Six Wild Crowns is a historical fantasy novel by Holly Race. It was first published in June 2025 by Orbit. This review is intended to be free of spoilers, but none of us are perfect. Consider yourself warned! A review copy was provided by the publisher. There are affiliate links at the end of this review.
Blurb
The king has been appointed by god to marry six queens. Those six queens are all that stand between the kingdom of Elben and ruin. Or so we have been told.
Each queen vies for attention. Clever, ambitious Boleyn is determined to be Henry’s favourite. And if she must incite a war to win Henry over? So be it.
Seymour acts as spy and assassin in a court teeming with dragons, backstabbing courtiers and strange magic. But when she and Boleyn become the unlikeliest of things – allies – the balance of power begins to shift. Together they will discover an ancient, rotting magic at Elben’s heart. A magic that their king will do anything to protect.
Review
Six Wild Crowns by Holly Race arrives on the promise of Tudor court drama transposed into a high-magic realm, and in many ways it delivers: the bordweal itself – an ancient barrier woven by six queens – feels both grand and intimately tied to each woman’s fate. Race’s prose sparkles when she’s describing court ceremonies or the hiss of dragon wings overhead, painting Elben as a place where regal ritual and raw elemental power collide.
Yet despite its vivid worldbuilding, the novel often buckles under its own ambitions. Juggling six queens (three with the same name; now who would believe that?) distracts more than it intrigues, and the middle stretches sag with lengthy expositions on magic and history. Moments of genuine emotional charge, like Boleyn and Seymour’s reluctant alliance, shine through the clutter but are just all too rare.
Where the book truly succeeds is in its feminist undercurrent: women forced into rivalries by a patriarchal king who views them as nothing more than magic conduits. Seeing these queens forge secret pacts, whisper shared songs into the sunscína network, and dare to imagine a world beyond Henry’s whims is exhilarating. But the novel never fully balances that emotional core against its sprawling court politics, leaving the narrative weighty yet somehow hollow.
In the end, Six Wild Crowns isn’t the story for me; not because it lacks imagination, but because its scale and focus pulled me out of the very intimacy it strives to create. Fans of layered historical fantasy and dragon-filled intrigues will find plenty to savour here. I, however, craved a tighter lens on fewer characters, a deeper dive into fewer hearts, and a pace that let the magic of Elben breathe rather than bustle.
Rating: 2/5
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