Queen of Coin and Whispers by Helen Corcoran is a slow burn fantasy set in the poor and relatively new country of Edar.
Princess Aurelia, Lia to her friends – but only in private – has waited a long time for her uncle to die so she can become Queen and clean up his messes and lead her country into a brighter future. The first thing she finds on arriving to court is that the country is even more financially sunk than she could have imagined. The next is how precarious life can be, even for the monarch. Her first step in securing Edar is to find and install a new spymaster, a Whispers.
Xania Bayonn, born Third Step and risen to Fifth through her stepfather, works for Coin in the Treasury and searches for a way to prove her father was murdered. The women meet on the night Xania tries to assassinate Lia’s lifelong friend and confidante Matthias.
The Queen immediately hires her as Whispers, and Xania must navigate intrigues of the court from her lowly social standing, protect herself and the Queen from assassins, use her skills at puzzles, ciphers and codes to uncover secrets, and resist her attraction to the Queen. But she has noticed the Queen noticing her as well.
Pros And My Favourite Parts
The story is told in first person, moving between Xania and Lia, and I somehow tended to lose track of who is speaking, despite the chapter headings telling me. But that didn’t detract from the story at all. Instead, the reader becomes intimately acquainted with the two leads in this way. That’s important because the court intrigues and political fallouts are as twisty as a Celtic knot, so knowing the protagonists well helps keep the threads organized.
The author’s worldbuilding is first rate. Court intrigue has never been my jam, but in this case I found it fascinating and suitably nefarious. There is actual danger behind the gossip in this world of enemies and allies, soul crushing debt, and elaborate secret passages.
There are a lot of BIPOC characters with only social strata determining their fate, not queerphobia. It’s not a problem for Lia to be in love with Xania except for the latter’s poor social standing and the pesky problem of creating an heir. There is no magic in this world to solve that problem.
All the characters feel realistic and well-drawn. Lia, for example, is a cynical idealist who has dreamed for years of making a difference in her peoples’ lives. We know from the real world how rare it is to find a ruler who really wants to do the right thing in the right way and the author portrays how she grapples with achieving her lofty goals without getting her hands too dirty.
Cons And Heads Up
There is a bit of knife fighting and a few deaths, and a character is tortured with sensory deprivation.
The Conclusion
With excellent worldbuilding, lots of great characters, and a very twisty plot full of court intrigue, murder and political drama, there’s a lot to like about this book. The lack of magic worked well in this fantasy world, adding to the strain of Lia and Xania coming together because of Lia’s real need to have an heir.
Excerpt from Queen of Coin and Whispers by Helen Corcoran
The carpet muffled my footsteps, giving me a few more moments of stealth. “How long?”
Matthias whirled. His face tumbled through shock, surprise, guilt, then settled on anger. “Xania.”
“Miss Bayonn.” He’d lost the privilege of my name. “How long have you been working for her?” What secrets have you told her?
“It’s not – “
I whipped the dagger up.
He went still.
“How long?”
He flicked his gaze from the dagger to me. “I’ve known her since childhood.” He hesitated. “However you’re imagining I betrayed you, I didn’t.”
Careful phrasing. Typical Matthias.
The doors burst open, and the new Queen stood in the doorway.
Fear rolled in my gut.
“Drop the dagger.” This close, layers of powder couldn’t quite hide the grief or exhaustion on her pale skin. But her gaze still pinned me. “Drop it now.”
She spoke as if she’d never been disobeyed in her life, which was probably true. Refusing her meant courting death.
I let the dagger slip from my fingers.
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Bits and Bobs
ISBN number: 978-1-78849-203-4
Publisher: The O’Brien Press
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