Six Wild Crowns

By: Holly Race

Narrated by: Olivia Dowd, Holly Race

A breathtaking novel of courtly intrigue, sapphic yearning, and the wives of Henry VIII as you've never seen them before.

★ "Combines the romantasy of Sarah J. Maas, the cutthroat political corruption of Game of Thrones, and the feminist/sapphic history and mythology revisionism of Madeline Miller’s Circe, set in a fantastically researched Tudor Court with all its machinations, à la Alison Weir." ―Library Journal (starred review)

As tradition has it, the king of Elben must marry six queens and magically bind each of them to one of the island's palaces or the kingdom will fall.

Clever, ambitious Boleyn is determined to be her beloved Henry's favorite queen. She relishes the games at court and the political rivalries with his other wives. Seymour is the opposite―originally sent to Boleyn's court as a reluctant spy and assassin, she ends up catching Henry's eye and is forced into a loveless marriage with the king.

But when the two queens become the unlikeliest of things―friends and allies―the balance of power begins to shift. Together, they uncover a dark and deadly truth at the heart of the island's magic. Boleyn and Seymour's only hope of survival rests on uniting all six of the rival queens―but Henry will never let that happen.

"A luscious and luminous read" ―Tasha Suri, author of The Jasmine Throne

Critic reviews

"Six Wild Crowns is a beautiful feminist epic, a luscious and luminous read."—Tasha Suri, World Fantasy Award-winning author of The Jasmine Throne

"A ferocious tale of female rage and the strength of sisterhood, Six Wild Crowns is an inventive and fantastical reimagining of Henry VIII’s queens - and their fight to reclaim the power stolen from them. Race weaves a rich tapestry of political maneuverings, where love must war against sovereignty, truth battles tradition, and two queens forge heart-wrenching solidarity as they riot against a world determined to hold them down."—S.A. MacLean, author of The Phoenix Keeper

"A glittering, magnificent epic, dripping with menace and brimming with female empowerment. Absolutely incredible."—Francesca May, author of Wild and Wicked Things

"An intricate gem of a novel bursting with ancient magic and intrigue."

—Molly O'Neill, author of Greenteeth

"Six Wild Crowns is a truly unique retelling of the Tudors. Dragons and deceit and love and magic… I couldn’t put it down! Holly explores Henry VIII and his wives while weaving in themes of power, sisterhood, and love in its many forms. A truly dazzling novel."—Natasha Bowen, author of Skin of the Sea

"A beautifully written tale of resistance, rebellion, and sisterhood, with an ending that will leave you heartbroken and breathless for more."

—M. H. Ayinde, author of A Song of Legends Lost

"A thoroughly delectable fantasy that celebrates sisterhood and courageous truth while exposing the active maliciousness of patriarchy. The Tudor period is reconstructed into a deftly woven fantasy fraught with all the court politics, betrayals and closely guarded secrets of the era. The wives of Henry VII are resplendent, shrewdly navigating a world intent on controlling them and ready to destroy it all in defense of the ties that bind them. This is an intricate, powerful and utterly spectacular book. No one is ready for it."—Bea Fitzgerald, author of Girl, Goddess, Queen

"Written in lush, compelling prose and set in a richly drawn world, this sexy, feminist re-imagining of the story of Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour is the romantasy book I've been waiting for."

—Katharine Corr, co-author of Daughter of Darkness

"With glittering magic, powerful dragons, and a feminist bend, Six Wild Crowns skillfully weaves history and fantasy into an accomplished and brilliantly inventive reimagining of Tudor England."—E.M. Castellan, author of the In the Shadow of the Sun series

“Fierce and furious, this spectacular reclaiming holds a fantastical mirror up to the six queens and shows that women are always stronger when united.”—Helen Corcoran, author of Queen of Coin and Whispers

Strong women, herstory, and lap dragons!

As my first book of 2026, Six Wild Crowns set the bar high. If you love reading fantasy, and have an interest in Henry XIII and his six wives, you'll love this book. Holly Race used what is known about Henry and his six wives to loosely build the characters and situations in the book. I enjoyed the "easter eggs" in the book regarding some of the peripheral folks from the actual queen's lives, as well as some of their background information. I thought Holly Race was really clever in the way she wrote it, and each queen acted pretty much as I'd have expected. (Seymore was a bit bolder than I'd have expected, but I really enjoyed her characterization.) The book is modern and historic at the same time and if you are a fan of Anne Boleyn, this book will make you love her even more. Maybe if you have no prior Tudor knowledge you'll enjoy the book less? (I'm a Tudor nerd so I loved everything about it) I'll be excited when book 2 comes out!!

This book is it's addictive

This book was well written and the story was captivating. the narrative narrator did a great job. I would recommend this book to anyone.And i've already bought the next one in the series

Absolutely loved it!!

I absolutely loved this book! There were so many good quotes and strong female characters. I loved how the men said "this is just how the world is" about men being in charge and these strong woman rose up to take back their power. I did listen to this as an audiobook but I read the last few chapters, I have to say the audiobook really made the book so much better. I understood everything, enjoyed the story and never was bored. Reading the last few chapters left me honestly a little confused so I do think the narrator made the book in this instance so I highly recommend the audiobook!

Too long

This story was definitely slow and too long. I didn’t like the fact that all the queens were called by their last names. The only people that were called by their first names were the King and some of the other characters in the book. In this book, the only two queens that really were talked about were Berlin and Seymour. The others were mentioned closer to the end, but they really weren’t talked about much. I really did not like the ending of this book. This book was open ended and I understand why the author does that so that they can start another book but this one was quite irritating. I don’t think I will read the next book in the series.

Carefully well-executed writing and characters

5 plus All I wanted from historical fantasy and game of... "royalty" with the perfect characters, pacing, character growth, and transformation. Starts dense, but the moment we connect with our favorite queens and establish their path... we cannot put this one down. It doesn't go overboard with a complex magical system. Instead, it's very mystical and Wicca vibes with mysterious ancient goddesses and caves with magic. This is the kind of fantasy that you can reread. Made me buy the author's previous novels while I wait for the next volume of the Queens of Elben. Awesome narrator.