King’s Cage

Aveyard, Victoria. King’s Cage. Book 3 of the Red Queen series. 2017. 507p. ISBN 9780062310699. Available at FIC AVE on the library shelves.

Captured by King Maven at the end of Glass Sword, Mare Barrow is now a prisoner under his complete control, with silent stones handcuffs that prevent her from accessing her control over electricity. As the Scarlet Guard relentlessly keeps attacking outposts of Norta, the pressure on Maven to maintain his kingdom keeps increasing. Powerless, her thoughts turn to her friends, and she wonders whether they even managed to escape Maven’s clutches.

Desperate to free Mare, Cal sends agents in Archeon to help her escape, but they are captured by Maven’s men. With continuous assaults by the Reds and the New Bloods, Maven launches a campaign, using Mare to recruit his own army of New Bloods. He also engineers an unlikely alliance between Norta and Lakeland, and secures the Lakeland princess’ hand in marriage, much to the chagrin of Evangeline Samos, who expected to be the next Queen of Norta.

Guided by Farley, the rebels’ Central Command launches a daring operation against Corvium, and manages to seize the city from Maven’s forces, capturing a large number of Silvers. Maven’s court becomes a hotbed of conspiracies, and he suffers an assassination attempt. On Maven’s wedding day, the Scarlet Guard attacks Archeon, and Maven barely escapes. House Samos withdraws to the Rift, and declares its own Kingdom. Mare is reunited with Cal, while more and more Reds and New Bloods join the Scarlet Guard.

With Maven on the run, and with his grandmother plotting to install Cal as the rightful heir to the throne, Mare once again finds herself in between the two brothers, with two different social vision. But while Silvers fight Silvers, the entire world is about to burn.