The Wolf of Oren-Yaro
Ratings23
Average rating3.7
A queen of a divided land must unite her people, even if they hate her, even if it means stopping a ruin that she helped create. A debut epic fantasy from an exciting new voice. "They called me the Bitch Queen, the she-wolf, because I murdered a man and exiled my king the night before they crowned me." Born under the crumbling towers of Oren-yaro, Queen Talyien was the shining jewel and legacy of the bloody War of the Wolves, which nearly tore her nation apart. But her arranged marriage with the son of a rival clan should herald peaceful days to come. However, her husband's sudden departure before their reign begins puts a quick end to those dreams, and the kingdom is fractured beyond repair. Years later, Talyien receives a message, one that will send her across the sea. What's meant to be an effort at reconciling the past becomes an assassination attempt. Stranded in a land she doesn't know, with no idea whom she can trust, Talyien will have to embrace her namesake. A wolf of Oren-yaro is not tamed.
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2 primary booksChronicles of the Bitch Queen
Chronicles of the Bitch Queen is a 2-book series with 3 primary works first released in 2018 with contributions by K.S. Villoso.
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I first rated this book 4 stars, because Talyien was such a frustrating character to follow, but after letting it sit for a night, I was able to think about the book in its entirety more and not just about how I felt about Talyien.
This Southeast/East Asian-inspired story was such a comforting read for me, despite the harrowing details of Zorheng City and other scarring events in the book. Seeing the Filipino culture woven into the woldbuilding and the characters really made this an enjoyable read to relate to.
The characters are all wonderful in that they are all so human. I think that's one of the reasons why I was so frustrated with Talyien. I expected her to be this perfect, unapologetic, and fearless leader with zero mistakes. In reality, she's unapologetic but she definitely made a bunch of mistakes in the book and I really had to put myself in her shoes and think, “I mean I probably would've made that mistake too.” She has such a huge heart and we get to see her journey develop into something so much more than just being the bitch queen.
I had a certain curiosity about this one - a lot of people have been talking it up online. I was also intrigued regarding the author being Filipino - my significant other is half Filipino but I have not read much (if any) literature. There is definitely an Asian flavour to the writing, which creates a nice fresh feel to the fantasy world that is being built here.
The series title ‘Chronicle of the Bitch Queen' is both very clever and slightly misleading. The story here is very much about a female leader trying to live in a mans world. How often do we here women in positions of power get referred to as ‘bitch'? It is way to often. This series title definitely takes that and uses it. Honestly, there is nothing especially bitchy about the main character. She is a woman trying to get heard and do what is best for her country and her son. As is so often sadly true in real life she ends up being labelled by men that she is a bitch. This title lets her own it though. It almost becomes something of an empowerment.
Ultimately I was very impressed by this debut. It was well written, original and clever. I can see why it got the hype. I need to try more Filipino fantasy!
