Palace of Silver (The Nissera Chronicles #3)
Author: Hannah West
Publisher: Holiday House
Release Date: April 28th 2020
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Retellings
Return to the land of Nissera, home to spectacular magic. An uneasy peace reigns now that Valory has vanquished the Moth King and settled into her rightful place as queen of Calgoran. New leaders Glisette and Kadri hope to usher the neighboring kingdoms into an era of healing and prosperity. All should be well.
But there’s a fourth queen in charge: Ambrosine, banished overseas to Perispos. Driven by vanity, she vows to become the most powerful and beautiful ruler in the world, even if it means oppressing the mortal kingdom she is meant to protect. Meanwhile a dangerous uprising led by elicromancer-hating rebels gains momentum. Rot spreads through the Forest of the West Fringe. Valory goes missing. Facing enemies on all sides, Glisette and Kadri must reckon with the role of magic. How far will they go to defend their power—and can they build an uprising of their own?
West intertwines homages to Snow White and Bluebeard with her imaginative magical setting for an exhilarating installment in the acclaimed Nissera Chronicles. Stunning hardcover edition includes a two-page map and family tree.
Palace of Silver is another fantastic installment of the Nissera Chronicles, where Queens and Princesses kick butt all over the place. I really enjoyed the POVs and how fast paced the story moved along.
So Kingdom of Ash and Briars is the first installment in the series and what starts the bloodlines we follow now. That book, however, is much easier to read as a standalone. It does enhance the reading experience to have that history for the next two books. We then move into Realm of Ruins, which happens much later in the same world. Palace of Silver is actually a direct sequel to Realm of Ruins. So at first since it’s been a while since I read the last book my mind needed to be jogged. Which I think they do a pretty decent job doing at the beginning. So many things happen in each book that you would go crazy if a character summarized it perfectly but between Kadri and Glisette I finally got the pieces to fall in place in my brain.
So the Nissera Chronicles always have an undercurrent of fairy tales. Palace of Silver had Snow White. Even though I’m not a very big Snow White fan, I loved the way it was incorporated into the story. It was so well done.
I also really liked that we took a break from straight up Elicromancers and follow more along with a religion in Perispos. Where there are Holies and the Fallen. I thought of them like Angels or I guess Saints and Demon. Even though Elicromancey is a big part of Kadri and Glisette. They actually rely a lot more on themselves than they do magic. I loved seeing both girls grow as rulers and as people.
We have the four queens and we get the perspective of three of them because Valory has gone missing. Kadri, Glisette and Ambrosine. I loved all three actually. I think for Kadri and Glisette you get to see these really strong women. With Ambrosine you get the part of the story that you don’t always get, what makes her make the choices that she does. Ambrosine was on trial with Realm Alliance by the end of Realm of Ruin. So as we start Palace of Silver we see that they decided to not execute or completely strip her of powers. Instead they put her powers on probation and married her King Myron of Perispos for a chance at redemption.
There is a lot that happens but I loved how fast moving I felt the plot was. Once I was really into the story I couldn’t put it down. The only part I struggled with was the beginning and that’s only because I needed to make sure to get my brain straight. There is a family tree in the front of the book so I was able to use that in order to follow the lines I know and jog some things. The end hinted at a fourth possible book. I would think with these same characters but maybe not. I don’t know if I would want that or another jump in time. I’m excited for any of it though.
I don't want to delve too much into information because I think there are a lot of interesting plot turns that I don’t want to give away. I loved this installment though if you are a fan of the series I think you will be really happy. If you haven’t read it, I think you should. Especially if you love the inclusion of Fairy Tales. I would start from the beginning you could start from Realm of Ruins. I just think you get a lot of rich history starting from Kingdom of Ash and Briars though.
I'm the author of young adult books including The Nissera Chronicles series and The Bitterwine Oath. I've been writing fantasy since kindergarten, when I penned my first tale about a princess who ran away and lived at the top of a flagpole with two loaves of bread. But it wasn't until I studied abroad in Orléans, France during college that the premise for my first novel materialized. The fairy tale castles, the snowy winter days, and a Disney princess pencil that arrived in a care package from my parents provided the inspiration that allowed me to wrangle all my untold and unfinished stories into a novel.
I currently live in the Dallas area with my husband and our two rambunctious rescue dogs.
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GIVEAWAY
Prize: Win a copy of KINGDOM OF ASH AND BRIARS, REALM OF RUINS, and PALACE OF SILVER (US Only)
Starts: April 22nd 2020
Ends: May 6th 2020
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