While there isn't a Troll King in 'The Troll King' and there isn't a Troll Queen in 'The Troll Queen', it's pretty clear that Ludicra wants her and Rollo to take those roles as soon as is possible. She's a primadonna of a character who I didn't particularly like in the first book and I liked even less when this first sequel kicked off from her perspective. She's mostly just pissed at everything, as seems entirely appropriate for her character.

After all, Rollo, who she's now very much noticed and sees as key to her future, has gone again, to take Clipper's body back to her people in the Bonny Woods. The trolls are free, but now they can be lazy. Nobody repairs the bridges any more simply because nobody's forcing them to. And that spoils Ludicra's plans. She wants Rollo back so she can be Queen, even if he's already turned down being King. She has absolutely no doubt that he'll do what she tells him to do.

So off they go, Ludicra and Rollo's sister Crawfleece, to the now empty Fungus Meadows to start their journey to the Bonny Woods. They're promptly captured by Captain Chomp, ogre captain of the guard. Life has changed for them too, now that Stygius Rex, the last sorcerer and the villain who has ruled the dark side of the Great Chasm for the past century, is gone. The ogres have now descended into tribalism, with a host of leaders battling for control. Getting rid of the bad guy is apparently not enough. There needs to be a good guy to take over but Rollo, the clear candidate, is off on his personal mission, and there really isn't anyone else.

Around this point, the story splits into two different strands that alternate for the remainder of the book, or at least the bulk of it until they start to cross over.

One continues with Ludicra and Crawfleece and their party, as they continue onward to the Great Chasm, where legend tells of a secret passage that runs from its lip to the bottom. It's not just a mission for trolls, though Filbum is the only character who can fly. Of course, he just can't fly very far, not even over the Rawchill River. Runt the gnome goes with them, as does his nephew, Gnat. And so does Weevil the ogre, at Captain Chomp's invitation. They do find the secret passage and this plot strand suddenly becomes very dungeon-esque, as they deal with a succession of threats on their journey downward.

The other reunites us with Rollo, the great hope for the trilogy, who has ironically been stuck in a giant spiderweb for the past week. He escapes, of course, but only to be captured by elves. What we quickly learn is that, just as society has completely changed on the dark side of the Chasm, it's followed suit on the light side too, in the Bonny Woods. In fact, there's even a war being waged by the fairies and the birds. Rollo bringing back Clipper's body doesn't help affairs either, because a well-meaning attempt with Stygius Rex's obsidian blade to bring her back to life backfires rather powerfully, bringing old villains back into play.

There's a lot more going on in each thread than I've hinted at there, because Vornholt keeps the characters coming and many of them have meaning beyond their immediate moment. However, what makes the book special is how the key characters grow. Rollo continues to grow, but he was able to do much of that in the first book and so is more formed here. This time, it's Ludicra who is given the most growth and the biggest success the book has is that she believably grows from an annoying high school clique leader to a troll worthy of the goals she used to flaunt selfishly.

On the flipside, the biggest problem the book has is that it dosen't really have an ending. It feels like Vornholt wrote a standalone book in 'The Troll King' that proved so successful that the need to continue its story became a must. However, rather than write a sequel in 'The Troll Queen', he started a duology with it that will presumably wrap up in 'The Troll Treasure'. This is the first half of a story, even if most of the setup for what will come in the third volume arrives late. When we reach the end of the book, the war is still raging, Stygius Rex is back and Clipper is still his hench-fairy. And there's a treasure to be found, kingdoms to be focused and peace to be obtained.

I'm therefore looking forward all the more to 'The Troll Treasure' next month, with the hope that it'll wrap everything up in a nice neat bow. I can see where some of it has to end, at least if we're following tradition, which I acknowledge Vornholt may well not be doing, but some of it's still wide open to me and that feels great. For a start, based on the first two books, I'm sure there are lots of new characters still to meet and new revelations to stumble upon. While I'm keen to learn how the sweep of the story ends up, I also want to be part of the encounters these characters will have on their way to get there, the millipede attacks and Evil Dead and Enchantress Mothers.

Frankly, if I have a complaint to make here, it's not with the writing at all but the interpretation of Ludicra in the cover art by Omar Rayyan. I mean, sure, the art is gorgeous and immersive too, but this Ludicra looks clean! And far cuter than the description Rollo provided of her in 'The Troll King'. It even looks like she washed her hair! Where's all the mud and sludge and whatever else? I guess it really is a new world being formed here. ~~ Hal C F Astell

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