THE BLACKSMITH QUEEN (The Scarred Earth Saga #1) by G.A. Aiken-dual review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 27, 2019

When a prophesy brings war to the Land of the Black Hills, Keeley Smythe must join forces with a clan of mountain warriors who are really centaurs in a thrilling new fantasy romance series from New York Times bestselling author G.A. Aiken.

The Old King Is Dead

With the demise of the Old King, there’s a prophesy that a queen will ascend to the throne of the Black Hills. Bad news for the king’s sons, who are prepared to defend their birthright against all comers. But for blacksmith Keeley Smythe, war is great for business. Until it looks like the chosen queen will be Beatrix, her younger sister. Now it’s all Keeley can do to protect her family from the enraged royals.

Luckily, Keeley doesn’t have to fight alone. Because thundering to her aid comes a clan of kilt-wearing mountain warriors called the Amichai. Not the most socially adept group, but soldiers have never bothered Keeley, and rough, gruff Caid, actually seems to respect her. A good thing because the fierce warrior will be by her side for a much longer ride than any prophesy ever envisioned

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Sandy’s Review

THE BLACKSMITH QUEEN is the first instalment in G.A. Aiken’s THE SCARRED EARTH fantasy saga set in the world of Dragon King series. This is blacksmith Keeley Smythe, and Amichai warrior of the Scarred Earth Clan, Caid’s story line

Told from several third person perspectives including Caid and Keeley THE BLACKSMITH QUEEN follows Keeley Smythe as she is tasked with protecting her sister Beatrix, the prophesized queen but a task that sees Keeley fighting for her life. In an effort to take down the newly crowned king, Keeley must side with a group of mountain warriors that are so much more than they appear to be. Enter Caid, an Amichai warrior, and the man with whom Keeley will fall in love. What ensues is a cross country journey as Keeley and her ‘army’ must fight off marauding armies, dragons, elves, witches and dwarves, in an attempt to stop the destruction of villages, and annihilation of thousands of people.

Keeley Smythe comes from a long line of female blacksmiths-powerful, strong and talented females who know a thing or two about killing and fighting but not all of Keeley’s sisters are wanna-be blacksmiths, in fact one or two have ‘chosen’ to venture down a differing path, setting their sights on something more. With the recent death of the Old King, anarchy has ensued and Keeley must fight to protect the people she loves. Meeting Caid, one of the Amichai warriors finds our heroine siding with a people she had only heard about through mythology and tales. Caid and his family are a magical people but it is their ability to ‘shift’ that makes them powerful and fierce in the eyes of the enemy.

If you are a fan of the author’s Dragonkin series you will recognize many similarities and plot structures including the squabbling and battle-raged siblings, War monk, centaurs, mythological gods and powerful demon dogs, as well as he appearance of a dragon who spews lava to destroy those trying to take him down. There are a couple of references to the aforementioned series including the barbarians, the Dragon Queen, and of course the Mad Queen, herself.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful and crazy secondary and supporting characters including Keeley’s twelve siblings and numerous cousins, uncles and extended family; the Amichai warriors of varying species, as well as the rather barbaric and power hungry royal family. The requisite evil has many faces.

THE BLACKSMITH QUEEN is a complex and detailed story that introduces a vast array of characters. Aiken’s trademark humor, sarcasm and snark is liberally sprinkled throughout the story but to a lesser degree than her other series. The relationship between Keeley and Caid is slow to develop, and the romance is limited but such is the nature of many fantasy story lines. The back and forth banter between siblings if oft-times crazy and disturbing but in the end, they will always protect the people they love.

Barb’s Review 

The Blacksmith Queen by G.A. Aiken is the first book in her new fantasy The Scarred Earth Saga series.  I am a huge fan of G.A. Aiken (Shelly Laurenston) and I will always read anything she writes. As I have said before, no one makes me laugh and enjoy her stories better than Laurenston/Aiken.   G.A. Aiken gives us the best dragons, that we love and laugh all the way.  So I anxiously awaited to read this new series that are not dragons, and happy to say that once again, Aiken has another winner.  I loved The Blacksmith Queen.

We meet our heroine, Keely Smythe immediately as she is fighting bad guys trying to hurt innocent people and or animals.  Keely is a blacksmith and is a very strong woman, who has a trusty huge hammer that she uses to fight with.  While in the midst of a fight, a group of mountain warriors come to help her; to her surprise, these warriors are Centaurs.   We meet three of the Centaurs that will play an important part of this series, Laila (the leader), Caid (the brother and future love interest for Keely, and Quinn (the other wild brother).  During the fight, the centaurs are thrown by a group of wolves who come out to help Keely, as they have red eyes and are demon wolves, and they seem totally loyal to Keely.

With the Old King of the land of the Black Hills having died, his sons are trying to kill each other to become the king. When the Centaurs follow Keely home, they will meet her family, including one of her sisters, Beatrix.  Prophecy reveals that a queen will ascent to the throne of Black Hills, the Centaurs explain they are there not only here to protect them, but to take Beatrix to the witches confirming that she is the new Queen.  Keely, her cousin Keran, and her just returned older sister, Gemma (who is a war monk) will take the trip to the witches with the Centaurs and Beatrix.  There are some shocking twists and betrayals very early on, pitting Beatrix and Keely as opposing Queens (the witches claim there are two queens).

Keely spending most of her life protecting her family, is shocked at Beatrix betrayal, but the centaurs, Gemma, the animals (who love Keely) will convince her to accept her calling and be ready to fight to save them all.  To tell too much more would be spoilers, as most of what I described is early on. 

The Blacksmith Queen is another one of Aiken’s wild crazy exciting and fun adventures.  Caid slowly finds himself attracted to Keely, and a slow build romance will start, but mostly in the background.  I suspect in future books, we will see the romance escalate.

As is tradition in any book by Aiken, we have some wild characters that we come to love. I loved Keely and her family and friends; Gemma was tough, but in time she makes a great addition to Keely’s team, and I adored the Centaurs, including Caid, Laila, Quinn, their mother and father.  Of course, I loved the wolves always by her side.

The Blacksmith Queen was a fun filled amazing ride, with a number of strong (not to mention crazy) characters.  I look forward to the next book of this series to see where Aiken will take us in this wonderful world building.  If you have loved Aiken/Laurenston previous books, do not hesitate to read The Blacksmith Queen.

Copy supplied by Netgalley