In preparation for The Ikessar Falcon Book Tour, I've read The Wolf of Oren-yaro for the first time during Wikathon and I LOVED IT! If you want to know my thoughts on the first book of the Chronicles of the Bitch Queen, click HERE.

*I received an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book from the publisher and Caffeine Book Tours as part of my participation in their tour.

Title: The Ikessar Falcon (Chronicles of the Bitch Queen#2)

Author: K.S. Villoso

Publisher: Orbit Books

Release Date: 24th September 2020

Genre: Adult Fantasy

Synopsis:

The Bitch Queen returns in The Ikessar Falcon, the action-packed sequel to K. S. Villoso’s acclaimed fantasy debut, The Wolf of Oren-Yaro.

Abandoned by her people, Queen Talyien’s quest takes a turn for the worse as she stumbles upon a plot deeper and more sinister than she could have ever imagined, one that will displace her king and see her son dead. The road home beckons, strewn with a tangled web of deceit and unimaginable horrors – creatures from the dark, mad dragons and men with hearts hungry for power.

To save her land, Talyien must confront the myth others have built around her: Warlord Yeshin’s daughter, symbol of peace, warrior and queen and everything she could never be.

The price for failure is steep. Her friends are few. And a nation carved by a murderer can only be destined for war.

BOOK LINKS: Amazon | B&N | BOOK DEPOSITORY | INDIEBOUND | GOODREADS

* * *

As I have told you on my review of The Wolf of Oren-yaro, I was not really that excited on diving on to the next book right away because, let's face it, The Wolf of Oren-Yaro didn't actually leave us with a very positive note. I read other light books to get myself ready for The Ikessar Falcon, and guess what? Queen Talyien's life is adorned with wonderful adventures left and right, I can't even keep up.

"They called me the Bitch Queen, the she-wolf,

because I murdered a man and exiled my king the night before they crowned me."

- - -

iconic.

The Sequel to The Wolf of Oren-Yaro still has its same effect. It retained its visualization of all character's distinct characters, and how each would act based on who they are as different set individuals with different ideals, in one setting. There were surprising character arcs that I have come to adore, which I wouldn't think I'd be able to do in a million years before I read this book. Like, hey, Lo Bahn? Siz, what is up with that!

This book also offered a wider view of the world and even extended into unsettling turn of events (for me). The first book really offered me a fantasy that is as close to reality as it can get. It centered around political intrigues or conspiracies or something and cultural differences and complexities of an empire compared to a small nation and all that. Although it hinted a bit about magic right in the middle towards the end, I was really surprised at how it took a bigger portion of the second book and I wasn't ready with that sudden shift. I wasn't ready with the monsters. I was ready with the dragons but with some other magic-aspects of the book? I was really taken aback by that.

Taking all that aside, K.S. Villoso still managed to take me on a roller coaster ride with her writing and the twists and turns of the story. If I even managed to think that the first book is a loooong journey for our characters, I withdraw that. The Ikessar Falcon takes you on a LOOOONGER journey with more intricate pawns in the game and you'll really start to wonder, when will it ever end? Well, duh, of course by the end of book three! Now who's excited for that? Well, of course, US!

The Ikessar Falcon is a good sequel to a great book that is The Wolf of Oren-Yaro if not for the exhaustion it brought me. Everywhere Queen Talyien look, there's trouble and their tangled lives just keeps on getting worse and worse. Will the queen ever find peace? Will she ever get the chance to learn and accept who she really is and peel away the Talyien that people are expecting her to be? That's for you to find out and that's for me to mull over for the next days to come.

[See, all of my favorite quotes centered around Queen Talyien's struggle with who she truly is and what she ought to be to get the respect that wasn't easily given to her]

* I would love to dive in on all the characters especially Khine and the many aspects of his character that mirrors the reality of the society we live in today. And hey, don't even get me started with men getting millions of opportunities to get their shit together but not the women who can never redeem herself once she made a wrong decision. That's for the next blog post because if I do dive on that, I might give away some spoilers and we don't want that, do we?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

K.S. Villoso was born in a dank hospital on an afternoon in Albay, Philippines, and things have generally been okay since then. After spending most of her childhood in a slum area in Taguig (where she dodged death-defying traffic, ate questionable food, and fell into open-pit sewers more often than one ought to), she and her family immigrated to Vancouver, Canada, where they spent the better part of two decades trying to chase the North American Dream. She is now living amidst the forest and mountains with her family, children, and dogs in Anmore, BC.

Author links:

WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | GOODREADS | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER

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