I knew before reading that this book dealt with a vengeance/political intrigue narative and colonialism in fantasy, and that it wouldn't pull punches in either, and I *still* was not prepared. The voice and writing are compelling, the characters (specifically the narrator, Sigourney, and her white political rivals/oppressors) both fundamentally reprehensible and three-dimensional, the worldbuilding lush and deep and unapologetically honest about power--over people, politics, self, and narrative. It doesn't let you forget about the narrowness of heroic narratives and the sources and legitimacy of their power, and the people those leave out. Plus the plot keeps you in more and more of a death grip as it goes on. Recommended especially to any fantasy reader.

Once I started reading, I couldn't stop aside from short breaks to let the weight of this work sink through my body. Queen of the Conquered is a sombre expression of oppression and internalised racism mixed up in a fantasy murder-mystery, written by an INCREDIBLY talented author. I loved the way that even though the book was first person in Sigourney's complicated role, her power meant that other views could be expressed clearly and with great impact.

There are some rather intense scenes in this book, the author not shying away from graphic portrayals of brutality, so do be aware if you are hesitant of gore or discussion of any form of assault. I can wholeheartedly say that it was a powerful story and one that was written beautifully and with tact. I look forward to reading more of Kacen Callender's work after seeing the way they treated the creation of this book.

For a lot of this book I thought it would be five stars and it didn’t quite reach it, but I still would really recommend. If you’re looking for a slow paced fantasy story that is very much character based, this is one you should add to your TBR.

The positives: it was beautifully written. The writing style that the author has crafted is so heavy with emotion and it’s hard not to be pulled in.

The characters were so complex and realised, and i think it shows how flat other (read: white) authors write Black characters and people of colour.

The atmosphere of danger and being conflicted between your moral duty and your own ambitions was really expertly done.

The negatives: I felt like there was quite a bit of repetition. I understand that the author was trying to show how heavily certain themes weighed on the protagonist’s mind, but by the end it was getting a bit tedious.

Towards the end, I felt like the pacing should have ramped up for the finale. If you’re not completely enveloped and almost racing through it, it might feel a bit stagnant.

Overall I did enjoy it with some small criticisms, but I’m still looking forward to the sequel coming out later this year.

"They would rather burn the throne to the ground than let you sit on it.”
“Then I’ll sit on its ashes.”

Spoilers follow, as well as trigger warnings for sexual violence. The entirely of this review will be on the subject of slavery and colonialism as well.

So What's It About? (From Goodreads)

Sigourney Rose is the only surviving daughter of a noble lineage on the islands of Hans Lollik. When she was a child, her family was murdered by the islands' colonizers, who have massacred and enslaved generations of her people -- and now, Sigourney is ready to exact her revenge.

When the childless king of the islands declares that he will choose his successor from amongst eligible noble families, Sigourney uses her ability to read and control minds to manipulate her way onto the royal island and into the ranks of the ruling colonizers. But when she arrives, prepared to fight for control of all the islands, Sigourney finds herself the target of a dangerous, unknown magic.

Someone is killing off the ruling families to clear a path to the throne. As the bodies pile up and all eyes regard her with suspicion, Sigourney must find allies among her prey and the murderer among her peers... lest she become the next victim.

What I Thought

Queen of the Conquered is unabashedly hideous. Perhaps it seems redundant to say this about a book entirely about racism, slavery and colonialism. But I think this book's power lies specifically in the fact that time and again it delves unflinchingly and remorselessly into the worst that human beings are capable of, and time and again it comes back with troubling, thought provoking questions about complicity, privilege and the lies we tell ourselves about the harm we do in the world.

On one level, this book is concerned with the psyche of white supremacy - how it relates to greed and material gain, the way that it reifies itself through processes of dehumanization and brutality over centuries. We see the human cost of these oppressive systems in their agonizing reality, and we see the way that colonialism justifies its abuses by insisting that it's actually all for the good of the colonized. Some of the violence in this book is explicit and impossible to ignore, but Callender is just as interested in the subtleties of the racist ideology, showing that even the most enlightened and liberal people of  a privileged group cannot entirely escape that ugly way that that privilege was earned or the insidious way that white supremacy weeds its way into the mind.

On another level, this book is equally interested in the psyche of a very specific class of people: those with some modicum of privilege and societal power who are nevertheless oppressed in other aspects of their identity. This is where Callender explores something that I've rarely seen explored in fiction: the way that a person of a marginalized identity may become complicit in a system of oppression because they are privileged in other ways and stand to profit from the system of oppression because of that aspect of privilege. Sigourney is black, yes, but she is a free woman who controls her own island - and therefore reports to the kongelig and upholds the massive mechanism of slavery that keeps the colony running.

She is an incredibly complicated character - there are moments of clarity where she is full of self-loathing for her complicity in her own people's oppression, but for every one of those there are ever more where she justifies her actions to herself, telling herself that she is using her privilege for a noble cause, telling herself that she could not achieve her goals of overthrowing the kongelig without playing by their rules. But I don't think it's actually justice for her people that she is after, merely selfish vengeance at the cost of the people she currently enslaves. She tells herself that the ends justify the means, but how can this be true if the means are slavery, murder and rape?

The twist at the end of this book is absolutely fantastic, and I'd rather not spoil it for anyone. Rather, all I'll say is that with the story moving in its current direction I couldn't be more excited to see what happens next- oppression may divide the oppressed, and the ultimate revelation of how this may be weaponized was excellent.

My main concerns about Queen of the Conquered involve the pacing issues created by the inclusion of Sigourney's kraft, which is psychic magic. This ends up taking the form of infodumps about people's lives, and while the majority of the psychological profiles were interesting I have to admit that it could be frustrating for the plot to slow to a crawl every few pages while Sigourney explained every character's secrets and thoughts. The reveal at the end was explained solely by Sigourney reading people's minds, which felt like an odd way to convey the most important part of the story.  In addition, I ended up getting a little impatient with the way that Callender repeated the same world-building and exposition points more than once. I sometimes appreciate this if the world is especially complex, but in this case I didn't think it was necessary.

I also read a lot of reviews that complained about Sigourney as a protagonist, which I think boils down to how comfortable you are subjectively with morally-grey and deluded protagonists. She repeatedly makes terrible decisions and engages in despicable practices such as forcing her slaves to sleep with her, and she could be extremely hard to stomach at times. I'm able to sit with a protagonist I despise as long as the hatefulness is in service of an interesting point, which I think it is in this case. But if you don't like reading about shitty people...well, stay away from this one.

pretty bone chilling, picks up quite a bit at the end. a lot of graphic scenes.

I had a hard time with this book. The beginning started out great but then it just kind of petered out for me and seemed to drag on forever.

4.5 stars. I wish it wasn't written in present tense but overall a good book, I'll definitely read the rest of the series

I knew there were parts of this that I wouldn't like, but I had hoped to like the characters better. But, I didn't really like any of them and felt like one horrible thing after another happened without a solid character to connect to. Just wasn't for me.