Queen Rat: A Penny Dreadful Review
In a watery
future, or perhaps an alternate present, several enormous submarines contain a
variety of tribes that were once a united empire. Governed by a series of
strange laws and choc full of endearing (or frustrating) idiosyncracies, these
tribes require a proper ruler to unite them. This is the strange world of Kim
Lakin-Smith’s Queen Rat.
Ratiana, the titular Rat, is the
darling princess of the roguish and slightly mad Victoriana tribe. She is a
scrappy, piratical thing, preferring cogs and cutlasses to gowns and diplomacy.
Simeon, the young prince she is required to marry, hails from the tribe of
Aesthetes. His people remind me of Tolkien’s elves, though they prefer an
intricate dueling style using swords rather than archery. A bow and arrows
would be of little use on a submersive vessel. The two face an array of deadly
and puzzling tasks in the Grand Trial preceeding their arranged nuptials. It is
a delight to learn about their undersea world as our heroes dodge death and,
yes, fall in love.
Queen
Rat is a good adventure and a fun, quick read. I give it three and a half
gears out of five. It would be an excellent choice for the middle reader ground
between picture books and young adult novels. I do hope it is the beginning of
a series. It seems to lay the groundwork for a marvelous one!
Your Correspondent From The Bookstore,
Penny J. Merriweather
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