The Hundredth Queen
Written by Emily R. King
Narrated by Lauren Ezzo
4/5
()
About this audiobook
In Emily R. King’s thrilling fantasy debut, an orphan girl blossoms into a warrior, summoning courage and confidence in her fearless quest to upend tradition, overthrow an empire, and reclaim her life as her own.
As an orphan ward of the Sisterhood in the ancient Tarachand Empire, eighteen-year-old Kalinda is destined for nothing more than a life of seclusion and prayer. Plagued by fevers, she’s an unlikely candidate for even a servant’s position, let alone a courtesan or wife. Her sole dream is to continue living in peace in the Sisterhood’s mountain temple.
But a visit from the tyrant Rajah Tarek disrupts Kalinda’s life. Within hours, she is ripped from the comfort of her home, set on a desert trek, and ordered to fight for her place among the rajah’s ninety-nine wives and numerous courtesans. Her only solace comes in the company of her guard, the stoic but kind Captain Deven Naik.
Faced with the danger of a tournament to the death—and her growing affection for Deven—Kalinda has only one hope for escape, and it lies in an arcane, forbidden power buried within her.
Emily R. King
Emily R. King is a reader of everything and a writer of fantasy. Born in Canada and raised in the USA, she has perfected the use of “eh” and “y’all” and uses both interchangeably. Shark advocate, consumer of gummy bears, and islander at heart, Emily’s greatest interests are her four children. She’s a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and an active participant in her local writers’ community. She lives in Northern Utah with her family and their cantankerous cat.
More audiobooks from Emily R. King
The Hundredth Queen
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Titles in the series (4)
The Hundredth Queen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fire Queen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rogue Queen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Warrior Queen Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
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Reviews for The Hundredth Queen
218 ratings9 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Action packed and intense
It’s full of pain and heartache along with joy and love. It’s has great descriptions so I felt like I could see them and the setting in my mind. I have had this on my TBR list for some time now and I’m glad I finally was able to read and enjoy it. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you should! - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5It an original story, but the main female get out quite easy of her troubles and for it to be interesting. I believe that she had it so easy that it destroyed the complexity of the plot. Despite that, the idea and the world is alluring and worth the try to get to know about it.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Did not finish. The white author built a that seemed world heavily influenced by Indian and perhaps Tibetan culture and seemed a little loosey goosey with its creation which was a big ole red flag, followed by the young (18f) mc immediately being married off to a much much older man without her consent, it was kinda icky. Unrelated, the mc seems to be infatuated with the first man she sees and that’s kinda boring. Easy to listen to and good narration of that doesn’t bother you.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This book was a weird ride. Jaya totally stole my heart. The main character kalinda was a little flat. Perhaps more development will be had for her in the next installment. The world building was strong, largely because it drew from old realities.
I will have to see where the rest of this ride takes me. - Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5SPOILERS
OMG, I want to scoop my eyes out my head with a spoon. I am going to start by saying that lately, all I’ve been reading is one poorly written story after another. I do not write reviews of less than three stars, but this will no longer be my policy.
I kept seeing The Hundredth Queen pup up as a recommended read, and I was asked by a friend to read it and give her a recommendation if to read it or not. So, I found a Barnes and Nobles copy and bought it. I decided to give it a shot. Now I want my money back.
Lord have mercy; this story is one big cliché extravaganza. It has little to no world-building, the characters are flat, and the romance is best described as instalove. You have your share of mean girls and nasty people, but for the life of me I am still wondering why Kalinda was selected to be the hundredth wife if she was described as plain. If she is bad at fighting then how in the world, in the first few chapters she defeats a strong opponent? If she is plain then why is she called "beautiful" by many others?
In the very start of the book, we see Kalinda meeting the guy who will be the love of her life. What did he do to reach that level of admiration? Okay, puppy love, love at first sight, I am willing to accept it. But what about the guy? Deven is supposed to be her protector, and throughout the story, he does a piss poor job at guiding and protecting her. Which begs the question, how did he ever achieve his position? And where is the chemistry between him and Kalinda? There was no romance progression, and I was left thinking this must have been a mistake.
So, this is a story about women fighting to gain status in a royal setting. However, why and what would it be the purpose of moving up in the rank? I still don’t know.
So Kalinda gets chosen to be Rajah Tarek's 100th wife. I am still trying to figure out why. Then she finds out she must compete with the other 99 wives in a rank tournament, why? I am not sure why, so I am going to say, I don’t know. I think it has something to do with a god that had 100 wives.
There is a love triangle that is absolutely nonsensical.
Now, you will find a side plot hidden in between all the tournaments to the death, and the women being bitches to each other in the palace. Why they are bitches? Simple, because everyone hates Kalinda and Kalinda hates everyone, why? I don’t know because the book doesn’t say.
I am assuming that is because when you have 100 bitchy women fighting to the death and for control and one man, you have war. But because this is a fantasy story you must have magic and because the author used India as the basis of the culture the magical creatures are called the bhuta. They want something that Rajah stole, and then I got a brain fart because I did not care what happened to any of them. I was hoping Alien and Predator would come and start fighting in the tournaments and they be the final winners and then Rajah had to use them two as his one and two only concubines for life.
This book is the first I give a review with a one star ever. This book could have been a great story, but it needed the tender loving care of a developmental editor. To be completely honest the last ten chapters I only skim through them; I lost interest. Maybe in the future, I will sit and give those last few chapters my full attention, but it will not be anytime soon. - Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5This book just made me mad
The initial premise was intriguing, a woman chosen to be the 100th wife to a king and her fighting to keep her position. But then it gets muddled by Avatar-Air-bender-like beings, a king who wants to raise the dead, and a forbidden love between the protagonist and her guard...
It could work if the editor actually did their job or the author was more skilled. Unfortunately neither was the case.
Conversations between characters were just info dumps, events aren't given enough time to build up relevancy before they are resolved, and the love story is superficial at best.
I just got more and more annoyed as the book went on. I couldn't even finish it; I got through 70% of it before I just skimmed through the rest. By the looks of it, I don't miss out on much.
This is definitely a do-not-buy. - Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The writing style is enjoyable and the constant action kept the book alive. Going into the book, I had two main expectations: fights/duels ("[Kali was] ordered to fight for her place") and "the stoic but kind Captain Deven Naik."
If you are looking for cool fight scenes, rigorous training, or warriors getting fussy about honor and cheating, this is not the book for you. Those one-on-one fights I had been so anticipating ended up being, for the most part, the decorative content of two paragraphs in between the other events of the book. Our dear protagonist Kali was not prolific in her descriptions of violence, which speaks well of her sensibilities and character but not of her qualities as a gripping storyteller.
Regarding the Captain: no spoilers here, but his actions are more aptly described as inconsistent and dramatic rather than stoic.
While no resolution is made, a main theme of The Hundredth Queen is the impotency of women in this constructed society. I was shocked by how dispassionate Kali was in her description of what we would call abusive situations. The more I thought about it, the more repulsive it seemed, and I nearly stopped reading. But I think that's the point. If Kali's worldview sees these things as normal, it is a direct product of the environment in which she grew up. Of course she isn't outraged by these things, they happen all the time. Therein lies the heart of the matter. The theme I took away was the unresolved question: what atrocities have we normalized because they are 'the way things have always been'?
I do not mean this as a political rant, and I do not believe the book had such pretensions either. I merely wish to describe how shocking it is to read about a heroine whose mindset is not 'revolutionary' to the other members of their society. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5It was OK as a quick read but not a fan of the instalove and I won't bother to carry on with the series.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Interesting story line with fast pace. Good writing, however some of the characters could be more developed.