Author: Lilith Saintcrow
Series: Romances of Arquitaine # 2 (Formerly the Hedgewitch series)
Genres: Fantasy, Romance(ish?), Adult
Publisher: Orbit
Released: 1 June
2012
Summary: courtesy of goodreads.com Tristan d'Arcenne is what he always wished to
be--Vianne di Rocancheil's Consort. But Vianne is no more a noblewoman, she is
the Queen of Arquitaine, faced with treachery, invasion, war, and a Consort
whose secrets may well shatter their marriage. For before Tristan was hers, he
belonged to a King...and that King died by Tristan's hand.
Arquitaine needs them both. The country is locked in a
deadly game whose rules change by the moment. The Queen is an adept player, but
hardly ruthless enough. The contest requires a man who has nothing to lose, a
man who has already done the worst and will continue to do so for his wife, his
country, and his own salvation.
The Bandit King approaches...
For Fans Of: The Hedgewitch Queen
My Review: If you
want to read about how I felt about The Hedgewitch Queen (the first in
this duology) click here. But, let me
update, when I reviewed the first one I had (obviously) not read the second
one. So some of the problems that I had
with the first one were redeemed in the second because the slowness I felt in
the pacing of the first was really a setting up of sorts for the second. Phew, I hope that made sense, probably not.
Anyways, The Bandit King is told from Tristan’s point
of view. Now Tristan was the character
that kept me interested in the series so I was pretty excited to read this one
purely because it is his point of view.
What I wasn’t expecting: How dark and dreadful Tristan’s mind was. I thought all those brooding stares were out
of love. Nope. Well, kind of.
And that sums up how I felt about this book. Kind of good about it, but kind of
annoyed. I feel like Tristan and Vianne
never really get on the same page with each other. They’re always one step behind or ahead of
the other. Vianne is cutting Tristan out
of everything and does quite a few things without asking for his advice, though
in her defense Tristan is kind of a lying dog jerk face meanie. The thing with
these books is that I went into them thinking they were a fantasy-heavy
light-romance fun kind of read it is not that.
The Bandit King is based more on politics, intrigue, magic, and
the inner workings of the aforementioned topics. The love story that we were first introduced
to takes a complete back burner (if not being completely obliterated
altogether).
I felt that this was a good conclusion, and I can’t say I
didn’t like hearing from Tristan, he just wasn’t what I expected him to
be. Then again, if I think about it, he
was exactly what you would expect from a trained assassin and King’s Left
Hand. I’m giving it a three because I
was satisfied, but I was bummed about the stuff that went down romance-wise.
