Title: The Councillor
Author: E.J. Beaton
Release Date: 2 March 2021
Source: ARC provided by publisher
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I had meant to get this review written and posted nearly a week ago, but alas, life… But anyway, here we go, and OH BOY, folks! I am so excited about this new release novel! It is already a strong contender for my favorite book of the year! (Yes, I know, it’s only January and I have a lot of books to read this year, but it’ll definitely be making the shortlist at least!) The Councillor is from debut author E.J. Beaton. It’s being marketed by the publisher as “machiavellian fantasy” which is a very good description actually. It is political intrigue fantasy at its best; it gives Game of Thrones a run for its money. This debut author is arriving on the science fiction/fantasy with a bang, and we love to see it! They pack more world-building and suspense into this book than you could possibly hope for, and it’s fantastic!

So here’s the basic premise: the story takes place in a country that seems somewhat vaguely inspired by medieval Italy called Elira, where Queen Sarelin Bray rules over a country that is separated into five city-states (Axium, Rhime, Valderos, Pyrrha, and Lyria), each with its own city-ruler. The country is in a state of uneasy peace, some twenty years after an enormous war against the White Queen, leader of a group of people with magical abilities called Elementals. Having defeated the White Queen, Sarelin made Elementals illegal and routinely executes them; people are not even allowed to speak of them. Our main character is Lysande, an orphan, a scholar, and the handpicked protege of the warrior-queen Sarelin. When Sarelin is assassinated leaving no heirs, an ancient tradition dictates that the queen’s appointed Councillor choose a new king or queen from among the city-rulers.  When Lysande, a commoner rather than nobility, is shockingly assigned the role of Councillor, and given the task of choosing a new ruler from among the nobility of the surrounding city-states, she is thrust into a world of political machinations, alliances, betrayals, and death she feels woefully unprepared for. Add in the fact that the White Queen, long-thought dead, may be returning to conquer the realm, and Lysande’s secret drug addiction, and it seems things could not get more complicated. Until they do. 

This novel delights in thwarting reader expectations, seeming to be one kind of story before transforming into another about a third of the way through. You go in thinking the whole plot will be about Lysande trying to decide who is the best ruler from among the city-rulers, but then it flips on its head and becomes another thing entirely. There is a large cast of characters, each with distinct developed and fascinating personalities and motives. The various city-rulers are all amazing in different ways, and the various people who support Lysande throughout the story are complex and fantastic! 

Lysander herself is wonderfully complex and flawed. She worships the memory of Sarelin and must struggle with the fact that her glorious queen’s treatment of Elementals was oppressive, cruel, and unjust. She has developed a growing addiction to an illegal drug made from chimera scales, a drug that keeps her calm and numb and helps her deal with the stress (and downright terror) of being the Councillor, but is having increasingly painful side-effects. She, like the readers, cannot determine who is to be trusted in the labyrinthine machinations of court politics and continuously trips up as she tries to navigate the diplomacy necessary. She also begins to grow a taste for the power that comes with her new position. At the same time, however, she is brilliant and studious and brave, and desperately wants to do the right thing both for herself and for the entire population of the country she loves. In addition to all of this, Lysande is like the DEFINITION of “disaster bi,” and she harbors long suppressed BDSM leanings that slowly emerge in various relationships throughout the novel. She has several different possible love-interests over the course of the novel, and there are a handful of sex scenes, though they are not explicit (in case you’re the kind of person who is concerned about that kind of thing).

 It is so full of well-plotted, but shocking plot twists that you will not be able to catch your breath from beginning to end. I was routinely completely shocked by various developments and revelations, in the best way possible. I am trying to talk around several absolutely STUNNING revelations because I really don’t want to ruin them for potential readers. The whole last third of the novel, in particular, had me breathlessly sitting on the edge of my seat, trying to figure out who was betraying who and how the hell it was going to end! While the ending was satisfying, it absolutely left plenty of room for a sequel, and I really need everyone to go buy this book (pre-order it even!) so that the author and publishers feel compelled to give me a sequel as quickly as humanly possible, please and thanks!

So, get thee hence! Go order a copy! You can find it at all the usual places: indiebound.org, bookshop.org, barnesandnoble.com, and your local indie bookstore!