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The Hidden Queen is Alma Alexander's 2004 fantasy debut, the first half of a duology completed by Changer of Days. The setup is a deposed-royal-in-hiding premise (princess Anghara survives a coup, flees to a monastery, slowly grows into magical abilities) executed in a deliberately patient secondary-world style closer to Robin Hobb or Guy Gavriel Kay than to the post-Tolkien default.
Alexander writes with real attentiveness to landscape and small interior moments. The monastery sections in the front half are some of the best contemplative-monastic fantasy writing of the early 2000s. The political plot is competently handled, with the deposed royal's conflict with her cousin paying off in genuinely emotional ways. The magic system is more felt than explained.
Recommended for fans of literary secondary-world fantasy (Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy, Guy Gavriel Kay's Tigana), and for readers looking for books like The Hidden Queen in the deposed-royal-comes-of-age subgenre. Four stars and a strong start to a duology worth finishing.
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