Trial of the Sun Queen

Artefacts of Ouranos, Book 1

By: Nisha J Tuli

Narrated by: Corvin King, Soneela Nankani

Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

The Bachelor meets The Hunger Games. Ten women. A deadly contest. Only one can win the Sun King's heart.

Lor has endured twelve long years of torment under the Aurora King's rule. Her only desire is to get free and pay him back for every moment of misery she's endured.

When a surprise release finds her in the hands of the Sun King, Lor is thrust into the spotlight as she competes against nine other tributes for the role of queen. If she wins his heart, she'll earn her freedom and finally get her revenge.

But Lor doesn't belong in the Sun Queen trials. Not only does she not understand why she was freed, she isn't a citizen of the Sun King's court. The other tributes resent her presence and will stop at nothing to ensure Lor is wiped off the gameboard—permanently.

Now Lor must win because if she loses, she dies. Or worse, she'll be sent back into the hands of the Aurora King.

This glittering fae romance is perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Jennifer Armentrout, and Raven Kennedy. Trial of the Sun Queen is the first book in the Artefacts of Ouranos series with an eventual happy ever after.

©2022 Nisha J. Tuli (P)2023 Podium Audio

Well written and fun

This book had me interested from the first chapter. I really enjoyed the main character- she was very real. And the twists were well though out. It’s definitely the bachelor meets hunger games and was very enjoyable.

Solid interesting narrative

The narrators were very good and the arc of the story was good as well. The violent and dark portions of the book went on longer than necessary and I kept forwarding 30 seconds to get past the droning misery and get to more of the progress of the story towards triumphant bits. Overall good. Not sure I will read the next one for a while. It’s the type of story you need a break from for a while

Okay story. Poor narration.

I really liked the concept of this book, but it fell flat for me. Perhaps if I physically read the book I would feel different. The narrator made the character feel very bratty and whiny. It was better once I sped the audio up, but I still felt annoyed with the female lead. In the end I didn’t feel connected to or even interested in any of the characters. I won’t be completing the series.

Clever and creative with a great gripping start!

I love books that suck you in immediately and develop the world succinctly yet thoroughly. This was exactly that sort. With a clever juxtaposition of worlds, fae, and concepts, I was kept rapt throughout.

While reading, I was trying to explain this to a friend and draw parallels to familiar references… below were the concepts I included in the shake up smoothy of abstracts:
The bachelor
Darkmore penitentiary
Dark Olympos series (mostly the Apollo trials/ninja warrior-esq, but also a bit of the maze/labyrinth concept)
Hunger games

I’d definitely recommend this read. The reason I marked down the narration is that the male reader kept sounding whispery and hushed, often trailing off parts of words. It was very challenging to hear, specifically the ending sounds, or nuance within words. As someone who is hard of hearing and regularly wears a hearing aid, I struggled even with the book adjusted to a higher volume. The female narrator was excellent and I enjoyed her voice work immensely.

Turns were obvious buuut some were intriguing

I don’t really care for the bachelor esk premise. However! this was still a very fun read, held my attention. Enjoy the mystery of unraveling the characters/world’s past. Even if you can see some revelations coming from a mile off I still very much enjoyed this story and will be listening to the others.

Good ACOTAR hangover

Good story! I just wish it had a little more depth. Easy and fun to read

Okay story, poor narration.

I see the reference to a trial/game story. Reviews I read prior said it’s less like hunger games and more like goblet of fire — this of which I agree. It resembles the first ToG where they are looking for the Kings Champion. It’s overall a decent story, kind of cliche in parts but I don’t mind. The spice level is low, however it does have scenes for a book spice beginner. The narrator, while tolerable, makes the fmc so whiney and almost made me hate her. This is another issue brought up in a lot of reviews I read before getting this book. I sampled the narration just to be sure I could tolerate it. All in all, it was decent/okay. Not the worst, not my favorite. Good enough for me to be okay with starting the next book.

I loved this!!

Absolutely loved listening to this story. I’m way too excited to start the second one!!!

Great Storyline, Missing Something...

I love the storyline and all the twist and turns throughout the entire story. The characters were well thought out and the writing was really nice. My only issue is the male voice actor. He did a great job for the all the characters he voiced besides his main one. It really shocked me out of wanting to listen. But his acting for the other characters was great. I wish it would have been more of that throughout his parts.

OMG!! 😱 BRAVO!!!!👏 STANDING OVATION!!

I want to say thank you to the Author!! It’s been awhile since I FINALLY found a GOOD book! I’v been looking for a good read. Bad book after bad book and FINALLY! This book had me hooked since the very beginning! I don’t think there was ever a dull moment. There are some books that ramble on for a bit in the middle before it gets interesting but this book was captivating from beginning to end! The hot and spicy was just the perfect amount of spice! AND I had an inkling towards where this book was heading BUT it wasn’t until the end!! And that Never happens to me I usually guess right away!! I definitely, definitely recommend this book!!! I do have a side note.

On the male voice. His voice is nice but there are parts where he sounds a bit monotone. Maybe I’ll hear a bit more depths to his voice on the next book. And the female narrator voice throws me off a bit. It can come of as whiny at times. And like she lingers on with some syllables not giving the lead character the depths that she deserves.

But all in all I loved it and yes this book is giving me hunger games/ divergent. It’s a must read. I was doubtful in the beginning to read because I was reading the reviews and the reviews had put me off from reading but now I regret not having read it sooner. I had to read so many bad books till FINALLY! I found this gem 💎

Now I’m on to book 2 biting my nails in anticipation!!