A Coalition of Lions

I have been an Elizabeth E. Wein fan since I discovered Winter Prince a few months ago, and I think this book is amazing. I really like the character of Goewin; she's tough and smart and she is not afraid to try things a woman in her time did not do. I admire that, and I also like her stubbornness. :) I enjoyed the plot, the dilemmas involved in the succession of kingship (especially for Goewin), though initially I had to keep looking up the Ethiopic terms in the back. But I found the whole book enjoyable, and I feel as if I know and care about all the characters at the end. I hope Ms. Wein continues this series for many more books, because I can assure you I will read them all!

Wein has pulled together the finest fabrics of fiction and brought them together in one masterpiece of a novel. The book is thick with lush description of the colorful Aksum and equally enthralling characters. Princess Goewin is swept off to Africa, where she is to marry Constantine, after her family is killed. Here we meet Priamos, son of Caleb; Telemakos, Goewin's enchanting young nephew, son of her half-brother; and Candake, the "queen of queens," and many more. As the story progresses, Goewin learns much from Aksumite people and takes matters into her own hands.Over all, this is an excellently written book that will leave readers of all ages waiting for the next companion book (The Sunbird).

I read The Winter Prince six or seven years ago and I didn't know a continuation was in the works until a few months ago. Which is probably a good thing considering how annoyingly slowly those months passed. It was not the sort of book you forget. I read A Coalition of Lions in a day. It's a fast read and actually a good deal lighter than The Winter Prince, though that's not saying much. Though the books follow many of the same characters, the narrators are different and I thought COL was not nearly as intense. The history, descriptions, and imagery in this book were wonderful. There are some clever connections, excellent lines, and memorable moments as well.While it deserves every one of those five stars, I couldn't conceive of saying it is as good as The Winter Prince. But this in a sort of Joseph Heller sort of way. When people tell him he never wrote anything better than Catch-22, he responds with "Who has?" My favorite part was Medraut hitting the target (well, no not really but that was great). He didn't get many lines, but I would (and did!) wait six years for him, too. Speaking of waiting, let's hope the next book is on its way to the printers.