In Agatha the Beloved Queen, Fred Plincher presents a thrilling story of the Queen of Xana kingdom named Agatha who spends her lifetime trying to bring equality between the wealthy aristocrats and poor commoners. The book itself is based on tales told to the author by residents of an anonymous remote land in this world and, therefore, it is hard to tell if the stories of the great Queen are true or not. However, throughout the chapters of the book, Plincher creatively paints the picture of Agatha who was born in the royal family but she was not satisfied with the expensive lifestyles of her friends who came from high and mighty families.
Unlike her friends who wore expensive jewelry, Agatha instead demonstrates a lack of interest in such things, for example, when she chose to buy a dress for a girl coming from a poor family in Xana. Her transformation into a woman with the gifts of wisdom, compassion, and perception of character begins at that point as a child and later in her life she seeks to reduce the imbalance between the two socioeconomic classes of Xana society. When she becomes a full grown woman, Agatha finds that she has to deal with corruption on her own council of advisers, a vicious usurer, the school bully, brutal bandits on the frontier, and invasion by an army much larger than her own. Additionally, she devotes his reign into helping children from humble backgrounds to becoming well-accomplished adults.
Agatha the Beloved Queen is an interesting book because the queen’s quest to change the Xana kingdom is the same resolve that the leaders of today are advised to have so that they can transform various spheres of society. Imagining that this is a medieval story, it is hard to believe it can have relevance in modern society. One would ask how such a book could be so insightful and thought-provoking today, when we have cars, smartphones, and airplanes among other technologies. It was written at time when people rode horses and carts but the story offers reader a wild return to the past and learn from it.
Perhaps, the only thing that downgrades the book is the sexual portrayal of the queen and her lover among other instances. The people of Xana were open about showing off their nudity even in public. The sexual scenes written about in the text are somewhat inconsistent with the good and honorable work that the queen does of trying to bridge the gap between the wealthy and poor. It would have been better if the sexual content were kept at a minimum so as to keep the readers engaged in the informative storyline.
I would rate the book 4 out of 5 stars because it the writing style is easy to follow from introduction to conclusion. Due to the sexual content, the book is recommended for adults and particularly those who are interested in fantasy, medieval stories, and a wild return to the ancient times.
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