The Queen's Bastard: C.E. Murphy

In an alternate Elizabethan-era world, Belinda Primrose, bastard daughter of queen Lorraine of Aulun was raised to be the perfect spy and assassin. She can be anyone, anywhere and solve whatever task is given to her. Belinda has never shirked her position, or the unique powers that reside within her. She does only what she is told, until she meets a prince with powers akin to hers but stronger and terribly seductive. For the first time in her life Belinda will find herself torn between duty to her queen and the heart that she has kept locked away for so long.

Raised in relative solitude with only servants and occasional visits from Lord Drake, the Queen's Spymaster, for company Belinda knew of her own powers from a relatively young age. Her training as a spy began with Lord Drake very early as well. Belinda was never given another option. She knows her job and does it well. When news of a possible plot to rekindle an old and bloody conflict arises Belinda is dispatched to Gallin to learn what she can. In order to do this Belinda must adopt a public disguise which will make her position even more dangerous. She infiltrates the circle of friends of Prince Javier and in so doing finds another like herself; Javier is witchbreed but much stronger then herself. As events tumble headlong in Gallin Belinda must find a way to glean the secrets of Gallin's queen, discover plots of possible regicide, battle her emotions for Javier and their shared powers, and try to avoid a confrontation with the recently arrived diplomatic envoy from Khazar where she recently completed a mission to assassinate a nobleman.

Belinda Primrose is a very tough nut. She was given her first assignment at age twelve; to kill a boy who could end up quite high up in politics. She did it and never looked back. She is also highly sexual and has no qualms about it. Does this make her a bad or unlikable character? If you read some of the reviews on Amazon it apparently does. However I don't see it that way. In an age of oppressed women, Belinda Primrose is one of the few that has freedoms. There are some sex scenes that may cause some to shudder but if that's a problem don't buy the book. I did enjoy seeing Belinda learning to use her power and getting caught up in the dark side of it, as she learns that it isn't at her beck and call. She has to learn that it needs to be controlled or it will control her.

While based on the framework of the Elizabethan-era it is almost as if it's a Bizarro-Elizabethan. Places, people, and world politics are basically the same, if you look closely enough. It's just labels, the dressings if you will, that's a little different. I found it to be well-written and very clever, and I was quite intrigued when bits of Belinda's true nature were finally revealed near the end. I'm eagerly awaiting the next book.
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Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Pub. Date: April 2008
ISBN-13: 9780345494641