Review: Broken Throne

The fantastical, tantalising and final instalment of the Red Queen series serves as both a prequel to Red Queen and a sequel to Warstorm (with historical notes and inserts from court scholar Julian, Cal’s uncle and Coriane’s brother). It reveals the tales of the inner and civil wars that the main female protagonists or antagonists have faced, and how’s it shaped them into the women they become in the main series.

The first story ‘Queen Song’ weaves the tale of Cal Calores mother Coriane Jacos and her growing relationship with Carl’s father Tiberius, the future king and her wish for her son not to end up as war and anguish driven as his father. We also learn how she came from humble beginnings for a silver and her engagement to the key was a love match, rather than a queens trial, which Cal had to go through for her marriage to go ahead. In ‘Steel Scars’ tells the origins story of sorts of Diana Farleys life in her early captain days. It gives us a insightful look into why Farley is the person she is and what she has had to go through for the course she believes.

A new story ‘World Behind’ introduces characters Ashe, a Red Riverman who taking on passengers on his boat with his crew, passengers who are escaping the civil war if they pay. This is how he encounters Lyrisa, a runaway princess from Piedmont. This story is short but dramatic with a satisfyingly sweet ending, as the enemies to lovers trope is seen in the slow burn of a possible relationship between Ashe and Lyrisa, who manage to make you relate and feel their emotions and struggles in the short page time they have together.

Evangeline Samous could be said to have started out in the series as an antagonist but in her story in ‘Iron Heart’ sees her slowly to become a kinder moral person, and as rife the crown she used to desperately want in exchange for peace with the love of her life. As one of the few LGBTQ+ characters in the series (singles President and his husband), the author shines a light on Evangeline story of getting the acceptance she thought she could never have of her relationship and how she makes peace with her brother and gets the chance to live out her dreamed life with.

Broken Throne concludes with a sequel story, ‘Fire Light’, which reveals the future of Mare Barrow and former prince turned military officer Cal Claire, with the inside scoop on Mares childhood friend Kilorn, new blood Cameron and the rest of their families.

Although Broken Throne is a collection of stories within the world of the Red Queen, it manages to exceptionally engage and raise awareness to the reader concerning the larger scale societal issues it touches upon. For example, Evangeline and the fear and anger she has towards the world because of its wrongful lack of acceptance for LGBTQ+ relationships, but she receives a happy ending after seeing the president and his husband openly living their life, where people in their country have learnt that all love is valid and beautiful. Then there is the class divides that fuel the civil war between the red bloods and gifted silver bloods who act out and oppress out of ignorance and fear, especially for the red bloods who have equal if not more powerful gifts than themselves. Mate Barrow grow up in the fantasy world equivalent of a family on the breadline who struggle with the everyday, her journey and that of Cal Calore, a prince who soon loses their privilege after he releases in the end that a title doesn’t matter it’s the people and the type of person you are. Looking the picture of privilege of the outside won’t matter as much as who you are on the inside.

In this novella, Victoria Aveyard has given us over five stories in one with a type of epilogue at the end that reveals a piece of the future of our main characters and their future families and loved ones. It’s a perfect treat for existing fans who want to delve for hundreds of pages of new content of the universe of Red Queen and for new fans, it’s a perfectly detailed and refined look into Mare Barrow and the rest of the relatable engaging protagonists along with complex antagonists. It’ll leave news fans itching to read what happens between the prequel and sequel stories in this novella by reading the main four books in the series.

Thanks to Victoria Aveyard for creating the Red Queen series, something that points out both the flaws and ignorance/discrimination of aspects of our society whilst noting the things to truly treasure in life.