The Blacksmith Queen

This unsuccessfully farcical fantasy series launch by paranormal romance author Aiken (the Dragon Kin series) is set in a world full of centaurs, witches, and necromantic war monks. The old king’s death leads his sons to go to war for his throne. When word gets out that a prophecy has predicted that a farmer’s daughter will be queen, her blacksmith sister, Keely, assumes the burden of trying to protect her, only to learn that her sister is not what she seems. The story is meant to be absurdist but comes across as merely ridiculous, with a plot that takes itself just a little too seriously to pull off its Pratchettesque tone. The book’s packaging implies a more standard fantasy epic, but readers drawn to that will be surprised to instead get an adolescent dramady—complete with catty slap-fights—transplanted to a cookie-cutter sword-and-sorcery setting. While some will undoubtedly find this flavor of comedy to their tastes, this isn’t a book that will appeal to mainstream fantasy fans. (Sept.)