Review : The Queen of Izmoroz by Jon Skovron

𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗹𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗮𝘁. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗱, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗦𝗼𝗻𝘆𝗮 𝗰o𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲.

• Release date : April 20th 2021
• Publishing house : Orbit
• Series : The Goddess War
• Pages : 438

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Spoilers ahead

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Characters :

Sonya : During the first book, she foolishly concluded an alliance with the Uaine which may have rooted out the Empire but we see the consequences of that trust. Driven out of her country, she joins her friend Jorge on his travel to his country.

𝗦𝗼𝗻𝘆𝗮 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗥𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀. 𝗕ut 𝗦𝗼𝗻𝘆𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝘇𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗹𝗲𝗶𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝘀𝗵𝗲’𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝗦𝗼𝗻𝘆𝗮’𝘀 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀, 𝗴𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘆𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗵. 𝗗𝗶𝗱 𝗦𝗼𝗻𝘆𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗱?

While in The Ranger of Marzanna, Sonya did not really question the Lady (except maybe by the end of the book), she does a complete U-turn by not wanting to be a Ranger anymore. She realises that their goddess only see them as pawns in the game some goddesses seem to play (showed by the interludes). Like her brother, she doesn’t want to be an instrument of death but the events force her to act as such.

Sebastian : Part of the military detachment stationed in Izmoroz, Sonya’s brother chose to accompany the remaining forces back to the Aureumian’s Empire capital with his mother and his commander. But questions begin to plague his mind as he reconsiders the so-called goodness of the Empire. Furthermore, him losing control back in the city and killing a lot of people affected him a lot and he is trying to use his magic for something else than killing and destroying. That’s why the Empress sent him to Kante to help « rebuild the town » but things don’t go as scheduled.

As the book goes on, he becomes more inclined to think by himself on how to resolve the issues at hand (for instance the uprising in Raiz. While the Empress asked him to quell it by force, Sebastian is willing to talk things through with the leaders of the rebellion to address the problems.

𝗪𝗮𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿-𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝘆𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗹𝘀, 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻’𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲.

Galina : Wanting to restore Izmoroz to its former glory, Galina went to great lengths to do just that. With two rangers helping her, she begins by rallying the people to her cause so that she could take power by ousting the council of nobles. In her opinion, they are now useless as the only thing they’ve been doing is to bicker amongst themselves and think only of them.  

I didn’t think she’d do something like that. Underneath her innocence but extremely well-read character, she hides a lot of backbone! While in the first book, she always seemed a bit too mannered, here, she doesn’t hesitate to invest herself by doing things that would be unbecoming of her status.

Story :

I’ve found this book to be much better than book 1. I may have been a bit too harsh when I wrote my review of the first book here.

The world expanded a lot in this sequel! We are taken to the capital of the Aureum Empire (Magna Alto), Kante and Raiz. The latter was the most interesting, especially the Viajeros with their unique magic. They use the arts (singing, dancing, painting…) to confuse people and it’s rather effective given what they were able to do to the front lines of the Aureum Empire’s army.

Mythology has always been important in the series and Skovron delves deeper here in this field. The interludes with the goddesses playing a game of manipulation were a great touch! I’m waiting to see where it will lead.

Overall, The Queen of Izmoroz was a good improvement over the first book. He further developed the characters, expanded the world and gave us higher stakes. Morality plays a great part in the book, each character discovers what their naivety has cost them. They are not restricted to either good or bad. Sometimes the characters cross the line and commit ugly deeds because of emotions, youth and so on.