An epic fantasy of a matriarchal society where a centuries long truce is threatened when a decade passes without a single girl being born. This is a big story, with alot of sub-stories that take a while to follow. This isn't my normal read and I felt like much of the book was a setup for the next installment.

This book was not for me. I couldn't get into the world building. I don't think it was an issue with the writing, I just was not connecting with it.

I unfortunately couldn’t get in to this book fully. I think it was a matter of good book, but not the right time? I’m quite a mood reader and will try to read this again, when I’m in the right mood for it.

A feminist epic fantasy with unfortunately predictable and lackluster elements. It's not enough for me to read genderbent traditional high fantasy. Instead, I want it to introduce something new. But for this exact reason, I can imagine this book maybe appealing to readers who are newer to high fantasy.

Epic fantasy with women as the leaders - who wouldn't want to read that story?!

I thoroughly enjoyed this tale and the varied characters. The magic woven throughout the story was fabulous and made for a richer tale.

If you like tales such as Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings but can appreciate stories from a female perspective, definitely pick this one up!

Scorpica opens the door to what seems to be a very promising new fantasy series. G.R. Macallister has through one book created a very richly built world and diverse characters. Continue reading to get a more in-depth look at my thoughts on this first installment of The Five Queendoms series.

World
Impressive. Often fantasy series can be overwhelming in the first installment. Names of people and places, while also information about the culture, history, and unique fantasy elements all inundate the reader. When reading I did not get that feeling. Little by little Macallister teaches the reader about the world without smacking us in the face with lists of important things to understand the plot.

The entire world, as we have seen it so far, is matriarchial, which I loved. Within the book, each culture or queendom regarded gender and sex differently. Whether it was a culture that considered a woman barren because she only ever gave birth to boys or if it is a culture where men are merely arm-candy, I enjoyed seeing ways that the matriarchal societies were conceived by Macallister.

Characters
Because the world was so large, Scorpica has so many characters. Overall Scorpica develops the characters well and where they weren’t there will be time in the following books. Macallister has created great depth in the characters. In a good way, the motivations and desires of the characters pull in multiple directions.

There is also quite a deal of diversity in the points of view of our narrators. Regardless of the fact that the narrators are from different queendoms, even within the queendoms they are not one hivemind. Each narrator has a very clear individuality.

Plot Longevity
Since this is the start of a series, I like to consider whether or not there will be a clear way forward for new books. There is so much left to explore, characters to develop, and in general aspects of the world that were not touched upon. Scorpica does not explore several of the queendoms as the narrative focuses on characters that are primarily from only two of the five.

Overall
I am excited to see how these characters and the world in general shape up. Scorpica provides a lot of potential for this series. I look forward to learning how the world expands and adjust to some pretty significant changes. As a stand-alone, this book does tick a lot of boxes, but I’m very glad this is just the start of Macallister’s The Five Queendoms series.

I really loved other books by this author and was excited to see she was writing this sort of fantasy series. I think it has promise and lives up to what it advertises itself as--I could also see it making for a great television series. As some others note, there is a lot of explicit material and I did find myself wishing it did not feature so often. I know this is common in fantasy, but sometimes I wish the story could just focus on the action, adventure, and strong female leads.

Scorpica tells the tale of women in power in a matriarchal society. The novel is very feminist because it is about women fighting for power. The story is very well-written, and the world-building is complex. The only thing I did not like about this book was that this story was told from multiple perspectives. Nevertheless, there is a lot of political and courtly intrigue to keep the reader invested! I recommend this fans of Three Dark Crowns!

This was a refreshing read with inspiring feminist characters. It did take me some time to adapt to the writing and connect with the characters, thus slowing down my reading progress. The pace is also quite slow and it’s understandable for its world building. Overall, I’d only recommend this to avid fantasy readers but not beginners

I received a copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review
I tried multiple times to like this novel but, in the end, it just did not crank my gears at all.

Scorpica takes place in a matriarchal society of the Five Queendoms. However, the societal structure is threatened when girls stop being born. The Queendoms close ranks, with internal strife threatening the power of the queens in Scorpica, the warrior queendom, as well as Arca, where the sorcerers reside. As the drought of Girls continues tensions rise and Queendoms turn on each other. A fun fantasy with an intriguing setting.

Scorpica is the first book in an epic fantasy series, and I gotta say, I didn’t love it. I did the audio and still kind of put it down a few times.

It’s an impressive and massive undertaking, and perhaps I just wasn’t in the mindset for dense, high fantasy. If you are, however, this one is about a matriarchial society across five queendoms. When girls stop being born, it incites oanic and the queendoms begin to turn on each other. The book follows characters across this world and shows the burden of those girls born just before the drought.

It is out now wherever your procure your books if you’re ready to start a new series.

This is a fantastic epic fantasy debut, with a rich pantheon and page-turning drama. Macallister has a knack for sketching characters quickly, and I was vested in each of the points of view that she offered. I can't wait for the next one in the series!

It seems like I just finished up reviewing a book with a very similar concept to this one. “The First Girl Child” was also a fantasy with a plotline centered around the sudden loss of girl babies being born in the land. This book’s set up, however, promises to tell a very different story, centering the tale around a matriarchal society where the dearth of women means a loss of leadership, military prowess, and much more. So I was very excited when the publisher reached out to me with an eARC to review this book. Let’s dive on it!

The world is made up of five nations, all queendoms ruled by powerful leading women. This world order, so stable for so long, is suddenly thrown into question when girl babies suddenly stop being born. As the land shifts beneath their feet, each Queen must confront the peril that comes with this delicate balance being thrown into chaos. Alliances are broken. Trust is shattered. And fear seems to rising in every sector of the land.

While this book wasn’t quite what I hoped it would be, there were still several things that were quite well done. The world-building, at first, did come off as a bit simplistic with its five little kingdoms neatly divided into specific traits, such as an emphasis on military prowess, bureaucratic guile, or magical abilities. It’s kind of a YA tactic that I’ve seen all too often: a get-out-of-jail free card to replace complicated culture building when peopling one’s world. But, luckily, here, as the story continued to unfold, I did find more work put in to this world than just these easily defined kingdoms. Through the various queens we see, the nature of each people became more complex, making for a more interesting interplay between these kingdoms.

The story is also committed to it’s slower style of story-telling. This is a very dialogue-light tale, with a lot of work done in the narration itself. Sometimes this worked, and other times, less so. It took quite a while for me to become invested in the story, partly due to this slower pacing and partly due to the split POVs (a pet peeve of mine and by no means an objective ding to this book.) With less dialogue on the page, it did take a bit longer to feel like I really understood the difference between the characters. But again, as the story built, I did find myself becoming more invested in certain characters (less so in others, always my problem with multiple POV books it seems).

In some ways, the book was almost too believable. In the face of such a sudden, completely unexpected devastation as the loss of girls in a matriarchal society, most people have no idea what to do, including many of the queens we see here. On one hand, looking at how real-world countries struggle to take meaningful action in the face of disasters that happen on such a grand scope (pandemics, climate change, etc.), it’s easily believable to see the struggles of these leaders to react in any true way. Largely, many of them came off as very passive in the face of this disaster. I was pleased to see one of these queens actively moving forward, and it’s no surprise that her story was my favorite.

Overall, I liked this book fairly well. It’s definitely a slow-moving beast and is dedicated to the minutia at heart of the situation created. Those fantasy readers who enjoy geopolitical stories will likely find lots to like here. If you’re more into action and quick dialogue, however, this probably isn’t for you.

Rating 7: An interesting concept and world that is ultimately hindered by being maybe a bit too realistic.

This fantasy following female women warriors was fantastic. I liked the worldbuilding. I liked the characters. The pacing was a bit off at times, in my opinion, but it was still easy to push through. Overall, I would recommend! I am excited for the sequel!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC!

This is a book where I was unfortunately rather bored from page one, reading through to the end more out of principle to get there than for any real desire to know what was happening.

This lack of engagement started with the prologue. I honestly don't know what the point of the prologue was. It's pretty much a few pages of world and premise dump, doing nothing more than reiterating the blurb. There was no character, just vague factual overviews of people, so there was no reason for me to engage, nothing to latch onto.

It felt like reading an encyclopaedia entry, or wikipedia intro paragraph for a country. It felt like a waste of time to read that. More than a waste of time, if I'm honest - it felt like its inclusion signalled that the book didn't trust itself to be engaging enough in chapter one without this "overview of world at book" to start with.

And yeah, that was pretty much the case. The first chapter wasn't engaging at all. The first reason was it wasn't obvious at all how the chapter (or frankly any of the next three) was related to the premise (which doesn't come in until the second act, 64 pages in.)

This sense of directionlessness continued through the book. It never felt like the book was building toward something, but rather felt like humdrum days in the life of unconnected people in a world going wrong. There was very little linking the characters, which is never great for me enjoying a book. They didn't interact in person, their actions had little apparent consequence on the others.

It also felt like some characters disappeared for a while then just reappeared. This makes me think the characters are unimportant so why are they in the book in the first place? Not that some reappeared at all - one character, Ama, had a lot of attention on her in the first 10 chapters and then never turns up again. One character thinks of her possibly once.

Not to mention the ending felt like it was invalidating everything that had come before. Pretty much none of the book leads up to or impacts on the ending. Only one character (later joined by another, both of whom have very little personal page time, and the main one rarely makes sense in the book) really has an impact on what happens in the finale. Almost nothing from the other POVs leads to that point, so what was the point in spending all the time with their lives and actions? They didn't have any bearing on the climax.

The prose also didn't engage me. It reminded me too much of the prose in <em>The Wheel of Time</em> series - too many words and yet not much happening. It felt so distant and unemotional.

Overall, this was such a disappointing, boring read. I will not be continuing with the rest of the series, which I'm guessing will be five book long.

Visceral and immersive portrayal of a matriarchal world that really drew me in from start to finish. Gorgeous, stunning world-building with jaw-dropping set pieces that are so skillfully written that I couldn't look away. Highly recommended.

Thank you to the publisher, Wunderkind PR, and Netgalley for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

You all know how much I love a good fantasy novel. Fantasy is and will probably always be my go-to genre when I’m thinking of what to read next. I love the scale and scope that can be found inside the pages of a novel that transports you to another world. When I was offered an e-ARC of Scorpica and read the synopsis, I immediately knew I wanted to read this book. And, though it took me longer than I was expected, I savored every minute of it!

This is a complicated story that weaves together multiple POVs from multiple different backgrounds. The realm of the five queendoms has existed in peace for centuries. Each queendom has a role to fulfill and they do it dutiful. That is until, for reasons unknown, girls stop being born to women of all five queendoms. As the Drought of Girls persists, tensions among the queens and citizens of their lands start to rise. And, in the midst of all this turmoil, is the generation of lastborn girls just trying to find their place in the world.

When I tell y’all that this book is epic, I do mean epic. If you’re not the type that likes a lot of world-building and different POVs, this might not be the read for you. For someone like me, who loves getting into the nitty gritty of a new world, I think this will hit the spot! There is a lot going on in this story and even I can admit that it sometimes got jumbled in my head. But that’s also why I would encourage anyone picking this book up to take you time with it. Let yourself really sink into this world because the writing makes it so easy to do! Take a slow place and really get to know the characters. It’s definitely worth it in the end. All the details and build up makes sense to me, as well, since this is the first book in a series. It needs to establish the world, the magic, the politics, and I think the author did a great job of doing that without boring me. I was fully invested in everything going on, to the point that I may have extended a few lunch hours because I was so wrapped up in the book 😅

Now y’all may or may not know that I’m a person that adores a character-driven story. Plot is great and the plot needs to be, at the bare minimum, interesting, but the true crux in any novel for me is the characters. Are they well-written? Do I enjoy watching their journey? Is it interesting seeing things from their point of view? I’m all about characters! Thankfully, this book is chock-full of vibrant, nuanced characters that made me immediately invested in their stories. Fair warning, there are a lot of them to get to know in this book, but at no point did that feel cumbersome to me. I loved getting to know each and every major POV throughout this story. There were, of course, some POVs I enjoyed more than others, but they all had something unique to add to the story.

One point that I wish had been explored more is the role of trans men and trans women in this world. In a world that is so clearly divided by gender, it seemed like the topic of trans people is brushed over. I dunno… I guess I just had a lot of questions. Like, would a trans girl born in Arca be able to use magic? Would a trans boy born in Scorpica be sent away like all the other AMAB boys? And with the other LGBT+ rep in this story, it felt like a missed opportunity to not explore those questions. Of course, this may be a case of the author not feeling comfortable writing about a marginalized group she is not part of. And this is just the first book in what I imagine will be a decently sized series, so there’s plenty of time to dig into this topic and more.

Final thoughts: This was a truly epic beginning to what promises to be a fascinating fantasy series! I loved learning about this matriarchal society and the five queendoms. There is a lot to learn, but the author weaves it in so well with the story that I never felt burdened down by it. I thought the world-building was phenomenal and the writing made the world absolutely come to life! Not only that, but it’s populated with characters that practically leap off the page. Though this book spans decades, and there is a lot going on in those decades, it is a compelling and compulsively readable novel. I do suggest taking your time with this one as there are a lot of moving pieces. Overall, though, if you enjoy intricate worlds with interesting magic and multiple POVs, I think you would enjoy Scorpica!

***4 STARS***
REVIEW GOES LIVE ON 4/10/22 @8AM EST

THE 411...

☆☆ 𝐀𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝, 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐬, 𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐬. ☆☆╮

Five Queendoms have ruled over the land in peace for five hundred years until the Drought of Girls arrives. When girls who are the warriors, healers, magic wielders, and scribes in this world cease being born, the Queendoms turn against one another. In a land of many religions, prayers go up to their different Gods in hopes of ending this curse. Told in multi-POV mainly from the perspectives of the Queen of Arca & Scorpica, this is the start to what has been described as the female Game of Thrones. We have a matriarchal society where men have lesser magic if any all, theirs is more for cosmetic purposes since their role in society is mostly as stay at home husbands. They do not have the right to vote or hold any office, they're tasked with rearing children in this world where polygamy is the norm. The exception being the land of Scorpica where men are not allowed entry and women warriors travel out of their lands every five years to procreate. Male born babies are sold off and female babies are welcomed as future warriors. When the Drought of Girls begins, all Queendoms look to one another for the source of this curse. Power plays are set into motion by each queen to protect their positions of power at any and all costs. 

WRITING & FINAL THOUGHTS...

This is the type of Fantasy that will satisfy the reader who enjoys thoroughly fleshed out world building, political machinations, and slow but steady storytelling that feels like it's all leading up to something greater. Although quite dense at times with a TON of characters, the short chapters really make it easier to follow the many story lines at once. I really enjoyed learning of the different lands and their Queendoms because each has it's own specialty they're known for sort of like the seven kingdoms of Westeros (Game of Thrones). We get to spend some time learning of the warriors in Scorpica, Scribes in the Bastion, deal makers/traders in Paxim, and Sorcerers in Arca. Some lands were explored more than others but I was satisfied with the two we spent the most time in (Scorpica & Arca) since they wield the most power through physical and magical strengths. A good majority of the cast of characters are queer and most relationships are Polyamorous. I love a good set of supporting side characters especially when they're sort of found family. We get that here in a group of misfits/thieves we meet on the journey of one of the main characters we follow. I'm hoping to meet these characters on the page again after getting fully invested in their lives. This was definitely a foundation setting book to what has the potential to be an EPIC fantasy. My guess is that the sequel will hit the ground running and swords will be clashing. For this to be the first fully matriarchal/feminist Fantasy I've read...MORE please? haha! this hit the spot 🙌🏽

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this book.

This one was pretty interesting. Good world building, and the characters were pretty complex. Not a lot of dialogue but still overall pretty engaging. I will definitely be looking for the next one!