Steven South

If you enjoy Young Adult Epic Fantasy fiction or know someone who does, you should check out The Queen of Steel and Fire by Steven South. This book chronicles the adventure of Queen Claire, who becomes queen after her father dies. She attempts to be the queen her people need. With another queen after her crown and even her life, Claire finds herself and her people fighting against both this enemy queen as well as Claire’s own brother.

Claire finds herself figuring out who to trust and who seeks to take her crown. Even Death comes after Claire with determination. The characters and storyline kept my interest. As a homeschooling mother, I found this book easy to read and enjoy. If it had been around when my children were still being homeschooled, I definitely would have bought it for them. So check it out for yourself.

I received a complimentary copy of this book, but this in no way influenced my review. All opinions are my own.… (més)

The story is set where castles, knights and queens abound. You can tell from the opening pages that this would be a tale of power and faith. Claire is quite young to become Queen but after the death of her father the King she has no choice. From the beginning she knew that her life would be in danger. Her discernment is good and helps her as enemies from everywhere try to kill her. It was hard to read some of the death scenes because I thought is was too graphic for my taste. As I’ve heard sometimes, “less is more.”

I like that Claire isn’t worried about her looks and expresses that by telling others it shouldn’t matter what she looks like, rather how comfortable she is with herself. I thought that was such a good statement for all of us to take in. The world judges by looks but God sees the heart. Claire knows that her father was murdered and sets out to find out who it was. She will have many trials ahead as she seeks the truth.

It was nice to see dragons displayed as good rather than evil like they usually are in other stories. Their power is undeniable and I knew they would protect Claire. It was intriguing to read how the dragons battled with all they had. They were quick in their mission but soon more danger would follow Claire as she races against the enemy. The author definitely got my attention as Claire becomes a Dragon Knight. How impressive she was as she conquered the many tests thrown at her.

This story is everything a fantasy fan will like with battles that are not for the weak and an enemy that will do whatever is necessary to destroy Claire and anyone that stands with her. I began to wonder who she could really trust as an unlikely traitor is found. I liked how the author is able to blend faith in the story and watch as Claire begins to believe in pray and the one true God.

The ending is action packed and I loved the fight scenes even though I would have liked a less graphic look at it. The author does a good job of setting up for the next book in this series. I can’t wait to see what he has in store next in this fantasy world he has created.

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.… (més)