wonderfully depicts the drawing out of herself of the heroine. I was particularly impressed with the way Lysande is shown to slowly come to question the lessons pushed upon her from her childhood and her idolization of her mother-figure/best friend. I honestly could go on and on about all the things I loved in this book (the complicated relationships Lysande has with anyone who attempts to become her friend due to her understanding of how she relates to the world, the depiction of her addiction, the tension between her and Luca Fountaine, basically any scene that included Litany, etc), but will instead start demanding a true-to-the-book TV adaptation!

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

"There was a difference between want and need. You could not comprehend that difference easily, in the inked phrases of a definition; only when you were in the middle of need yourself, sinking to your knees in its alluvium, searching the horizon for a figure, any figure, to haul you out of the cloying sediment, did you understand what it meant to be without choice. Nobody merely wanted to be pulled free by a firm hand. Nobody merely wanted to be seen."

That quote speaks for itself about the writing in this book. :)

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lysande Prior was a no-name orphan girl raised into the highest levels of her society after catching the eye of Sarelin Bray, the Iron Queen of Elira. The queen and the orphaned scholar became the closest of friends, a strange friendship in a society sharply divided by class. But when Sarelin Bray is assassinated, it falls upon Lysande to choose the next monarch from one of the four city-rulers seeking the throne. Each of these rulers is capable of ruling, just as each of them is capable of plotting with the rebellious leader known as the White Queen, but one of them– the charming Luca Fontaine– is as much of a rival as he is a potential ally. With war on the horizon and four contentious claims to the throne to decide upon, Lysande’s knowledge and scholarly skills are tested to their limit, and while she might be a scholar without equal, even she is not immune to the allure of power– or to the addiction to a powerful drug she must hide at all costs.

After the first reading of The Councillor, it will come as no surprise that, like her character Lysande Prior, E.J. Beaton is a scholar. It will also be no surprise that Beaton focused on Machiavellian politics in the realm of Shakespearean theater as well as in more modern fantasy literature. And to top it all off, Beaton is also an award-winning poet. Her expertise is on full display in The Councillor, a political fantasy novel with as many twists and turns as a bestselling thriller, filled with as much rich sensory detail as a historical epic, and written with elegant prose one would expect of an accomplished poet. In short, The Councillor is the rare sort of debut that engulfs the imagination from the opening lines and doesn’t let go until long after the last page has been turned.

Lysande Prior is not an ordinary fantasy hero. She may not even be heroic. While she may be able to wield a blade, she is a scholar first of all and the story reflects this. She is always thinking back to the books she has read, the conversations she has had, the observations she has made. And like any good scholar, she is always willing to reflect and consider her memories in a new context, no matter what or who the subject of that inquiry is, and no matter how much it might hurt to realize that her actions– or those of the people she loves– may have caused more harm than good. Such realizations are painful, but they are necessary to find wisdom.

That’s not to say that Lysande is without faults, or that she is a representative of some mythical Ideal. At her core, Lysande is a Machiavellian figure. To most readers this would indicate that she believes in the notion of ‘the ends justify the means’, but there was always more to Machiavelli’s The Prince than a pithy slogan, and there is more to Lysande Prior than Sarelin Bray’s nickname, ‘the girl with the pen’. On the surface, she is a calm and logical scholar. But peel back that layer to find a calculating observer. And beneath that, there is a woman with a growing taste for power. And the passionate woman with dangerous tastes. And the nascent addict. And, and, and. . . The rest of the characters are just as complex, as Beaton did not forget that, while Lysande may be the point of view character throughout the book, she is not the only person who lives in this world. Whether it is the treacherous Luca Fontaine or the watchful Litany that Lysande is dealing with, there is always a sense that these characters are more than just players coming on and off a stage. With a simple twist of perspective, they could have been the star of show.

The world of Elira is just as carefully crafted, though one may not notice it first. There are no multi-page descriptions of scenery, cultures, or magic. There is no classroom setting in which the characters sit down mid-book to listen to a lecture about their people’s history. The characters inhabit their world, off-handedly mention bits of history or poetry, reference the books they read once upon a time, or talk about fashion, art, and cultural mores as they naturally arise. It is up to the reader, then, to piece together a picture of Elira and its people. Or to infer a world from what is left unsaid. The presence of silk and velvet, for example, suggests a complex fabric industry feeding aristocratic demand for cloth that is sumptuous and difficult to make, as well as emphasizing the difference between rich and poor. Not all fantasy authors are willing to assume that the reader is intelligent enough to put the pieces together without extensive exposition that gets in the way of the story. But Beaton assumes that her readers are clever enough to keep up. This is a breath of fresh air by itself and would set The Councillor apart from many of its bookish peers. But there is another element that sets it apart in the best way: it assumes gender equality as part of the world. Women can be soldiers and men can be fashionable, and neither will be disregarded for their tastes or preferences. In a genre that can imagine talking dragons, wizards, and all manner of fantastical creatures, fantasy still clings to Victorian notions of gender and hand-waves away these outdated norms as somehow “historically accurate”. Despite the talking dragons.

But while The Councillor has its roots firmly in the works of the European Renaissance, it does not fall into old traps. Instead, all characters have their strengths and flaws, and their places in society are not defined by their gender. This means that everyone has a chance to be whatever they choose. It also means that anyone could be a traitor. Lysande Prior may be one of the greatest scholars of her age, but even she has her blind spots. Who lurks in those blind spots and what secrets do they hide? That is the great mystery of The Councillor. Its narrative is compelling from the first line to the last, and while most of the mysteries will have their answers by the end, there are enough openings to make a reader wonder, ‘But what if. . . ?’ It’s questions like that that make a book memorable, and will make readers want to return to it again to find the clues laid out from the beginning, and to revisit a political mastermind in the making.

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Thank you to NetGalley and DAW for providing me with a free ebook in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion in any way.

[Carmela Edel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fantastic debut for EJ Beaton. I enjoyed The Councillor immensely. There are so many elements in this novel that I thought were so refreshing and well-executed.

First, the setting. The world of The Councillor is a gender-equal and queernorm world, and it was a delight to read. There's still discrimination, and a hierarchical society, but no sexism or homophobia, and it was such a great breath of fresh air. The worldbuilding is excellent, too, and EJ Beaton's prose helped describe and flesh out the rich and distinct puzzle realm of Elira.

Second, the plot. This novel is labelled 'Machiavellian fantasy', and I would definitely agree. EJ Beaton weaves and lays down the politics and the conflict so neatly, building tension, getting you to question each characters' motives and who you can or can't trust. She slips clues here and there in such a way that, when the twists and surprises happen, you either have that shocking 'Oh' moment as you think back on all the clues you missed, or that glorious 'Yes!' of realization as you realized your suspicions were correct.

Next, the characters. First, I love the main character. Lysande is a very complex protagonist, a scholar, an introvert, an addict. We spend a lot of time in her carefully calculating head, and if she weren't well-written this book would have fallen flat, but she is such a three-dimensional character, and I feel like I haven't read a protagonist quite like her before.

If I have a complaint, it's that I wish that the side characters had been fleshed out a bit more. It makes sense that there's not as much focus on them, given the story, but for me I walked out of the novel liking them, but not loving them, and wanting to know more. I suppose that's what the sequel is for.

The Councillor didn't quite take me to the emotional heights of some of my other favourite novels - rather, it's more like it left me in awe of the author's incredible writing skills. I eagerly await the sequel with baited breath. 4.75/5 stars.

[MK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy shit. My eyes are taped open right now because I couldn’t go to bed without finishing this, so I will do a proper review tomorrow, but HOLY SHIT!!! I will be thinking about that Sapphire Ball battle scene until I am dead.

Edit: Okay, I’ve slept and this is still all I can think about. Epic fantasy following orphan scholar Lysande Prior who is adopted by the Iron Queen Sarelin and becomes a particular favorite of hers. Sarelin Brey is adored as a warrior queen who defeated the elemental White Queen, who threatened to burn the three lands. To secure peace in the war’s wake, she’s executed all who are found to possess elemental magic, making her unpopular with a powerful minority—and a continued target for the White Queen, who may not be as dead as everyone hoped. When Sarelin is assassinated in front of her beloved ward, Lysande is declared Councillor, a role to determine who among the surrounding royalty will be named Elira’s next monarch. The mysterious Rhimese bastard scholar prince Luca Fountaine who is known for killing his brother, former heir to the throne. The battle honed warrior Irriqi Cassia from Pyhrra who reminds Lysande of her beloved mentor Sarelin. The beautiful prince Jale Chamboise from Lyria who can dance and move like water and cut an enemy down like a blade. Or the serious northern prince Dante who is natural enemies with Southern Lyria, whose prince he is absolutely in love with. The rival leaders and Lysande have to pull together not just for the crown, but the country as the White Queen seems to rise from the ashes. To say nothing of elemental threats from within, and the struggle of reconciling the prejudiced beliefs of a beloved dead queen with the compassionate reality of magical people…

LISTEN I LOVED IT A LOT!!! Lysande is a sharp minded, quietly ambitious, and unexpected MC, especially as the heir to Sarelin, who I loved in our very brief time with her. The exploration of reconciling the public persona and personal knowledge of someone you loved and adored who was in power, and wrestling with their flawed legacy and bad decisions, was poignant and real alongside the grieving process. Lysande does struggle with addiction, and I appreciated that nuanced look too. The character dynamics, the consistent queerness, the subversion of some long held fantasy tropes, and the twists and turns and reveals with elemental magic were great fun. Like Lysande, I tried to stay one step ahead and was often surprised.

If you are into court intrigue, matriarchal adjacent society and the casual flipping and exploration of gender roles, queer culture, and all around great world building, this is for you. How so few have seemed to read this is beyond me. It’s my personal mission to shove it on as many friends as possible and evangelize the good word of this book. READ IT!!! I NEED A SEQUEL LIKE I NEED AIR!!

[Gabriela Figueira · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first review ever, I'm not a native speaker, so I apologize in advance. That being said:
THIS BOOK DESERVES MORE RECOGNITION
1. Lysande is clever and does whatever she wants (after a lot of crafting). She has one of the best character development I've ever seen.
2. The city-rulers are so relatable that it's hard not to cheer for all of them.
3. The ANGST between two characters (You will know what I'm talking about after you read it).
4. I appreciate a well written book more than anything, but this one has a beautiful prose AND an amazing plot! What more can a girl ask for?
5. The ENDING: first, I would like to thank the author for not finishing the book with a cliffhanger; I love when books don't rely on an abrupt ending to keep the reader interested in reading the sequel. Also, I was so shocked at the turn of events that I couldn't put the book down until I finished it, which was at 3AM.

  
    "... fear was a strange beast: you always imagined that your enemies possessed the insights of your own mind."
  

P.S: This is not a fast paced book, which is fine by me. I prefer when the author takes her time to work on worldbuilding and character's background.

[Foz Meadows · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you like gorgeous writing, cunning intrigue, queernormative worldbuilding and bisexual protagonists? Then The Councillor is for you! A compelling, intelligent, ambiently horny debut that tackles classism, desire, persecution, addiction and self-worth in the midst of political scheming over a succession crisis between unified city states. Also featuring: hot princes who pine for one another, magical secrets, female friendships and How To Manage Your Feelings For The Beautiful, Dangerous Man You Want To Bully Sexually (But Who Is Also Potentially A Dangerous Rival And Far Too Clever To Trust). Can't wait for the sequel!

[Selina⚔️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'M STILL SCREAMING EKKK

I'll definitely write a more sensible review dkfkf I just need to gather my braincells

Do note that this book has CC!

Class Consciousness AND Consensual Choking

😂👌

[Bertie (LuminosityLibrary) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Councillor is a brilliant Machiavellian fantasy featuring a bisexual scholar, chimaeras, and a desire for power in many different forms. Although slow-paced and moderately difficult to get into at first, I had a wonderful time reading this book. The characters, the plot, and the political intrigue were all superb; it’s a brilliant debut, and I can’t wait for more. At the heart of it, The Councillor explores power. It investigates how power is upheld, wielded, and if it exists for the ruler, or the people. I'm always a huge fan of political intrigue. The Councillor is a book where you can’t trust anyone. Everyone has their secrets, their hidden desires, and their ambitions. Lysande is tasked with choosing the next ruler, but if she makes a mistake she may be putting a traitor in charge. She's an incredibly complex character; she struggles with drug addiction, and her new role isn’t the easiest for her to adapt to. I also loved that the cast have incredibly distinct voices and are well-developed and nuanced. I loved the casual mlm background relationship. This is a queernorm world, and the conflict couples face isn’t based on their sexuality. One of my favourite aspects of the book was the relationship between Lysande and Luca Fontaine. I’ve never read a book that spent so long describing how sexy a man’s neck is. Lysande loves to dominate her partners, and Luca is more than a little bit interested. I wouldn’t necessarily describe them as love interests, but their relationship has slow-burn tension that I adore.

CW: drug use, drug addiction, violence, death, oppression, genocide.

Thanks to Netgalley and DAW for providing an advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review).

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