The Amazons are back in Lori Devoti’s highly anticipated second Amazons novel, Amazon Queen. Following closely on the
heels of the well-received Amazon Ink, its sequel continues the dramatic emotional and mental saga playing out as the Amazon tribe battles its greatest enemies: vulnerability and modernization.
Unwillingness to loose the bonds of tradition and the council’s orders has made the world of the Amazons small, blind to all that exists beyond their boundaries and very naive.
A silent war
is brewing between the incalculably old clans of Amazon women warriors and factions of their cast-off sons. Ancient traditions have ruled the minds and ways of the warriors for too long, resulting in a level of vulnerability that must
be faced. The sons have revealed strengths that are almost overwhelming, and their unknown agenda
poses even more of a threat to the warrior women. What they do know is that the sons have slowly infiltrated the Amazons over generations, insinuating themselves to the point of fathering several Amazon children.
During Zery’s respected sixty-years as Amazon queen, the tribe’s traditions and individuals have
been her paramount concern. The tribe’s recent losses at the hands of a lunatic son have thrown everything out of balance, and now the unrest is
spreading through the previously harmonious tribe. Her inability to steal back an Amazon baby that was kidnapped by the sons has left her at odds with the council
and her new priestess - e what should be her faithful tribe now seems to be a secretive group of warriors preparing for a coup under the leadership of a mysterious and deceptive new member.
As more information is revealed by outside sources, Zery realizes that simply following council’s orders is no longer simple
- nor is it conducive to anyone’s health. Old and new alliances must be re-forged to fight an evil
targetting the Amazons, the hybrid children of Amazon and son relations, and Zery herself.
All must stand strong, or the Amazons will fall, and only the heart of a true queen can guide them all.
Amazon Ink being so well written and open-ended created high expectations for the story continuing in Amazon Queen. Most of the original characters
are carried over, but a number of new additions accompany a shift in primary focus from
ex-Amazon Melanipe to her one-time best friend and the tribe’s queen, Zery. The Amazon son
is also changed out for a new one: a longtime observer of Zery as she ruled the
tribe at the camp. Unfortunately,
Amazon Queen isn’t as
dramatic and the characters not as likeable as those in Amazon Ink. Anticipation
remains high for the next stage of the Amazon saga, as does hope for a big return of the original slew of characters.