Title: Trial of the Sun Queen (Artefacts of Ouranos #1)
Author: Nisha J. Tuli
Genre: Fantasy romance, romantasy
Publisher: N/A – Independent
Publication Date: 2022
Format: Paperback
Length: 400 pages

Read if you like: The Bachelor but fantasy, competitions to survive, forbidden magic, fiery FMC, The Hunger Games style society, fae court politics, medium spice

Rating: 

This is my third novel by Nisha J. Tuli and at this point, I’m pretty confident that I’ll like anything she writes. I’ve been hearing about this series for over a year now and I wish I had started it sooner.

Trial of the Sun Queen was an excellent start to a fantasy romance with a lot of promise for the rest of the series. The premise came in far darker than I expected but added weight to the very Bachelor-like plot that evolved with much more serious stakes. I did predict the major twist at the end from a little ways out, but most of what it took to get there I didn’t see coming, so it was still an extremely entertaining ride.

I finished this book excited to see what the next one would bring, which is always a promising sign for me. This was a unique and interesting series start that I can’t wait to see evolve from here.

The Book: Trial of the Sun Queen by Nisha J. Tuli Synopsis

Ten women. A deadly contest. Only one can win the Sun King’s heart.

Lor has endured twelve long years of torment under the Aurora King’s rule. Her only desire is to escape and pay him back for every moment of misery she’s endured.

When a surprise release finds her in the hands of the rival Sun King, Lor is thrust into the spotlight as she competes against nine other Tributes for the role of queen. If she wins his heart, she’ll earn her freedom and finally get her revenge.

But Lor doesn’t belong in the Sun Queen Trials. Not only does she not understand why she was freed, she isn’t a citizen of the Sun King’s court. The other Tributes resent her presence and will stop at nothing to ensure Lor is removed from the competition, permanently.

Now Lor must win, because if she loses, she dies. Or worse, she’ll be returned to the evil—and now vengeful—Aurora King.

The Review

This book has a lot of comparisons to other series like The Hunger Games, The Bachelor, and A Court of Thorns and Roses, but to me, it still felt unique, and a lot darker at times than some of those other series.

I found the world that the main character Lor is a part of to be intriguing and just well flushed out enough to make me want more. There are clearly defined districts that seem to have specific, unique traits and peoples, but I felt like we barely scratched the surface in understanding the dynamics between the courts and their people. What was clear though was that this universe is lush in magic, politics, and oppression, and I’m invested in seeing how it further unfolds in subsequent books.

While the plot had similarities to the comparisons the book has drawn (a magic competition with Bachelor-like dating aspects), I found it was the characters that shaped the story in a unique direction. Lor is our heroine, but she’s a lot of sharp edges and brute force struggling to fit into the competition mould. Her backstory is tragic and it colours nearly all of her interactions, and while she gets pockets of peace and happiness, it quickly becomes clear that her journey is not going to be a linear one. I’m also incredibly curious about how her relationship with Atlas and Nadir respectively will evolve from here. It was very apparent that neither is who they seem to be, but I wasn’t quite able to nail down who they actually are and what their motivations will be. I know this series is billed as a romantasy though, and given that this book was light in that area, I suspect there’s much more that’s still left to unfold. 

I did end up suspecting one of the major plot twists, but there’s still a lot of mystery around what it will mean in subsequent books and how it will shape Lor’s future. I also felt like there were a lot of unanswered questions and breadcrumbs that I hadn’t been able to piece with the larger whole just yet. I ultimately left this series feeling like it has a huge amount of potential, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the next book holds.