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smartbitches_feed at 08:00am on 21/07/2025
Back in the early aughts I had a minor obsession with the Tudors. The Other Boleyn Girl was in theatres, The Tudors was on Showtime, and Phillippa Gregory and Alison Weir were having literary moments.
Six Wild Crowns pulled me right back into my fascination with that moment in time (in fact, I’m rewatching The Tudors). This is a high magic fantasy based loosely on Henry VIII and his six wives, but with a feminist twist. It is not, however, a romance.
First of all, this novel is the beginning of a series (or duology, I’m not sure) so if you don’t want to start a series that isn’t finished yet, be aware that this is the only book published so far.
Six Wild Crowns takes place in a fantasy version of England called Elben. Henry is king and he is married, simultaneously, to six queens. The magic system in this novel involves a magical force called the bordweal that forms an invisible barrier around the island Elben that potential invaders or enemies cannot cross. The king also has some magical abilities himself.
In order for Henry to access his magic and for the bordweal to be maintained, he must have six queens, each of whom occupies a coastal castle, and through a ritual during their wedding ceremony, strengthens Henry’s bond with his own magic.
This part was a little confusing. The average person in this book does not have magical abilities, and the queens do not have them until they marry Henry and take occupancy of his castle. Initially it’s pretty unclear where that magic comes from.
When the book opens Henry has just married Queen Boleyn. Boleyn is similar to her historical counterpart in her looks and intelligence, and she is in love with Henry and he with her. It’s tradition for each of the queens to gift a new queen a present on her wedding day, and rather than jewels or or a pet dragon (there are dragons in this book and they are cool), Queen Aragon gives her a servant–Seymour. Seymour is actually there as a spy (of course) and her assignment is to assassinate Boleyn on Aragon’s orders.
The book is told through Boleyn and Seymour’s alternating viewpoints. Boleyn is a strategist, determined to become the most powerful and favorite queen among Henry’s five other established wives. She’s also researching why, despite Henry now having his six queens, the bordweal has been consistently weakening.
Seymour is an unwilling spy and assassin. She comes from a noble family who groomed her to help her family’s fortunes rise, but she mostly just wants to be left alone. She cannot lie convincingly, she doesn’t want to kill anyone, and she doesn’t want to be involved in royal political games. So of course she does the most inconvenient thing possible and falls in love with Boleyn.
Boleyn meanwhile begins to see Henry’s true colors and her love for him changes to disgust. She meets Queen Howard, who she realizes was married to Henry at just thirteen and is still very much a child. She sees Henry’s selfishness and vanity.
Her research into ancient texts about the bordweal leads her to information that stuns her.
Realizing that Henry remaining in power will be disastrous not only to her personally, but also the kingdom, she tries to unite the other five queens against Henry.
While this is going on, Henry’s wife Queen Blount dies, and much to everyone’s surprise, he marries Seymour. She can’t stand Henry, is afraid of him, and loathes sexual encounters with him. Even though Boleyn doesn’t return Seymour’s romantic love, they form a close friendship and unifying force.
The main theme of this book is power being stolen from women, and women being pitted against each other for the benefit of the patriarchy. The six queens are supposed to be jealous and conniving against one another in order to be most beloved in Henry’s eyes. They are never meant to be friends or allies.
I always like the theme of women discovering their power, and women coming together to be stronger as a group. This is definitely a “fuck the patriarchy” fantasy. I also liked the courtly machinations and political plots. It’s a little bit House of the Dragon that way. The color of clothing, the type of gift given, all have important subtle but symbolic meanings and every gesture from a queen means something significant beneath its face value.
The only thing I thought Six Wild Crowns could have improved on was the relationship between Boleyn and Seymour.
Boleyn knows Seymour is in love with her, but doesn’t return the feeling (she’s not queer), so they just sort of become friends. Seymour’s romantic feelings for Boleyn aren’t really addressed again after that and I guess we’re just supposed to assume she’s just dealing with them? The tension of “I love her but she doesn’t love me” isn’t really addressed.
Aside from that, this book is a wonderful reading experience. The setting, clothes and manners are all from a familiar enough place in time that it didn’t require a ton of world building, but Elben was still unique as a fantasy world. The action and the conflict were paced very well so the book grows in momentum. There’s also the “Earl has to die” plotline that I always appreciate.
Six Wild Crowns is a fun, historical fantasy and I’m really looking forward to the next book in the series.
Is it Wednesday? Who knows anymore! I sure don’t.
