Resa Nelson Archives - Ysobella Black

SYNOPSIS

A little girl who quells demons. An aging dragonslayer. Can they stop the Yellow Dragon before it destroys an entire nation?

Pingzi Po is the only demon queller in the medieval Far East. So far, she has quelled exactly one demon: Benzel of the Wolf, a dragonslayer from the Northlands. Now, she must act as Benzel’s interpreter when he’s charged with slaying a dangerous yellow dragon seen only by an emperor.

But the emperor reveals the Yellow Dragon isn’t an animal—it’s an unidentified citizen in his province, who has threatened to murder the emperor.

Convinced that this unknown citizen is a demon that must be quelled, Pingzi races to unravel the mystery that will reveal the identity of the Yellow Dragon. Can she expose the Yellow Dragon before the emperor is killed and the entire Far East is put in danger?

REVIEW

Coming of age fantasy

Pingzi is a clever girl, and also a demon queller. She overestimates herself a bit, but she’s young and does a lot of growing up in the story.

It was interesting and fun to follow the clues with Pingzi as she solved the mystery of the Yellow Dragon, although neither the dragon, nor the outcome were what I was expecting. She has to overcome a lot of obstacles, including her gender, age, and disdain from her family. Fortunately, Benzel is always there for her.

Good world building with lots of politics, subterfuge, and intrigue.

Excellent narration by the author.

Available in Kindle Unlimited here, or as an audiobook.

Genre: Coming of Age, Dragons, Fantasy, Magic, Mystery

SYNOPSIS

Ancient Egypt meets our modern world.

How do you choose between love of your family and love of your country?

Queen Angelique is caught in a quandary. She has ruled The Black Land since the death of her husband, the pharaoh. She defied tradition by refusing to name her son Penaware as the next pharaoh, even though everyone knows he was too young and immature to rule.

Time is running out. Prince Penaware’s approaching birthday means he’ll come of age soon. The nation and the powerful priests who strongly influence it expect Angelique to proclaim Penaware the new pharaoh.

But there’s another option. She could break tradition once more and claim the title of pharaoh for herself. It’s never been done in modern times, and the priests will protest.

Queen Angelique loves her son and wants him to succeed. She also loves her country and worries his ineptitude might destroy it.

There’s one more problem: the royal magician warns of a premonition that someone plots to murder the next pharaoh.

Should Angelique believe it? If she doesn’t, will she put her son’s life or her own at risk?

REVIEW

I was drawn into the story from the beginning, and liked the juxtaposition of ancient Egypt with the modern world. To clarify, it’s not a time travel story — it’s like ancient Egypt exists in the here and now.

Queen Angelique is a strong woman making hard decisions to do her best for her people and their country. Not everyone agrees with her, which is where the betrayal and murder come in.

I liked how the story was told from several points of view, which allowed the narrative to unfold so the reader got all the information as it was needed.

The author did an excellent job narrating her story.

This story is a prequel, and I think it ends at the perfect place to set up events for the next book.

Available in Kindle Unlimited here, or as an audiobook.

Genre: Fantasy
Series: Black Land Murders |