The Queen of Swords
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4.7 • 13 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
1720. Escaping the gallows, Anne Bonney, theinfamous pirate queen, sets sail in search of a fabulous treasure said to behiding in a lost city of bones somewhere in the heart of Africa. But what she finds is a destiny she never expected . . . .
1870. Maude Stapleton is a respectable widow raising a daughter on her own. Few know, however, that Maude belongs to anancient order of assassins, the Daughters of Lilith, and heir to the legacy of Anne Bonney, whose swashbuckling exploits blazed a trail that Maude must now follow—if she ever wants to see her kidnapped daughter again!
Searching for her missing child, come hell or high water, Maude finds herself caught in the middle of a secret war between the Daughters of Lilith and their ancestral enemies, the monstrous Sons ofTyphon, inhuman creatures spawned by primordial darkness, she embarks on a perilous voyage that will ultimately lead her to the long-lost secret of Anne Bonney—and the Father of All Monsters.
Oneof the most popular characters from The Six-Gun Tarot and The Shotgun Arcana now ventures beyond the Weird West on a boldly imaginative, globe-spanning adventure of her own!
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Belcher's enjoyable third historical fantasy (after The Shotgun Arcana) employs considerable imagination to drop readers into a fully formed world of magic and mysticism, drawing on ancient cultures and rituals while serving up exciting action sequences. It's 1870, and Maude Stapleton has returned to Charleston, S.C., from the Nevada mining town of Golgotha. She's determined to get custody of her 14-year-old daughter, Constance, and claim her rightful inheritance. Distractions abound as Constance is attacked by assassins who serve the evil Sons of Typhon, but Maude is a member of the Daughters of Lilith and has trained for this very eventuality. Meanwhile, in 1721, the pirate Anne Bonny breaks out of jail, gives birth to her son, and sets off to discover the secrets of a mysterious chest and find her fortune. The tastiest tidbits lie in Anne's story line, which takes her from the raging sea to the heart of Africa, where nuanced characterizations transcend some pulp adventure clich s. Fans of the Golgotha series will adore this, and new readers will find a rich new world to fall into as well as two very strong heroines to root for.
Customer Reviews
Another wonderful book in a wonderful series
We're three for three at this point. True, this book takes a different direction from the other two, focusing primarily on the Daughters of Lilith, but that makes for quite an epic story. One thing I continue to love is the way Belcher throws everything into his stories—including the kitchen sink! We've got Western, pirates, Lovecraftian monsters, visions, quests, courtroom drama, ancient magic ... to say nothing of intriguing characters, intertwining backstories, fast pacing ... and I know I'm leaving things out. On top of all that, over the course of these three books, Golgatha has become a place as real in the heart of this reader as any place in physical reality. I took a long time to read this book because to my knowledge, the next book hasn't been announced yet, and I wanted to make it last as long as possible. As much as I did thoroughly enjoy this book, I do hope the next one, whenever it comes, takes us back to the town. I miss my friends there.