Friday 31 July 2020

The Royals of Dharia, books 2 and 3: Second Daughter and First Daughter

The other day I reviewed the first book in this series, I have since read the other two books.
The Royals of Dharia (3 Book Series) by  Susan Kaye Quinn
Given the titles of the subsequent books, I was pleasantly surprised to see they are both still written from the perspective of Amiri, the Third Daughter.  In the first book, you fall in love with this independent young woman, so I am glad to see how the story develops through her eyes.

At the start of the second book we discover that Seledri, the Second Daughter of Dharia, has been poisoned, so Amiri postpones her wedding to go care for her sister.  This is complicated by the fact that Seledri, is is also married to the man in line for the Samir throne, but all is not at peace there, and it looks as if all is heading towards war.

The third book looks at Nahali, the First Daughter of Dharia, who has to take over from her mother who is injured, to be acting Queen of Dharia in this time of war.  In the role that she was born for can she work with her younger sister Amiri to achieve peace, or is she more concerned with her reputation and rule?

I read these books in a few days, I really enjoyed them.  

I hadn't realised that they were written in "Bollywood style" until I read the reviews after writing my own a few days ago.  Having chosen the book based on title and author's name (Q in my list, if you're following), I had no idea.  Yet, in my mind's eye, I did place the story in the kind of Indoasian landscape, whether it's 'realistic' or not, totally bypassed me as I'm used to reading fantasy.
Similarly I hadn't come across Steampunk as a specific literary genre - I just think of it as a fantasy / SciFi crossover - but that really fits, and I will be looking out for more books along these lines.

There are twists and turns in these books, romance, politics, and advancing technology.  If only there were dragons, it would be my perfect book!

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