Steel Maiden
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3.5 • 4 Ratings
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Publisher Description
An epic fantasy filled with adventure, intrigue, and romance, the rich world of Steel Maiden is perfect for fans of Throne of Glass, Graceling and The Girl of Fire and Thorns.
WHEN ELENA STEALS THE MOST valuable jewel in the Empire, she is caught, and the punishment for stealing is death. But just when she’s about to face her maker, the High priest gives her a choice — death or become one of his champions in The Great Race.
Elena is catapulted without warning into the bloodiest race in all the realms, forced to compete with a man she hates while she develops a growing passion for another. She struggles to understand her special skills and her mysterious healing powers that she must keep secret. Within a world built on religious sects and dangerous secrets, she becomes a woman torn between obligation and desire, between a man she supposedly hates and another.
As Elena comes to terms with her own secret, she discovers the truth behind the race and must stop the ancient, wicked evil that threatens all living things before it's too late.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A young woman discovers long-hidden special abilities when the tyrannical priesthood that has conquered her people forces her to act as its champion in a once-every-century contest. Nineteen-year-old Elena is set up to steal a valuable item from the most secure vault in the land; betrayed and imprisoned, she agrees to participate in the Great Race, a winner-takes-all, no-rules quest to reclaim a powerful artifact. Even with Elena's her newfound power to heal from almost any wound, she can barely hold her own against the trained warriors and royalty of numerous lands. Caught in a love triangle between the noble Landon and the lowborn Mad Jack, she can't decide who to trust. While the premise is intriguing and Elena a capable heroine, the story rests on predictable tropes (including the familiar good boy/bad boy love triangle), transparent parallels to European regionalism, and a disturbing undercurrent of misogyny and sexual abuse in repeated threats of rape and torture employed by the priests. Instead of tension and atmosphere, this adventure, first in Richardson's Divided Realms series, barrels ahead without subtlety or nuance. Ages 12 up. (BookLife)
