Hello, Friday Fiction Friends! I hope this Friday finds you enjoying life and ready for fall. I’m sure ready for cooler weather. Today’s wonderful read is Kingdom Lost by Dawn Shipman, a YA medieval fantasy. It’s the first book in the Lost Stones of Argonia series.
Here’s a bit more:
A Kingdom in Chaos. A Merciless Enemy. A Desperate Quest
At seventeen, Princess Lyric rides a horse better and faster than do any of her father’s prized knights. She knows how to dance at the palace balls, how to flirt with the guards, and how to cajole the king into giving her almost anything.
But she’s never learned that non-human, intelligent beings—some of them savage—live in her world. She doesn’t know the gem in her necklace is far more than a family heirloom. And she doesn’t realize the visiting prince who has come to court her wants much more than her hand in marriage.
Overnight, her kingdom is torn from her and her only option is to run. Accompanied by a maidservant and a handsome lieutenant in her father’s palace guard, she must learn to fight, to lead, and to trust those who join her—human or not. If she doesn’t, she won’t live long enough to reclaim her throne.
Soaring adventure, mystery, and hints of romance-to-come abound in this page-turning opener to Dawn Shipman’s Cascade Award-winning Lost Stones of Argonia series.
I read Dawn’s debut novel and really enjoyed the story. I’ve devoured a lot of medieval fantasies and sometimes, they can be alike but Kingdom Lost had a lot of twists and turns that I didn’t expect. And I love the way she added non-human beings which gave a deeper layer to the story and ramped up the tension. Her pacing was spot-on and it didn’t take long to read it. I’m excited to read book 2 in the series, Quest of the Queen. The epic finale, Battle for the Crown, is due out later this year.
