I received this book for free from my own shelves in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: my own shelves
Queen's Gambit
by
Karen Chance
urban fantasy in a Kindle edition that was published by the author on July 16, 2020 and has 535 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Curse the Dawn, Death's Mistress, Hunt the Moon, Chicks Kick Butt, Fury's Kiss, "The Gauntlet", "The Queen's Witch", "House at Cobb End", Midnight's Daughter, Claimed by Shadow, Touch the Dark, Embrace the Night, Tempt the Stars, "In Vino Veritas", Updating Pritkin, Reap the Wind,, Ride the Storm, "Black Friday", Brave the Tempest, Masks, Shatter the Earth, Shadow's Bane
Fifth in the Dorina Basarab romantic urban fantasy series and revolving around a dhampir. The focus is on Dory’s experiences in Egypt from that flying battle through Cairo to that deep, deep underground discovery under the city . . . eek!
My Take
The underlying theme of Queen’s Gambit is of power and how it absolutely corrupts, and Chance pulled me right in! That description of the view from Hassani’s home is enough to seduce anyone!
The point-of-view is one of a first person dual protagonist from Dory’s and Dorina’s perspective, as Dorina finally has her own separate body with scary adventures in a whole new world.
Raymond is quite the character and he keeps surprising me, especially as Dory keeps assessing his strengths. They’re not obvious, but they’re there when you need them. Of course when you compare Ray with Louis-Cesare, well, there is no comparison.
Damned right, I’m jealous. I’m five foot seven; he’s six four. I look like a penguin . . .; he’s Mr Universe. Plus . . . I’ve gotta shave [my butt] to get my trousers to lay right, and I bet his is . . .”
One battle Dory is struggling with is Louis-Cesare’s need to protect. It does not suit our Dory’s mindset, and she has to make some hard decisions in Queen’s Gambit. Of course Louis-Cesare has his own issues to deal with: his upbringing in which he was never protected and his own sense of noblesse oblige.
Dory has been alive and hated for the past 500 years, and it does help explain why she can’t believe Louis-Cesare loves her for herself, and that he’s not manipulating her for the consul. Which leads to her comparing her upbringing with Louis-Cesare’s. If you’ve ever read The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas, you’ll realize Chance is playing off it.
Louis-Cesare is such an enigma. He’s domineering yet vulnerable, willing to be vulnerable. The intense fears he carries with him. Then there’s Dorina’s confession about a normal life. It’s so sad. Turns out Ray isn’t the only one with security issues as we learn from Zheng. Talk about a perfect team of four, er, five!
We’re gradually learning why Dory and Dorina have been kept separated in their mind, which helps explain Dory’s lost memories. One of those recovering memories is of her mother’s death and of her father’s artistic abilities. Yet more devastation when Dory learns what may be more truth about her mother.
It’s here that we finally meet Dorina as her own person, and she’s a charming if naive character with really violent tendencies. We also get a replay of the prejudice that vampires have about dhampirs, and Hassani plays that up, the jerk. The reversal of that opinion is enough to make me laugh.
I wanna play with Dory’s new weapon that animates sketches. Of course, I couldn’t afford even one bullet . . . I also want a portal. Talk about good for global warming, lol. As for Dory’s personal portal. Oh, yeahhh, I really want one of those, *more laughter*
I am a history nut — part of why I enjoy the Dorina Basarab series — and Hassani descends through several cities of the past, Heliopolis, Fustat . . . the House of Ra Horakhty. Then there’s the true origins (per Chance) of vampires, weres, etc., and why they have those weaknesses. Of course, there has to have been a time before the pharaohs, and it’s fascinating to think on, even as Hassani refers to the time of the gods. I suspect they’re the same gods Aeslinn wants back, as well as the ones that Cassandra is battling. I do love seeing how authors pull in the past, in so many ways, giving their stories a sort of authenticity.
Ooh, the Venice of 1449 with their foods and sports, the fatal promise of the city for lone vampires, the evil trade in vampire bones that uncovers a huge betrayal . . .
Phew, that journey through Faerie was scary and fascinating, as Dorina discovers. I gotta wonder if Chance got her idea about fey tents from Harry Potter?
Lordy, if you like action stories with some outrageous characters, you gotta read Queen’s Gambit. It goes from multiple battles in so many different lands with plenty of drama and tension. And laughter. Those magical ads and animated graffiti . . . a whole different take on Transformers.
The Story
Too many consuls and their vampires think the war is over. Now it’s Dory and Louis-Cesare’s “diplomatic” job to convince those foreign consuls that this was only one battle in the war.
Too bad the fey and the mages don’t have the same mindset. The fey are after Dorina for nefarious purposes and the mages have focused on smuggling weapons.
The Characters
Dory/Dorina Basarab is a dhampir—the feared and hated cross between a vampire and a human. There’s a reason there are two names, for there are two women in this one body. Dory is the human side of the dhampir while Dorina is the vampire side who primarily lives in Dory’s mind, and she’s the newly named senator(!) on the North American Vampire Senate.
Louis-Cesare, a first-level master vampire whom everyone fears, is Dory’s new husband. Raymond Lu, Dory’s self-described go-to guy, is a master vampire, who can, ahem, take a lickin’ and keep on a’tickin’.
Lord Mircea Basarab is Dory’s father, a senator on the Vampire Senate, and the general of the vampire army. Gerald is Mircea’s batman. Uncle Radu, Mircea’s younger brother and another vampire, lived in the same house in Venice.
Dory/Dorina’s childhood in . . .
. . . Venice is coming back in her memories and includes Mircea and Horatiu, Mircea’s childhood tutor who dearly loves Dory. Dory’s friends included pretty Gerita and her sister Maria; Rigi who taught the others how to fight with a sword; the bird-loving Coletta; Zilio who brought spiced anchovies; Gallo was Zilio’s brother; and, Luysio. The Wallachia she remembers.
The Vampires
Kit Marlowe is the North American consul’s chief spy.
The North African Vampire Senate is . . .
. . . led by the originally Persian Hassani, a.k.a. the Teacher, who is the vampire consul portraying himself as a scholar and is an assassin. Some of his gifts include being able to see through any glamoury, project an image of himself, and see through his Children’s eyes. Some of his vampires include Rashid and Bahram, who tag along with Dory to Hong Kong; Lantern Boy; Maha, who is a powerful Healer; and, Zakarriyyah.
Christine had been the revenant Louis-Cesare had protected for the past few centuries. Alejandro is the truly evil consul for the Latin American Vampire Senate, constantly scheming. A revenant is a vampire turning that goes wrong.
Ancient Egypt
Sokkwi “Little Fool” was the child’s name then he became a vampire, the first vampire, and chose Step-en-Ra “Chosen by Ra” as his reign name.
Lady Peseshets of 2500 BC was the first female physician. A time when women were treated as equals. The consul before Hassani (he’d been Setep-en-Ra’s deputy), Dalilu, had started life as a Canaanite mercenary in the Amarna period.
Hong Kong . . .
. . . the other one. Zheng-zi, a member of a triad, is the master vampire in charge of Hong Kong and a new North American senator whose former master is Senator Cheung. Lily owns the establishment where we meet the first animated characters that include Svetlana, Betty Boop, and Bertha. Elvis is a guide. Ming-de is the Chinese Empress/East Asian Consul who holds sway over the Asian vampires. The star team of the fights includes Ranbir, a gray mage; Sarah, a jinx, and Jason (sister and brother), Evelyn “Ev”, and Tomas, another first-level master with a major hate-on for his former master, Louis-Cesare.
Mages are . . .
. . . divided into two camps: the Silver Circle, supposed good mages, and the Black Circle, definitely the bad mages. Rufus, a retired mage, is Dory’s go-to for crazy magic. The Spider’s Bite is a very useful spell.
Jonathan is a 900-year-old mage and necromancer who tortured Louis-Cesare for decades and wants him back. Yeah, 900 years, managed in such a way that he’s almost criminally addicted.
The Pythia is . . .
. . . supposedly the head of all supernaturals. The current one is Cassie Palmer (in the concurrent Cassandra Palmer series). It is interesting seeing Cassie from Dory’s perspective!
Faerie
Nimue is the Lady of the Lake, a demigod, and the former wife of Caedmon, who is a fanatic about gathering power. Farseeing is the ability to spy through animal eyes.
The Svarestri are . . .
. . . the Dark fey, Black elves, led by King Aeslinn who wants to bring back the old gods. Efridis is Aeslinn’s estranged, dead!!, wife and Caedmon’s sister.
The Blarestri are . . .
. . . the Light fey, Blue elves, led by King Caedmon, brother-in-law to Aeslinn and a descendant of the gods.
The Irin are . . .
. . . fallen angels.
The Gods and . . .
. . . their breeding program. Iphemedia who gave birth to the Aloadae giants. Lycaon, the King of Arcadia who was the first of the werewolves. The Spartoi and the truth of the dragon’s teeth. Centaurs and Amazons. Artemis had been a god who had banished the others, and she was Cassandra’s mother.
The Cover and Title
The cover finds a cocky, short-haired Dory in black leather standing in profile with her head turned towards us yet looking over her shoulder against the background of a black and blue Hong Kong gone mad. Two red paper lanterns hang from the buildings on the left. At the very top is a neon blue author’s name — fits right in with the Hong Kong described in here, lol. Crossing Dory’s elbow is the title. The first word in white and the second in a gradated green with a white haze of a rectangle covering most of the title. At the very bottom is the series info in white.
I think the title refers to Nimue’s revelation, the Queen’s Gambit that will save everyone.
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