The pace of this book is rather measured, practically plodding. Our hero is a Calvinist minister, so I imagine the pace is quite fitting. Whether this is the skill of the author or a happy coincidence or maybe just the natural result of the author choosing a subject to her taste, the result is a happy harmony.

Over the years I have read a bit about the Prague defenestration etc. so I have some familiarity with the complicated politics that are a major part of the story. I suspect that even readers with little previous knowledge will successfully be guided through the maze by following the breadcrumbs offered in this book.

The alchemical structure of the main plot was a delightful surprise. The whole notion of an ex-slave marrying royalty I found rather absurd, but I went ahead and read the book just to see how it could be pulled off. I found it a wonderful success. Stranger things have happened, on similarly strange bases, I don't doubt! Robert Fludd, Michael Maier - splendid!

The book ends at a reasonable resting point, but hardly at the end of a story. Volume two waits on the shelf - not for long, I expect! ( )

I read this first book in the trilogy, which includes The Shadow King and The Empress of the Last Days, and had to read them all. The story is told in a measured, restrained way, packed with historical details that made me feel I'd been transported back in time. ( )

First in a trilogy of historical novels set in 17th century Europe, "The Winter Queen" takes the reader to Golden Age Holland. Stevenson tells the story of a fictional marriage between the real Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia (daughter of James I of England and VI of Scotland) and a fictional African physician and religious scholar who is a former Dutch slave, yet who is the scion of a Yoruba royal house. This character, "Dr" Pelagius, is especially well-drawn and could easily have supported the entire narrative himself. (Actually, it's not quite clear to me why the book isn't named after him.)

What was the Queen of Bohemia doing in Holland? She was in exile with her assortment of children, having fled central Europe when she and her Protestant husband were forced off their throne following the notorious defenestration of Prague! It might seem implausible to imagine royalty and former slaves occupying the same social milieu, but Stevenson's strongest accomplishment is to demonstrate that "categories" of race, class and gender were somewhat more fluid in the 1600s than they later became.

Lots of interesting historical background here, set amidst the politics of the Dutch War of Independence, the Thirty Years War and events leading up to the English Civil War. The inter-racial romance is handled sensitively, but Stevenson does create some stilted historical dialogue. Also, the framing of such plot as exists is not terribly satisfying. The book ends abruptly, without a real resolution.

While I found "The Winter Queen" to be reasonably enlightening and enjoyable, I don't see myself continuing with the second or third books in Stevenson's series. ( )

An unusual, remarkably wise and sensitive book. It's less the storyof "the winter queen" than it is of an African prince in the 17th century who is sold into slavery in the East Indies, freed by a Dutch scientist, who becomes his patron while he studies theology, then calls him back into his service to finish a book; after the scientists' death, he meets the exiled queen of Bohemia ("the winter queen") and brother of the king of England; they fall in love, secretly marry, & have a son. Throughout, the prince & the queen are guided by their Reformed Protestant faith in a way that the author is highly sensitive to & passes no even implicit judgment on. Our hero successfully wrestles with the relationship between science & religion, then tries to integrate his African religious & healing traditions with his newfound Christian faith & his understanding of Western medicine, and finally the contradictions & complexities of applying his (& the queen's) providential understanding of events (both personal & global) in an era of intense rivalry between Protestants & Catholics--a conflict in which the fate of the queen & her family are profoundly implicated. And all of this heady stuff is embedded in an intimate, touching, & unique love story between a couple with profound respect for & intense attraction to each other. ( )

Well-written, excellent descriptions of the intricate rituals of royality are found in this novel. The book jacket notes this is the first of a trilogy. I will look for the next installment, “The Shadow King”, which I assume takes up where we left off and continues the story of the secret son conceived by Elizabeth and her African husband. ( )