Rating: 
Summary: ...Never write about Pheresa again...
Review: "The Queen's Gambit" begins where "The Chalice" left off, but this time following Pheresa du Lindier in her struggle to be crowned queen of Mandria. And I just have to ask, WHY?! In "The Sword, The Ring, and The Chalice", I found Pheresa's character to be prissy and bland. So of course, she had to have a whole book devoted to her. My anti-Pheresa biasness aside, I have to warn readers against thinking this book will be like the trilogy. There are no epic quests, no sorcererous battles, and almost no sword fights. It is indeed all about political and courtly intrigue. There is also more romance than in the trilogy, which is not necessarily a good thing. The new characters are surprisingly two dimensional and unsympathetic, even the ones who we are supposed to like. Lervan, Pheresa's husband and eventual usurper, is like Gavril 2.0, except, you know, more pointless and annoying. Then there's Talmor, who is like Dain 2.0, except, you know, utterly devoid of any personality. Here's hoping the next time Chester writes about Mandria and the like, she chooses a better character to follow (Alexeika, anyone?).
Rating: 
Summary: Another good one from Deborah Chester...
Review: After finishing her Ring, Sword, and Chalice trilogy, I was glad to come across this book devoted to Pheresa's subsequent fate, since I found her to be an interesting and appealing character - ambitious, but principled, and self-aware - and her setting a fascinating one, even though it was a fairly routine Middle Ages knock-off. My only real complaint about this book was Pheresa's rather abrupt realization that she was in love with her protector, the heroic Talmor, after several years of being constantly in his presence. A little more romantic suspense would have been nice.
Rating:
Summary: Definitely not a great book
Review: After reading The Sword, The Ring, and The Chalice Trilogy, I couldn't wait to read The Queen's Gambit. However, this book really disappointed me. I expected this one to be as good as the trilogy, but I was wrong!
This book starts out pretty good. It keeps the readers going by talking about how Pharesa is weak and is in a dangerous situation. However, I expected Pharesa to get stronger and stronger as the plot flows. Pharesa is a whiny wife who doesn't want to turn against her husband until it's too late. Chester should develope Pharesa's personality more, but she didn't. So in the end, I still think Pharesa as a weak woman.
Also, we didn't get a lot of information about Talmor's personality except that he's brave and loyal. Chester could go a little bit beyond that.
Some events in the novel come out too suddenly. For example, Pharesa realizes her love for Talmor in just like a blink of eyes, and there's not a lot of foreshadowing before this abrupt realization. I think Chester could make the characters closer before having them admit their love to each other. Moreover, Chester should write more about the life of Dain.
Well, this is my opinion. I personally think it's not worth to buy this book. It is interesting to know what's Pharesa's life like after The Chalice, but I really wouldn't buy it if I were you.
Rating: 
Summary: powerful romantic sword and sorcery
Review: By drinking from the sacred Chalice, Pheresa saves her life. Unfortunately her betrothed, the heir to the Kingdom of Mandria died because the dark side of sorcery he wanted to master consumed him. Pheresa expects to be the next monarch, but first must trick the church that wants her as an icon of the holy Chalice. After succeeding at that endeavor, Pheresa manages to get through to King Verence still in a fog while mourning the death of his son. He names her Princess of the Realm, but she must marry her cousin Lervan to inherit the throne. To keep his heir safe, the king designates Sir Talmor to guard Pheresa. When King Verence suddenly dies, Pheresa and Talmor flee the city as enemies attack. As they struggle to survive, they prepare for the day when she returns for her crown even as they fall in love with one another. THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT is a powerful romantic sword and sorcery tale that readers will gain tremendous pleasure from perusing due to the lead couple. Pheresa almost obsesses over her belief that her destiny is to be queen. Talmor will die to keep his beloved safe and he also provides the pin that keeps Pheresa from going over the edge with her contention. Fans of S&S will relish this delightful tale especially when the beleaguered heroes try to defeat their foes within the regal court and from outside the capital. Deborah Chester has written a fantastic fantasy that behooves the need of more novels in Mandria to satiate the certain clamor and demands of readers. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: powerful romantic sword and sorcery
Review: By drinking from the sacred Chalice, Pheresa saves her life. Unfortunately her betrothed, the heir to the Kingdom of Mandria died because the dark side of sorcery he wanted to master consumed him. Pheresa expects to be the next monarch, but first must trick the church that wants her as an icon of the holy Chalice. After succeeding at that endeavor, Pheresa manages to get through to King Verence still in a fog while mourning the death of his son. He names her Princess of the Realm, but she must marry her cousin Lervan to inherit the throne. To keep his heir safe, the king designates Sir Talmor to guard Pheresa. When King Verence suddenly dies, Pheresa and Talmor flee the city as enemies attack. As they struggle to survive, they prepare for the day when she returns for her crown even as they fall in love with one another. THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT is a powerful romantic sword and sorcery tale that readers will gain tremendous pleasure from perusing due to the lead couple. Pheresa almost obsesses over her belief that her destiny is to be queen. Talmor will die to keep his beloved safe and he also provides the pin that keeps Pheresa from going over the edge with her contention. Fans of S&S will relish this delightful tale especially when the beleaguered heroes try to defeat their foes within the regal court and from outside the capital. Deborah Chester has written a fantastic fantasy that behooves the need of more novels in Mandria to satiate the certain clamor and demands of readers. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Made me want more
Review: I disagree with the other reviewers. I picked up "Queen's Gambit" before the trilogy, loved it, and am now reading the trilogy. The book was well written and had wonderful momentum and pacing that kept me reading.
Rating:
Summary: Made me want more
Review: I disagree with the other reviewers. I picked up "Queen's Gambit" before the trilogy, loved it, and am now reading the trilogy. The book was well written and had wonderful momentum and pacing that kept me reading.
Rating:
Summary: Made me want more
Review: I was looking forward to this book wrapping up some of the dangling threads from The Sword/Ring/Chalice trilogy. Not only were my questions not answered, I am now left with many more dangling plotlines. I found Pheresa to be a weak, whining character who doesn't begin to buck up until almost the end of the book and is definitely not deserving of her love interest, who, by the way, is about fifty times more interesting than she is. Very disappointing, although I enjoy Chester's style. Quite disappointing for a book I was very much looking forward to.
Rating:
Summary: More Unanswered Questions
Review: I was looking forward to this book wrapping up some of the dangling threads from The Sword/Ring/Chalice trilogy. Not only were my questions not answered, I am now left with many more dangling plotlines. I found Pheresa to be a weak, whining character who doesn't begin to buck up until almost the end of the book and is definitely not deserving of her love interest, who, by the way, is about fifty times more interesting than she is. Very disappointing, although I enjoy Chester's style. Quite disappointing for a book I was very much looking forward to.
Rating:
Summary: I only put three because I enjoyed it despite myself
Review: I'll be blunt, I didn't think there was a lot of depth to this book. I didn't think that there was much depth to her other books either, but this one had even less. This was not your typical "quest" story, so if you need your characters to go on a more physical quest, I'd reccomend against this book. I think that the book actually started out pretty good. Pheresa wasn't and isn't the strongest character around, which made me like her a little and made the story interesting. I guess I felt like it was almost her quest for self-realization. She's a bit shallow, as she was in the previous books, but well-meaning and likable. She makes the mistake of thinking that strength comes from the power to make orders. She grows and matures in the story which I liked and for the most part, I thought was done nicely. I have to say that the author rode a fine line in the climatic scene where she takes the throne back. It could have easily been anti-climatic, but the confrontation between her and Lervan was, in my opinion, well-done. However, I had two major problems with this book. First, there was really no room for character development in Talmor because he was more or less perfect. It was a bit sickening. His "flaws" weren't really flaws, they were flaws of the "world" for lack of a better word, who couldn't or wouldn't understand him and who later realized the error of their ways. Second, the feminist in me was pretty disgusted at the scene where Pheresa was willing to run away from the crown and go away with Talmor. She had a responsibility and she was too weak to get it without Talmor's emotional support (Of course, Talmor realized that he couldn't ask that of her). I was very disappointed in that. I felt that it took away from who she could have been. Had that whole scene been downplayed, or just replayed differently, I would have felt that Pheresa had truly become the strong person she wanted to be, who I felt the author wanted her to be and who I wanted her to be. What i wanted of her was for her to realize that strenght didn't mean doing everythig on her own, she could have leaned on Talmor or others, BUT it also means that she is not useless without those others. I know I'm going on and on about that, but I feel it detracted from the story a great deal as well as made her victory over Lervan a little hollow. Otherwise, it was a book that despite my disappointment in her, I enjoyed. Maybe a follow-up book where she continues her growth? Or maybe I should just be happy with what was there :>
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