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Upon the Flight of the Queen (The Ring-Sworn Trilogy Book 2) Kindle Edition
Howard Andrew Jones (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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“A fast-paced adventure combined with an engrossing mystery, all set in a unique and original fantasy world. I can't wait to find out what happens next!” —Martha Wells, Hugo Award-winning author on For the Killing of Kings
In this sequel to For the Killing of Kings, Howard Andrew Jones returns to the ring-sworn champions of the Altenerai in Upon the Flight of the Queen to continue this thrilling, imaginative and immersive epic fantasy trilogy.
While the savage Naor clans prepare to march on the heart of the Allied Realms, Rylin infiltrates the highest of the enemy ranks to learn their secrets and free hundreds of doomed prisoners. His ailing mentor Varama leads the ever-dwindling Altenerai corps in a series of desperate strikes to cripple the Naor occupiers, hoping for a relief force that may not come in time to save what’s left of the city and her charges.
Elenai, Kyrkenall, and the kobalin Ortok ride through the storm-wracked Shifting Lands to rekindle an alliance with the ko’aye, the only possible counter to the terrible Naor dragons. Even if they survive the hazardous trek deep through kobalin territory to find the winged lizards, though, the three are unlikely to get a warm reception, for the queen of the five realms refused to aid the ko’aye when their homelands were attacked, and the creatures have long memories.
While the Altenerai fight impossible odds to save the realms, their queen delves further and deeper into the magic of the mysterious hearthstones in a frantic attempt to unlock secrets that might just destroy them all.
Praised for his skills in drafting modern epic fantasy that engrosses and entertains, Howard Andrew Jones delivers a sequel that expands the amazing world, relationships, and adventure introduced in the first book of this series.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherSt. Martin's Press
- Publication date19 November 2019
- File size5065 KB
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- ASIN : B07P9LQ74P
- Publisher : St. Martin's Press (19 November 2019)
- Language : English
- File size : 5065 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 424 pages
- Page numbers source ISBN : 1250148804
- Best Sellers Rank: 700,414 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 6,329 in Fantasy Action & Adventure
- 11,800 in Epic Fantasy (Kindle Store)
- 12,263 in Sword & Sorcery Fantasy (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Howard Jones’s debut historical fantasy novel, The Desert of Souls, (Thomas Dunne Books 2011), was widely acclaimed by influential publications like Library Journal, Kirkus, and Publisher’s Weekly, where it was labeled “a splendid flying-carpet ride.” It made Kirkus’ New and Notable list for 2011, and was on both Locus’s Recommended Reading List and the Barnes and Noble Best Fantasy Releases list of 2011. Additionally, The Desert of Souls was a finalist for the prestigious Compton Crook Award, and a featured selection of The Science Fiction Book Club. Its sequel, The Bones of the Old Ones, will become available on December 11, 2012. He is hard at work on a third historical fantasy novel about Dabir and Asim as well as a sequel to his Pathfinder Tales novel, Plague of Shadows.
Howard was the driving force behind the rebirth of interest in Harold Lamb’s historical fiction, and assembled and edited 8 collections of Lamb’s work for the University of Nebraska Press. He served as Managing Editor of Black Gate magazine from 2004 onward, and still blogs regularly at the magazine web site.
When not helping run his small family farm or spending time with his wife and children, he can be found hunched over his laptop or notebook, mumbling about flashing swords and doom-haunted towers. He’s worked variously as a TV cameraman, a book editor, a recycling consultant, and most recently, as a writing instructor at a mid-western college.
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Summarizing a sequel can be tough without spoiling its predecessor, but the following overview will try as it showcases why you should commit to Ring-Sworn. Upon the Flight of the Queen starts off exactly where For the Killing of Kings ends. The adventure begins in high-gear with Alten Rylin assuming his action-thriller role (~James Bond) penetrating the Naor camp disguised in magic, dragging the reader into mayhem. A map was not necessary for the first book, but Upon the Flight of the Queen expands the scope of action across the Five Realms and a map appropriately complements the story.
The primary story arc still focuses on the coming of age of the female squire Elenai, a soldier with burgeoning magic prowess. Her rise in the Altenerai ranks is compelling. On her journey she campaigns with seasoned members who are still reeling from the previous war; their commander was killed, and their Queen Leonara decided to make temporary peace rather than annihilate the barbaric Naor enemies. War rages across the Five Realms of the Dendressi again, but now the Altenerai forces are less prepared, less numerous, and less united. By the end of this sequel, the new war with the Naor reaches a major milestone, and the Queen is confronted by the Altenerai. Upon the Flight of the Queen delivers on all the tension brewed in For the Killing of Kings, and you’ll still be left hungry for a third installment.
HAJ applies the same intense momentum from his Sword & Sorcery short fiction into these novels. Even though the Ring-Sworn epic spans a continent with dozens of characters, it propels without any filler. Likewise, despite there being ample political intrigue with the loyal Altenerai have been replaced with secretive Exalts of Queen, the conflict pulls no punches. HAJ simultaneously covers:
• Remnants of the past war (readers will learn about many of the Altenerai who went MIA previously)
• The current escalating war across three major fronts (the besieged Alantris, the corrupted Darassus; the lands about Vedessus)
• An impending cataclysm (meddling with hearthstones unsettles the foundation of the Five Realms).
How Can so Much Ground be Covered so Fast and Smoothly? The carefully designed milieu enables the efficient storytelling and informs everything: the magic systems, the health of the land, and every character’s motivations. The Naor, the kobalin, the Dendressi… all have cultures, and biology, intimately tied to the Five Realms and the conflicts between them. The Naor and ko’aye fight over nesting lands, the hearthstones obsessed by the Queen literally tap into the land’s substance, and as nature is reshaped, so too are the kobalin’s bodies.
Expect a Diverse Cast, with Contemporary Issues and Comic Relief: Don’t expect dwarves, elves, and such, since HAJ is always motivated to create fresh experiences. The Ring-Sworn has a unique cast of humanoid creatures, like the kobalin Ortok who provides humor as a fierce frenemy: if Ortok respects you, then he’ll challenge you to a duel to the death. Ortok’s banter and social analyses are hilarious. A few of the cast are sexually nonbinary (orientations are not a focus of the story, just low-key matters of fact). The macho Rylin certainly tries to charm more women than he deserves, but he is driven to be chivalrous and his approach to relations matures during the adventure. Gender roles even add tension amongst the masculine Naor ranks. Despite a requisite dose of masculinity (via testosterone-fueled violence), women play a dominant role in the book. In addition to Elenai’s role as lead protagonist, all the governors of the realms are female: Queen Leonara of Darassus, Verena of Vedessuus, and Feolia of Alantris.
The antagonistic Naor disdain modern sensibilities and civilization. They love to coerce/enthrall dragons to fight on their behalf, they ransack nesting grounds of the ko'aye and harvest blood from hundreds of people to fuel their blood-sorcery (sacrificial “olech” ceremonies). All that just makes them really entertaining, bad guys. While the standard humans are fascinated with hearthstone magic (at the expense of the land’s health), the Naor are thrilled to practice blood magic (at the expense of life).

Upon the Flight of the Queen reads quickly, and keeps the narrative fresh by hopping between several interrelated character threads in the style of modern fantasy novels. The Realms where the story is set are a fascinating fantasy land, with magically altered denizens living side by side with feudal serfs. The great heroes are exponentially more powerful than the common man, and magic remains truly mysterious – throughout the story, the reader is never fully informed as to why certain people look different from the rest or have special powers, no more than the denizens of the world know. The Realms dissolve into chaos at their edges, and appear to be floating in a sea of strange energy – or so we start to understand in this volume. There is a deeper truth to this world, its people, and it history. The previous volume in the series, For the Killing of Kings, revealed the first hidden truths in this setting: the gods weren’t gods, but simply powerful mortals who acquired world-building powers. Upon the Flight of the Queen reveals another layer of truth behind that: the victor writes history, and the gods’ reputations as they are now known reflects only select deities’ perspective on the truth. There are other perspectives, it seems, and perhaps other truths. And, apparently, a physical layer to the world which lies beneath the bedrock upon which these characters walk.
In the midst of this unfolding crocus of world-building, we have a fast-paced narrative of fantasy heroes fighting off an invasion from without and treason from within. The characters are distinctive and in many cases quite entertaining. The combat scenes are well-scripted: easy to follow, precise, entertaining, and something I could easily visualize as I read them. And the storyline keeps you engaged. I have to admit, I stayed up later than I should have on more than one night to keep reading until I could find out what happens next. This book will make you do that.


