The Radical Child

The Bluebird by Cordelia Castel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This installment of Cordelia Castel’s Seven Kingdoms series actually occurs mostly before the previous books in the franchise, opening with the fairy Paloma, a minor character in previous books (and I definitely don’t remember her all that well), in the village hall in Bluebird Territory, watching musicians play, and faces potential banishment from not getting a courtship mate, and indeed doesn’t get a partner, with her stepfather consequentially disdaining her. Meanwhile, a younger Orson Bluebear has captured the Fairy Prince Evander, with his mother lauding him, although his father is angry at him stowing away, and promises Orson an arranged marriage.

Paloma seeks her true father, going en route to the Seven Kingdoms and getting a potential mating opportunity with Orel. Orson, in the meantime, is promised a girl named Albina, and ultimately crosses paths with Paloma, for whom he has feelings, although he marries Albina regardless. Certain circumstances would lead their marriage to end, after which Orson hears about the missing Princess Gullinbursti, daughter to Queen Hippohyus. Paloma receives a promotion to Sergeant for her role in locating the imprisoned Prince Evander, having been able to conceive a child with the Queen of Ogres during his captivity in Steppe.

Orson soon forms a mating bond with Orson, wishing to conceive an heir to House Bluebeard, and receives the task of finding and protecting Princess Gullinbursti, soon marrying Argyropus, circumstances again causing their marriage to end, with his next mate being the ogress Java, who doesn’t care much for Paloma. Circumstances would again cause Orson’s marriage to end, and he eventually enters the Seven Kingdoms, making contact with Granny Escroc, who at one point incinerates someone’s house as retribution for harassment, and has potential information about Gullinbursti’s whereabouts. While Orson keeps Paloma as a mate, she is unsupportive of his desire to mate with the missing Princess.

Orson eventually discovers the squalid living conditions of Princess Gullinbursti, known by those close to her as Cendrilla, and wishes to rescue her, although her guardians are reluctant to let her go, and he seeks to become Ambassador of Steppe, still keeping Paloma as a companion. Orson spends some time getting used to the United Kingdom of Seven and its working, and his position as Steppe’s Ambassador requires him to spend most of his time in the city of Metropole, although he visits Cendrilla’s residence as often as he can, and her sixteenth birthday ultimately comes.

At one point, Cendrilla literally gets sick with fright, although she too becomes a heroine to the downtrodden, and enrolls in the Anti-Magic Academy, where she does poorly, something Orson wishes so that she receives her expulsion and doesn’t develop the school’s persecutive attitude. Paloma and Cendrilla find themselves imperiled again, and the epilogue occurs nine months later. Overall, while it wasn’t perfect, given some minor confusion as to the dramatis personae, I found this one of the better Seven Kingdoms stories, given its elaboration as to the backstory of Lord Bluebeard and revelation as to the fates of his prior marriages, and those who enjoyed other books will likely get a lot from it.

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The Kingdom by Cordelia Castel

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The seventh installment of author Cordelia Castel’s Seven Kingdoms series picks up where its predecessor left off, with Rilla having restored the statues of her father Prince Evander and his fairy brethren to animate form, although the prince isn’t exactly happy to reunite with his daughter, who loses a subsequent fight challenge against him. Rilla leads her companions to a village whose babies elves have stolen, and promises to rescue them. Early on, Evander seals off his daughter’s fairy magic and alters her form to become more reflective of her ogre lineage, although a Kiss of True Love can restore her standard stature.

As Rilla seeks someone to kiss, she and her companions venture to Elf Mountain, which non-elves term Mount Magma due to being a volcano, although the King of Elves initially refuses to return the stolen babies. However, the chance to relocate to Bluebeard Mountain changes the elven monarch’s mind, although when they leave the mountain, they find forces from the Alkahest Alliance awaiting them, having taken over the country in a bloodless coup. Rilla ultimately needs to infiltrate the Academy in Metropole, with some twists abounding in the last few chapters, an epilogue occurring three years later and ending the initial plot arc of the series.

All in all, this was definitely one of the better books in the series, given its initial inciting incidents with Rilla’s father, although there are some events towards the end, one critical, that somewhat eluded me. The action is generally good, although before the main text, a synopsis of the book’s predecessors would have definitely given those who have briefly broken from the series a chance to catch up and receive reminders as to the crucial events of the narrative. The ending is definitely satisfactory, given the time skip from the main events of the series, and while the story isn’t great, I do definitely express interest in how the plot of the characters continues.

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The Usurper by Cordelia Castel

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The fifth book of Cordelia Castel’s Seven Kingdoms series opens where the last book left off, protagonist Rilla near an ice wall that she suspects the Snow Queen created, with the wall able to attack those who draw near. King Rhinoceros is sought for interrogation, and Rilla finds herself under arrest, although the Ogre Senate can overrule her captivity. As an airship flies over the Cursed Sea, the wall of ice attacks, and there arises the dilemma of getting through the Seven Kingdoms undetected. When they reach one of the countries, Vern, its king wishes his daughter purged of a curse in exchange for passage.

Foreign magic is detected within Rilla, and she herself fears the power, with some training in the use of her enchanted staff. The King of Autumn’s death is plotted, and a fairy mine is sought, as well, with the dilemma on how to seal it. The book reveals that a kiss between Lord Bluebeard and Rilla can offset the foreign power within the latter, and the last few chapters deal with the conflict against the Snow Queen, who yearns to marry Prince Grost so that she can rule as consort once he accedes to the throne.

Like its precursors, the fifth installment ends with a cliffhanger involving a hypothesis of who orchestrated an attack that occurs at the end. However, this particular entry of the series is one of the weaker ones, given occasional confusion about the various characters to whom pronouns refer, given the distance between their names and how the book references them, although the action is definitely decent and well-described. Given its solid connection to previous and future books, a reminder on the plots of its predecessors would have been welcome, and the book overall is hardly bucket list-worthy.

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The Witch-Hunt by Cordelia Castel

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The third entry of Cordelia Castel’s Seven Kingdoms series opens with Cendrilla “Rilla” Perrault following a procession to the interrogation room where the captured trolls, among them being Olga, with Prince Armin still under her enchantment, are being held. Despite being instrumental in their capture, Rilla is denied questioning them, and they ultimately escape, with Rilla and a few companions, among them being perpetrators that had a hand in attempting to kill her, going after them, in the meantime seeking two sorceresses who have prices on their heads for witchcraft, Rilla wanting to save their lives.

As with before, Lord Orson Bluebeard continually seeks to affirm his impending marriage to Rilla against her will, and wants to ensure she is kept alive. Rilla and her companions have several misadventures including a trip to the Well of Wellness, whose guardian is reluctant to provide its water, and some backstory regarding Princess Freida abounds, having successfully escaped from an arranged marriage. Rill and company visit frigid lands home to beings termed Snowmen (although they seem to be yeti-like), with giant hailstones precipitating and offing many of them during a critical battle.

The third entry ends with a troll vessel approaching and a cliffhanger that naturally ties into the next book in the series, and while the tertiary installment does have its positive qualities, not being shy about its fairytale influences, it sort of marks the beginning of a slight slump in the series, with readers needing to have remembered the events of prior books in order to enjoy this one, along with the difficulty of keeping track who is who, with a few characters going by different names that can confuse some readers. Regardless of quality, I’ll definitely continue reading these books until the end.



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The Magestaff by Cordelia Castel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The initial entry of author Cordelia Castel’s The Seven Kingdoms series opens with protagonist Cendrilla Perrault, nicknamed Rilla, serving tea to her stepsisters and stepmother, laboring for her household in an analogy to the classic tale of Cinderella. Rilla’s hand in marriage her stepmother promises to an ambassador, Lord Bluebeard, whom Rilla finds to have been abusive to the point where he murdered his previous wives. Rilla consequentially flees her household, encountering a man named Jack Galloway, who provides backstory on Bluebeard’s heritage. As a reward for rescuing a magical boy, Rilla receives the book’s eponymous quarterstaff.

Rilla and Jack quickly find themselves in the home of a miller, who is coercing his daughter Catherine to wed someone she doesn’t want to, after which they meet a talking cat named Puss, whom they take to his old mistress, who holds the key in healing the wounds Jack receives from powerful bluebirds sent by Lord Bluebeard to hunt his fiancé. Jack eventually leaves Rilla after reuniting with his family, with the wielder of the Magestaff making it a point to travel to the city of Metropole, where she hopes to stay low until she comes of age and Lord Bluebeard gives up on her.

The first book ends with a cliffhanger that obviously ties into its first sequel, and generally I found the first Seven Kingdoms book to be an enjoyable read, given its various fairytale analogies, and I could definitely relate to the ostracized protagonist. The story does slightly suffer from a smidgeon of unoriginality, particularly regarding the names of characters such as Lord Bluebeard, although the author made some effort to distinguish her work, with Cendrilla being a good alternate form of the name Cinderella, for instance. Those who grew up on old fairytales from authors such as the Grimm brothers will be the ones to appreciate this work the most.

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