Trial of the Sun Queen

Nisha J. Tuli’s Trial of the Sun Queen (2023) is a fantasy romance novel and the first installment in the Artefacts of Ouranos series. The story follows Lor, a young woman who has spent 12 years in the brutal Nostraza prison under the oppressive rule of the Aurora King. When she is unexpectedly freed and taken to the rival Sun Court, she is forced to compete as the Final Tribute in a series of deadly trials for the hand of the handsome Sun King. A victory could grant her the power to free her imprisoned siblings and exact revenge on her captors, but failure means certain death. The novel explores themes of Self-Determinism and Justice as Conditions for Freedom, The Dehumanizing Effects of Power and Privilege, and Deception as a Tool for Survival and Control.

Trial of the Sun Queen is an example of “romantasy,” a subgenre that blends high fantasy with a central romance. Initially self-published in 2022, the novel gained viral popularity on the social media platform TikTok within the “BookTok” community, leading to its acquisition by a major publisher and its subsequent success as a USA Today bestseller. Tuli, a Canadian author, has written several other fantasy romance series. The Artefacts of Ouranos series contains three further books: The Rule of The Aurora King (2023), The Fate of the Sun King (2024), and The Tale of The Heart Queen (2024).

This guide is based on the 2023 Forever Trade paperback edition.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide contain descriptions of graphic violence, physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual content, cursing, sexual violence and/or harassment, and death.

Plot Summary

Lor is a 24-year-old human woman who has been held prisoner in Nostraza prison for 12 years. She discovers that her nemesis, Jude, has stolen her bar of soap, acquired from the warden, Kelava. Lor’s two siblings are also imprisoned in Nostraza but keep their family connection a secret for their safety. Her protective brother, Tristan, is suspicious about how Lor earned the soap, but her sister, Willow, deescalates the argument. On the way to breakfast, Lor shares a passionate moment with her lover, Aero, who asks to meet her later. In the mess hall, Jude taunts Lor with the stolen soap, provoking a violent fight in which Lor breaks Jude’s wrist. Warden Kelava intervenes and, despite Lor’s attempts to bargain with him, sentences her to two weeks in the Hollow, a punishment pit.

Guards take Lor to the Hollow, a deep hole in the treacherous Void forest surrounding the prison. Alone, Lor endures extreme conditions. A severe storm provides her with rainwater to drink but also floods the pit, forcing her to stand for days in freezing water to avoid drowning. Suffering from starvation and exposure, she begins to hallucinate. During her ordeal, she hears the sounds of a riot from within the prison and worries about the safety of her siblings. Near death, she feels someone lift her from the pit. She fights back weakly before losing consciousness.

The perspective shifts to Nadir, the Prince of The Aurora. His father, King Rion, is in a council meeting when news of the prison riot arrives. Warden Kelava reports that Prisoner 3452 is missing from the Hollow and presumed dead. Enraged that Kelava failed in his specific duty to watch this prisoner, Rion crushes his windpipe, killing him. Rion then orders Nadir to search the Void for any escapee but refuses to reveal the identity or significance of Prisoner 3452, whom Rion knows to be Lor.

Lor wakes in a luxurious bedroom in the Sun Palace. A servant named Magdalene, or Mag, informs her that she is the “Final Tribute” in the Sun Queen Trials. She meets her warder, a winged Fae named Gabriel, who is Captain of the King’s personal guard. Gabriel takes her to the Tribute Ceremony, where she is introduced to the strict Trial Mistress, Madame Odell, and the nine other Tributes, all beautiful female Fae. Atlas, the Sun King, announces that the 10 women will compete in four deadly challenges to win his hand and become queen. It is revealed that one Tribute is always a human from the slums of The Umbra. In 8,000 years, this “Final Tribute” has never survived the Trials before.

Gabriel explains privately to Lor that King Atlas arranged her release from Nostraza and that she must pretend to be from The Umbra. To ensure her compliance, he threatens the safety of her siblings, Tristan and Willow. Lor agrees to compete, motivated by the chance to free her family and get revenge on the Aurora King. Alone in her room, she retrieves a small red jewel, a family heirloom, from her old prison tunic and hides it in a locket.

Nadir travels to Nostraza to investigate the prison escape. He discovers the file for Prisoner 3452 is missing. The new warden, Davor, recalls that the prisoner sent to the Hollow was a young woman. To cover his tracks and prevent the information from reaching his father, Nadir kills Davor. He then examines the Hollow and detects the scent of another High Fae, confirming Prisoner 3452 was abducted.

In the Sun Palace, Lor prepares for the Tributes’ first trial, a test of Aphelion history. During a weapons training session, Lor gets into a fight with a haughty Tribute named Apricia. Afterward, King Atlas selects Lor for a private dinner, where he explains a secret pact between Aphelion and The Aurora that requires one Tribute from the rival kingdom in each Trial. These are the “Final Tributes” whose cover is that they are from the Umbra slums. Atlas demonstrates his power to create illusions.

Two other Tributes, Halo and Marici, befriend Lor and help her study. Atlas gives Lor a book about himself and hints that she should wear practical clothing for the trial. The challenge takes place over a cove filled with dangerous mermaid-like creatures. The Tributes hang from ropes that are lowered with each incorrect answer. Though Lor’s final answer is correct, she is too slow to answer, and her rope is released. She fights off a creature in the water and then saves Marici, who also falls. Lor passes the trial, learning that this was a trial of survival as well as knowledge.

For the second trial, the Tributes face a dangerous obstacle course, the “gauntlet,” suspended over a pit containing a monster called a “thogrul.” During the challenge, Lor helps another Tribute, Griane, avoid falling into the pit. Another Tribute, Hesperia, is killed by the monster. Lor is injured by spinning blades and nearly falls when Apricia tries to sabotage her. Nearing the end, Halo attempts to quit the competition by falling, but Lor saves her. Lor completes the gauntlet just as time runs out, leaving only four Tributes in the competition.

The third trial is a seduction challenge at a masquerade ball, where Prince Nadir is representing The Aurora. Each Tribute is given a seduction target whom they must persuade to part with a specific object precious to them. Gabriel tricks Lor, telling her that Nadir is her target and she must obtain his ring. Lor contrives an introduction and dances with the prince, but he reveals his ring has no sentimental value. As Lor realizes she has been deceived, Nadir notices the Nostraza prison brand on her shoulder. Atlas furiously confronts them, banishes Nadir from Aphelion, and has Gabriel arrested for treason. He ends the challenge, allowing all four Tributes to advance to the next stage.

Atlas takes Lor to his chambers, revealing that he “stole” her from the Aurora King’s Nostraza prison. They spend a passionate night together but do not have penetrative sex. The final trial begins unexpectedly when the four Tributes wake in a cave on a frozen cliff. Lor deduces it is an illusion and leads the others to leap off the edge. They land in a maze where they must protect their loved ones from monsters that live in the maze. Lor hears and sees Tristan and Willow in the maze. She finds Halo mourning the apparent death of Marici, who was taken by a monster. Another finalist, Tesni, has a sister who is also taken by a monster, and Lor is wounded intervening. Chasing Willow through a door, Lor finds herself back in the throne room, having completed the trial.

Atlas reveals that the loved ones were apparitions and their deaths were illusions. Enraged by the psychological cruelty, Lor rejects him and the Trials. Atlas’s kind facade shatters, and he forces her to stand before the Sun Mirror, the magical object that chooses the queen. The Mirror shows Lor memories of her parents’ deaths and speaks to her privately, telling her that she is royalty from the lost kingdom of Heart and instructing her to find the lost Crown of Heart. To keep her secret, Lor lies to Atlas and claims the Mirror rejected her and has chosen Apricia. The Mirror then officially proclaims Apricia the new Sun Queen. Furious that his plan to take Lor as his queen has failed, Atlas has Lor thrown into the dungeons.

Days later, Lor is broken out of her cell by two Fae, a male and a female. They kidnap her and transport her back to The Aurora. She wakes in a stone room and comes face to face with Prince Nadir. He greets her as “Prisoner 3452” and welcomes her back.