Genre: Fantasy, New Adult, Young Adult
LGBTQ+ Category: Gay
Reviewer: Estora
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About The Book
The epic conclusion to the LGBTQ fantasy series.
King Anden of Vindra stands against High Queen Telmaine, a clash of crowns that will determine the fate of the continent. The Berossian Empire launches its forces in a great crusade, but an unexpected voice rises in the form of a barefoot priestess, whose messages of peace spread like wildfire, threatening to derail the empire’s war effort and shake its very foundations.
Cities will burn. Generals will fall. History repeats itself as Anden finds himself at sea, torn between saving his kingdom and the man he loves.
The final book of the CELESTIA trilogy is a breathtaking tale of love and sacrifice, choices and destiny. When Celestia is drawn for the last time, who will shape the world to come?
The Review
This review contains spoilers for the first two books in the Celestia Trilogy, Prince of Dawn and Lord of Dust – so make sure to read my reviews (linked under the titles above) for those first before diving in to this one!
Telmaine, the ruthless High Queen of the Berossian Empire, has commenced her holy war across the sea and across the continent. King Anden of Vindra, his lover River Fox, his wife by duty Queen Colleen, and his allies are about to face their darkest and most difficult days.
Queen of Blood picks up right where Lord of Dust left off, and it does not waste time in diving into the harshness and bloody war that has been building since book one. Our characters are no longer innocent and uncertain; these are battle-scarred adults who are driven by purpose, tormented by what they’ve lost, and held captive by a duty only they can perform.
This is a brutal book. If you thought the characters went through it in the first two, then Queen of Bloodraises the bar again. The brutality of war is not shied away from. Nicola Zhang’s prose during battle scenes and a particularly haunting invasion and sack of a beloved city is stunning. I felt like I was right there in the city during the worst of it – heart racing, cold sweat, the whole deal.
Ever since I picked up Prince of Dawn, the first book in this series, I have been obsessed with the depth and strength of Nicola Zhang’s characters – but in particular, the women of the series, with Mara (Anden’s cousin, a princess-turned-mad priestess) and Colleen (Anden’s friend and princess of Flavia) being my absolute favourites. In book three, we get a new point of view – Queen Telmaine – and let me tell you… she is so intriguing, ruthless and complex that she almost took the place of my favourite character from Colleen. ALMOST.
Because my heart continued to break for Colleen in this novel, and for the first time in the series, I found myself truly angry with Anden and River for their callousness towards her during the most vulnerable and lonely time of her life, while also understanding the difficult situation all three of them were in. But Colleen went from strength to strength – refusing to be treated as the afterthought, and pushed for her agency and right to be heard and seen.
I guess my only complaint… is that there wasn’t more to read! I sincerely hope Zhang revisits Celestia in the future – but if not, then the Celestia Trilogy comes highly recommended as your next epic fantasy read.
The Reviewer
Nicola Zhang is the author of the Celestia trilogy, an epic LGBTQ coming-of-age fantasy adventure. A lover of ancient military history, she once appeared on the BBC’s Mastermind with Alexander the Great as her specialist subject. She lives in Melbourne with her husband, a ginger cat, and a fluffy white dog determined to keep the cat’s mischief in check.
