
A stunning blend of vivid fantasy and political drama, The Vanished Queen is the timely story of a young resistance fighter working to overthrow a totalitarian ruler’s regime of terror and lies. “[G]ripping…this is the novel the world needs now” (Kate Hearfield, Nebula Award-winning author of Armed in her Fashion). Long ago, Queen Mirantha vanished. King Karolje claimed she was assassinated by a neighboring ruler, but her people knew the truth: the king had Disappeared her himself. Now the queen’s disappearance is hardly a memory - merely one among many horrors the king’s reign has wrought. But when Anza, a young student impassioned by her father’s unjust execution, finds the missing queen’s diary, she is inspired by Mirantha’s words - joins the resistance group to overthrow the king. Price Esvar is the second son to an evil king. Trapped under his thumb and desperate for a way out, a chance meeting with Anza gives him the opportunity to join the resistance. Together, they might have the leverage to move against the king—but if they fail, their deaths could mean a total loss of freedom for generations to follow. In this dangerous game of court politics, one misstep could lead to a fate worse than death. Set in a world where resistance is as dangerous as it is important, The Vanished Queen is a “big, dark, intricate novel” (Lousia Morgan, author of A Secret History of Witches) about the courage and sacrifice it requires to take on a tyrant.
©2020 Lisbeth Campbell. Sonnet #212 ©2017 J. M. McDermott. Used with permission. All rights reserved. (P)2020 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.