Queen: A Chronicle of the Sibyl's War, Book 3

great

The trilogy is now complete. First Nicole was a Pawn in other people's games, then she became a knight in the fight for Justice, now she is Queen of the Fyrantha.This book was harder for me to get into than the first two. My biggest problem with it is it's supposed to be this big war story, and instead its more of a character piece. That's fine, I totally get where Zahn was going and he did a good job of it, but I think I was sold in the premise of the series that it would be a WAR, and that was present, but not in the way you'd expect. The war took a back seat to the characters and the worldbuilding.Now for some positives. The last 120 pages really redeemed the book plot wise. It still wasn't what I expected(or wanted), but really was interested. I think that if Zahn had time to make it five books instead of three(adding Rook and Bishop) then it would've worked better. I don't necessarily blame him for that. But, as I said, the ending of the book was quite fun.I really like the development of Nicole and Jeff and Kahkitah. They are just some sweet characters who are reluctant heroes who do the right thing in the end.One unfortunate thing about Zahn is that as he's gotten older, he's used a lot more language than he used to. This is true both in his Star Wars books and his general Sci-Fi books. I don't know what the cause of it is, but it really saddens me that he's regressed in that aspect of his writing.As a whole, this is probably my least favorite of the trilogy, but that by no means its bad. I just think it's mediocre. Zahn's characters are enough to make it into the "good" category for me. As a trilogy, I think its as, if not more cohesive than the first Cobra Trilogy, and below his standalones "Angelmass" and "Icarus Hunt", but I haven't read enough of his (non-Star Wars)books to rank it otherwise. 7.0 out of 10. Good job Zahn. Hope you can get another big series in the future.

Timothy Zahn at his best with unique fictional alien characters and multiple plot twists throughout the Sybil's War trilogy.

The book was in great shape

Queen: A Chronicle of the Sibyl's War by Timothy Zahn is a highly recommended conclusion to the Sibyl's War science fiction three book series.Nicole Hammond is a Sibyl, a special human that has the ability to communicate with a strange alien ship called the Fyrantha. In previous books the ship teleported Nicole Hammond on board to help repair its machinery. Nicole was a former member of a Philadelphia street gang and now she must use her street smarts to help the ship. The ship has now appointed her the Protector of the ship and its inhabitants. When Queen starts we are right in the middle of a war that started in Pawn and Knight, the two earlier books in the series. Nicole works with a variety of alien races to fight for control of the ship from the Shipmasters who have taken it over and their strong arm enforcers, the Koffren, as they battle for the freedom of everyone living on it.My first recommendation is that you read Pawn and Knight before starting Queen. Trust me on this as it will make reading it much more enjoyable right from the start. Those who have will not have to work as hard as I did in order to piece together the backstory and keep sorted out the various aliens who help her or who live on the ship. It would also, I imagine, help you to envision the layout of the ship as the battle rages between areas and decks. I truly wish I had read the first two books first before jumping right into the battle for control in Queen.Once I got the backstory and current situation basically sorted out in my head, I enjoyed the complicated plans, strategy, and tactics Nicole and cohorts used in the conflict. And make no mistake, there is a whole lot going on in this space opera. Complications and set backs are overcome as Nicole works with her wide variety of allies. As the Protector of the ship, she has an inside to help evade trouble and plan her strategic actions. Nicole is a very well developed character. We are privy to her thoughts as she coordinates everything and evades the Shipmasters, so readers can see her growth as a character.Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Macmillian

Queen is the end of the Sibyl's War at least the war to take back the ship. Small spoiler (Nicole Hammond takes on another war at the end of the book). A fitting end to the series. We get to know more about the ship and why only humans can do repair work. How it came to be so deadly for Sibly's and how to win a war little by little and being very underestimated. Nicole, Jeff and the crew face tension, danger, betrayal, and death as they fight to make the ship whole again.I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.

I have read a number of books by the author and I have enjoyed them all. This appears to be the concluding book in a series titled the Sibyl's War. I have not read the previous installments of the series. While this is not intended to be a stand alone book, I could figure out the basic premises after a few chapters. I would recommend that anyone else read the previous books as it will make this one even more enjoyable.I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook page.