In the Coils of the Snake

I forgot how much I liked the first book until I read the third book in this series. Miranda is the main character in this book. She lives with her mother who is abusive to her. She does not have any friends, either. The only person that she feels a connection to is Marak, the goblin king. The goblin king told her that she will be the next goblin kings wife, and he grooms her to be a goblin queen. Once Marak dies and his son Catspaw becomes king, Catspaw has 300 days to marry. Miranda moves from her abusive home into the lavish elf queen quarters. Meanwhile, Catspaw looks forward to marrying Miranda, but he meets an elf woman with extraordiary magical abilities. Catspaws duty is to get the best queen for his people. Miranda has no idea that there is another female that could take the role of goblin queen. The characters were well developed and the plot was good. From my description, it sounds something like "Days of Our Goblin Lives" or some soap opera. However, I am a picky reader, and I liked this book. Unlike other readers, I didn't notice any anti-feminist issues, nor did it offend me in any way, and I am female.

I can't think of a better way to end a trilogy than this. I loved the first book of "The Hollow Kingdom", was reasonably pleased with the second, and now must say that the quality and magic of this third installment compares to the original. Similar emotions of love and despair and choice are brought forth in an imaginative and gratifying way that still has its originality--while the first book dealt with the choice between a human world and that of the fantastic, this deals with people utterly unsure of where they belong, desperate for a real choice. Dunkle's writing is still as lush, simple, and poetic and always, still conjuring up a rather Victorian aura that nods to all the old myths and legends of "the little people". And yet this particular story has grown to something more akin to what Tolkien would have written for young girls had he ever taken such a genre. Call me crazy, but I relish the clear problems of elf society (too many authors have praised it beyond the ridiculous.) But it is nice to see a few good elves that give plausibility to the story of war and prejudice. The feminists, however, will not be pleased. I hate to say it, but part of me loves the idea of being kidnapped by a roguish goblin to his underground kingdom, and indeed these are books about women who are pretty much at the mercy of the males. And yet... they all strike me as powerful, remarkable girls who always truly have a choice of their fates. Wonderul storytelling to a truly romantic tale. Thank-you!

At first the book seems depressing, and the heroine gets on your nerves, but if you stick with it for a few chapters you get totally sucked into the story. The characters are vivid and realistic, the story line is full of unexpected twists, and the ending is perfect! You even start to feel sympathy and relate to the heroine and she looses her annoying ways. I loved this whole series, it's one I will be rereading many times and I would highly recommended it for the more mature reader.

Book three is likely the best of them all. This draws our adventure of the mysterious Hollow Kingdom to a satisfying close. The author seemed notably more comfortable with herself and the tales and maybe it was that the first two books gave her great practice to make a nearly faultless final adventure. Following the death of Marak, Catspaw takes his place as king, preparing to marry Miranda, a human girl raised to be Catspaw's wife by Marak himself. But things quickly don't go as planned when elves return to the kingdom and an offer of an elvish bride pushes Catspaw to renig on his promise to Miranda. Miranda flees the kingdom once she is aware that she's being set aside and all that she was raised to do was for naught. The tales takes a spinning trail through Miranda's plight as she leaves the goblins and finds the elves... or rather the elf lord finds her. Either way, this book certainly redeemed the whole saga with its climatic ending and surprising and pleasant twists. Had the ending of this book not been so gratifying, it would have suffered a lower score. Readers may find Marak Catspaw and Nir the elf lord too irrational for their own good and that in itself causes much conflict between the two races. What also made this book enjoyable was the underlying hint of racism and prejudices. The elves think the goblins barbaric and vice versa. Both peoples saw themselves as the better race and saw all faults and weaknesses only in their enemy. Five bright stars for closing the story of the Hollow Kingdom with a bang. Dunkle proved her mettle in this book and she may just find a niche as popular fantasy writer alongside Sharon Shinn and Robin McKinley.

If you enjoyed the first two books in this trilogy you will fall in love with this book! In the Coils of the Snake kept me quessing about the ending throughout the whole book! Better than the second book and almost just as good as the first. If you enjoy fantasy, love, and a good story I recommend that you read this book! I promise that you won't be able to put it down!