Review: The Great Succession Crisis by Laurel A. Rockefeller

Name of book: The Great Succession Crisis (Peers of Beinan Trilogy #1)
Author: Laurel A. Rockefeller
Publication: August 3rd 2012
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Provided by the kind author

Great Succession Crisis is a science-grounded work of fiction set in another galaxy. Drawing upon Earth history and anthropology, planet Beinan is a complete world with its own units of time and distances,cultures, religions, and constitutional monarchy.

Great succession Crisis is the story of a young princess, Anlei, daughter of Beinan’s sovereign Queen Isabelle who faces a personal and political crisis when the Great Council of Beinan refuses to overturn an ancient law rooted in the clan warfare of their distant past. This law states that no woman may pass the crown to her daughter, only to a son.

After the Great Council refuses the royal petition to change the law, Anlei finds herself a political pawn in a chess game of competing noble houses with nothing less than her virtue, her life, and the future of planet Beinan at stake in a political thriller that will have you guessing right through the final chapter.

-- My Rating --

3.5/5 Oscars

-- My Thoughts --

     I am having a very hard time to express my feelings for this book. Since they are so confusing, I appreciated some parts, but didn't know the point of some other parts. So bear with me (as long as you can...)

     I am not doing a summery of this, since all the plot is about one little twist, and if I, voluntary or involuntary, write that twist down, it will ruin the whole experience of reading the book. I appreciate the uniqueness of this book. It is pretty obvious, that one of the things Laurel Rockefeller is very good at, is the world-building. The world is not the Earth we know, it has many similarities but many differences, too. Loved the fact that the author took careful note of every little detail in the book, even the way the years are measured, the way length and weight are measured, the religions on the planet, and many other aspects. This part of the book was perfect.

     What I had a little problem with is the characters. Okay, so Anlei, our main character is not much of a smart-ass. She is just a typical princess, but her humbleness and kindness blew the love interest away. Corann is definitely the all-too-typical, still-swoon-worthy male lead whose love confessions will leave you gaping. Unfortunately  the other characters were not developed very much and i felt like they were lacking "character" or "charisma".

     The pace was a little rushed sometimes, but otherwise, it fit the story. The ending wrapped things up well, but left some room for future material, too. This book was not what I expected. On some bases, it was good and on some other bases, not so good. But I don't regret reading this, and I might give the second book in the series a try.