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mxsallybend's review against another edition
4.0
Not to be deliberately facetious, but I only had two concerns with King Breaker, the conclusion to King Rolen's Kin - namely, the beginning and the end. That's not to say that this is, by any means a bad book, or that Rowena Cory Daniells did, in any respect, a poor job of wrapping up the various threads left hanging after The Usurper. Far from it. It's simply an acknowledgement of where I had issues.
Let's start with the beginning. Granted, Daniells had a lot to catch up on in terms of characters and plot threads, but I found the opening chapters to be a very slow read. There's a lot of talk, a lot of angst, and a lot of shared frustration, but nothing that really moves the story forward. For the most part, it's a lot of set-up and maneuvering of game pieces, setting up the reunions and confrontations that we know will drive the heart of the story. We're actually a good 150 pages in before the story really takes off, but once it does, it's just as good - if not better - than any of the books that came before.
While the entire saga has largely been Byron's story, the other main characters get a lot of time centre stage in this final volume. Fyn's story is likely my favorite and, if not the strongest, one of the most pivotal. He really struggles with his loyalties, stuck somewhere between love and duty, and I thought Daniells carried his story well. Florin's story I didn't care for quite as much, mainly because it felt so drawn out, but for a character who really emerged from the second tier to become a viewpoint character, it certainly has it's moments. Garzik's story is, by far, the darkest of the lot, with some really difficult scenes to watch him suffer through, although Daniells, quite mercifully, doesn't dwell on the details. Like Fyn, he's very much trapped between divided loyalties, and his growth over the course of the series is nothing short of remarkable.
After being physically separated and emotionally distanced from one another for so long, it was nice to see Byron and Orrade together again. I think Daniells may have tried a little too hard to restore their friendship, and to prove Byron was over his homophobia, but there's no denying that there's real power to that friendship. Their early scene involving a man overboard, a dead wyvern, and a very intimate sort of healing is one of the series' finest moments. As for Piro, her story was, for me, the weakest of the lot - but a lot of that likely has to do with the fact that I never found her to be a likable character, and didn't find her relationship with Siordun nearly as interesting once his true identity was out in the open.
That brings us, of course, to the ending. While Daniells did a solid job of wrapping up the key story threads, and providing a resolution to all of the key character arcs, I had honestly hoped for something a bit . . . well, happier and uplifting. There are certainly some triumphs to be celebrated, and some happy endings for a few characters, but the overall tone is rather melancholy and troubled. I think it's absolutely a strong ending (not to mention a brave one), and one that's entirely realistic, given the social and political realities of her world, but it was just a bit more gritty than I had hoped for.
My own minor quibbles aside, King Breaker was a solid, largely satisfying end to the saga. There's certainly room for Daniells to revisit the characters again, should she choose, but there are no cliffhangers or nagging questions like there were with The Usurper. If you're a fan of the series, then this final volume should be precisely what you're looking for. If you're new to the series, then step back and begin with The King's Bastard - you won't regret it.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins
Let's start with the beginning. Granted, Daniells had a lot to catch up on in terms of characters and plot threads, but I found the opening chapters to be a very slow read. There's a lot of talk, a lot of angst, and a lot of shared frustration, but nothing that really moves the story forward. For the most part, it's a lot of set-up and maneuvering of game pieces, setting up the reunions and confrontations that we know will drive the heart of the story. We're actually a good 150 pages in before the story really takes off, but once it does, it's just as good - if not better - than any of the books that came before.
While the entire saga has largely been Byron's story, the other main characters get a lot of time centre stage in this final volume. Fyn's story is likely my favorite and, if not the strongest, one of the most pivotal. He really struggles with his loyalties, stuck somewhere between love and duty, and I thought Daniells carried his story well. Florin's story I didn't care for quite as much, mainly because it felt so drawn out, but for a character who really emerged from the second tier to become a viewpoint character, it certainly has it's moments. Garzik's story is, by far, the darkest of the lot, with some really difficult scenes to watch him suffer through, although Daniells, quite mercifully, doesn't dwell on the details. Like Fyn, he's very much trapped between divided loyalties, and his growth over the course of the series is nothing short of remarkable.
After being physically separated and emotionally distanced from one another for so long, it was nice to see Byron and Orrade together again. I think Daniells may have tried a little too hard to restore their friendship, and to prove Byron was over his homophobia, but there's no denying that there's real power to that friendship. Their early scene involving a man overboard, a dead wyvern, and a very intimate sort of healing is one of the series' finest moments. As for Piro, her story was, for me, the weakest of the lot - but a lot of that likely has to do with the fact that I never found her to be a likable character, and didn't find her relationship with Siordun nearly as interesting once his true identity was out in the open.
That brings us, of course, to the ending. While Daniells did a solid job of wrapping up the key story threads, and providing a resolution to all of the key character arcs, I had honestly hoped for something a bit . . . well, happier and uplifting. There are certainly some triumphs to be celebrated, and some happy endings for a few characters, but the overall tone is rather melancholy and troubled. I think it's absolutely a strong ending (not to mention a brave one), and one that's entirely realistic, given the social and political realities of her world, but it was just a bit more gritty than I had hoped for.
My own minor quibbles aside, King Breaker was a solid, largely satisfying end to the saga. There's certainly room for Daniells to revisit the characters again, should she choose, but there are no cliffhangers or nagging questions like there were with The Usurper. If you're a fan of the series, then this final volume should be precisely what you're looking for. If you're new to the series, then step back and begin with The King's Bastard - you won't regret it.
Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins
blodeuedd's review against another edition
3.0
It was 3 years since I read the first 3 books so that was not the best way to start, but I remembered the big points. That is the worst with waiting, but I still came back to the story pretty quick.
Daniells have a way of making you despair. I mean those poor poor characters! When you think it will work out then another hurdle comes along. But then there is a lot of unhappy people in this world.
Byren is going to take his kingdom back (the kingdom he never wanted in the first place.) Poor Byren, he never catches a break. His brother Fyn is holding the neighboring kingdom for him and looking after Byren's bride to be Queen Isolt. And Fyn wants Isolt for himself (think of the consequences man!) And then there is their sister Piro who was not as cool in this story for some reason. And the last POV is Garzik, the brother of Byren's oldest friend.
Byren's POV is one of constant struggle and he is never happy. He needs to free his people and marry someone he does not want. I felt sorry for him to the bitter end.
Fyn's POV was good as he was in the middle of a bunch of idiots. Bickering lords are always fun to read about as I wanted to smack them all over the head. The political intrigue never stopped there.
Piro's POV was a bit... well it never took off. And lastly Garzik who is stuck with the Outlander pirates. There was always something going on there.
This is a book of political intrigues, lots of fighting and strange magical beasts. It's also a dark book and a good ending to this series. A strange wonderful world.
Daniells have a way of making you despair. I mean those poor poor characters! When you think it will work out then another hurdle comes along. But then there is a lot of unhappy people in this world.
Byren is going to take his kingdom back (the kingdom he never wanted in the first place.) Poor Byren, he never catches a break. His brother Fyn is holding the neighboring kingdom for him and looking after Byren's bride to be Queen Isolt. And Fyn wants Isolt for himself (think of the consequences man!) And then there is their sister Piro who was not as cool in this story for some reason. And the last POV is Garzik, the brother of Byren's oldest friend.
Byren's POV is one of constant struggle and he is never happy. He needs to free his people and marry someone he does not want. I felt sorry for him to the bitter end.
Fyn's POV was good as he was in the middle of a bunch of idiots. Bickering lords are always fun to read about as I wanted to smack them all over the head. The political intrigue never stopped there.
Piro's POV was a bit... well it never took off. And lastly Garzik who is stuck with the Outlander pirates. There was always something going on there.
This is a book of political intrigues, lots of fighting and strange magical beasts. It's also a dark book and a good ending to this series. A strange wonderful world.
thiefofcamorr's review against another edition
Katharine is a judge for the Sara Douglass 'Book Series' Award. This entry is the personal opinion of Katharine herself, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of any judging panel, the judging coordinator or the Aurealis Awards management team.
I won't be recording my thoughts (if I choose to) here until after the AA are over.
I won't be recording my thoughts (if I choose to) here until after the AA are over.
lordsith77's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting ending for this series. Left it wide open, for an opportunity to continue the series.
cindyc's review against another edition
4.0
May contain some minor spoilers!
‘King Breaker’, the last part of The Chronicles of King Rolen’s Kin, is quite a tome and took me some time to read. You can imagine there is a lot going on in this last book as it takes you from Rolencia and Merofynia to the land of the Utlanders and Snow Bridge. A lot of new places and people to discover! I had a lot of fun with this book and enjoyed the overall reading experience of the King Rolen’s Kin series. It has its faults and I’m sure some people will be bothered by them, but they didn’t bother me that much. The story was good, the characters wonderful and the worldbuilding elaborate. With magic, mythical beasts, kings, castles and armies, this was a series right up my alley.
In ‘King Breaker’ we follow the familiar characters of the previous books (Byren, Piro and Fyn), but there are also a few new POV additions: Garzik and Florin. I thought it was great to follow the story through their eyes. In Florin’s case especially because of the romantic tension between her and Byren. I hadn’t read the e-novella Daniells wrote about Garzik’s story, so I didn’t know anything about what he’d gone through when I started his storyline. Luckily there were enough subtle reminders to previous events built into his story that were clarifying and made it all easy to follow. If you get the chance though, I’d recommend reading the e-novella first before you read this book. Garzik’s story is one you’ll want to read in full and I know I’ll probably pick it up in the future to get to the bottom of how he ended up on an Utlander ship.
Fyn and Piro were my shining stars in the previous book, ‘The Usurper’, but this time I can’t pick favourites. I liked all of their stories and characters equally even though some of them made me grumble sometimes (Fyn and Byren are really thick sometimes, putting their honour before anything else. Go for the girl you love, you fools!).
‘King Breaker’ was quite an elaborate book, with the character journeying all of the world to achieve their goals. We get to see a lot more of the world Daniells has created: the whole of Merofynia, up in the mountains to the Snow Bridge and the villages by the sea where the Utlanders live. Due to the everything going on in this book, it took me some time to read it, because trust me, there is a lot happening. Fyn, now Lord Protector of Queen Isolt in Merofynia, has to deal with all the upstart Merofynian lords, who all want to take advantage of the young queen, and the Spar Warlords, who are raiding all over the country. Byren wants to take back the Rolencian throne, but he’s been portrayed as a coward and a usurper by Cobalt, so he has to come up with a plan to clear his name and meanwhile find himself an army. Piro thought she would be trained by the Mage, but instead Siordun dumps her with a noble family on Ostron Isle. But we all know Piro by now and when she gets a vision that Cobalt is planning on marrying a fake Piro to secure the Rolencian throne, she sets out to stop the wedding. Obviously without Siordun knowing.
Throughout the book we get a lot of awesome action. Fyn comes up with some cunning plans to root out the Spar Warlords who have claimed some of the Merofynian Lord’s estates and Byren has to fight off Merofynians during his travels, once even with the Ulfr pack by his side! The ending is even more packed with action, when Byren finally faces Cobalt. Aside from the exhilarating battle, I absolutely loved the ending. Not everything turns out as the reader would want, or as the characters would want. It was refreshing to read an ‘almost happily ever after, but not quite’ ending.
Another really strong point in this book were the female characters. If you ever want to read a book full of strong and amazing female characters, this is the book for you. Boy, did those women kick ass!
Though I really liked this book, there were still a few loose ends in my opinion. Garzik was one of them for me. I hope he’ll still find his way back somehow, someday.
‘King Breaker’ was definitely another great addition to The King Rolen’s Kin Chronicles. KRK is a solid Fantasy series that you definitely should try.
‘King Breaker’, the last part of The Chronicles of King Rolen’s Kin, is quite a tome and took me some time to read. You can imagine there is a lot going on in this last book as it takes you from Rolencia and Merofynia to the land of the Utlanders and Snow Bridge. A lot of new places and people to discover! I had a lot of fun with this book and enjoyed the overall reading experience of the King Rolen’s Kin series. It has its faults and I’m sure some people will be bothered by them, but they didn’t bother me that much. The story was good, the characters wonderful and the worldbuilding elaborate. With magic, mythical beasts, kings, castles and armies, this was a series right up my alley.
In ‘King Breaker’ we follow the familiar characters of the previous books (Byren, Piro and Fyn), but there are also a few new POV additions: Garzik and Florin. I thought it was great to follow the story through their eyes. In Florin’s case especially because of the romantic tension between her and Byren. I hadn’t read the e-novella Daniells wrote about Garzik’s story, so I didn’t know anything about what he’d gone through when I started his storyline. Luckily there were enough subtle reminders to previous events built into his story that were clarifying and made it all easy to follow. If you get the chance though, I’d recommend reading the e-novella first before you read this book. Garzik’s story is one you’ll want to read in full and I know I’ll probably pick it up in the future to get to the bottom of how he ended up on an Utlander ship.
Fyn and Piro were my shining stars in the previous book, ‘The Usurper’, but this time I can’t pick favourites. I liked all of their stories and characters equally even though some of them made me grumble sometimes (Fyn and Byren are really thick sometimes, putting their honour before anything else. Go for the girl you love, you fools!).
‘King Breaker’ was quite an elaborate book, with the character journeying all of the world to achieve their goals. We get to see a lot more of the world Daniells has created: the whole of Merofynia, up in the mountains to the Snow Bridge and the villages by the sea where the Utlanders live. Due to the everything going on in this book, it took me some time to read it, because trust me, there is a lot happening. Fyn, now Lord Protector of Queen Isolt in Merofynia, has to deal with all the upstart Merofynian lords, who all want to take advantage of the young queen, and the Spar Warlords, who are raiding all over the country. Byren wants to take back the Rolencian throne, but he’s been portrayed as a coward and a usurper by Cobalt, so he has to come up with a plan to clear his name and meanwhile find himself an army. Piro thought she would be trained by the Mage, but instead Siordun dumps her with a noble family on Ostron Isle. But we all know Piro by now and when she gets a vision that Cobalt is planning on marrying a fake Piro to secure the Rolencian throne, she sets out to stop the wedding. Obviously without Siordun knowing.
Throughout the book we get a lot of awesome action. Fyn comes up with some cunning plans to root out the Spar Warlords who have claimed some of the Merofynian Lord’s estates and Byren has to fight off Merofynians during his travels, once even with the Ulfr pack by his side! The ending is even more packed with action, when Byren finally faces Cobalt. Aside from the exhilarating battle, I absolutely loved the ending. Not everything turns out as the reader would want, or as the characters would want. It was refreshing to read an ‘almost happily ever after, but not quite’ ending.
Another really strong point in this book were the female characters. If you ever want to read a book full of strong and amazing female characters, this is the book for you. Boy, did those women kick ass!
Though I really liked this book, there were still a few loose ends in my opinion. Garzik was one of them for me. I hope he’ll still find his way back somehow, someday.
‘King Breaker’ was definitely another great addition to The King Rolen’s Kin Chronicles. KRK is a solid Fantasy series that you definitely should try.
tsana's review
5.0
King Breaker by Rowena Cory Daniells is the conclusion to the King Rolen's Kin series. The first three books came out in 2010, so it was a bit of a wait until the last one. Especially since, although the third book in the series could almost be taken as a conclusion to a trilogy sort of, oh my goodness there were a lot of things left entirely unresolved! So of course, I was very eager to read this last instalment, particularly after the tantalising novella released last December, The King's Man.
Speaking of, this is a book four in a four book fantasy series. The series is excellent, but I expect that someone picking up King Breaker without having read the earlier books will be a bit lost (and would not have the same investment in the characters, of course). Start with book one, The King's Bastard. On the other hand, someone picking this book up three years after having read the previous one — as I did — should have no trouble getting back into the story. Maybe it's that the earlier books burned into my brain through sheer excellence, but I think the deft way in which Daniells included reminders about past events definitely contributed.
Although this book picks up shortly after book three, The Usurper, left off, it also follows Gazrik, the main character of The King's Man novella, alongside the three children of old King Rolen and Florin the Mountain girl of the earlier books. I would suggest that Gazrik's storyline is a completion of the arc begun in The King's Man and those not reading the novella first would be missing out. It's not strictly necessary, unlike the earlier books, but I would recommend it. If you disagree, you could always read it afterwards to fill in his back-story. (And another reason to read it is because it's good. If you enjoy Daniells' work, why wouldn't you?)
Daniells is particularly good at writing characters that behave in irritating, yet entirely plausible ways. The group of point of view characters and their friends are all intelligent and well-educated (which makes sense since most of them are royalty) but their minor antagonists (as opposed to Cobalt the usurper) tend to be frustratingly short-sighted, ignorant or just horrible people. The utterly believable way in which Daniells wrote them had me heckling the page on several occasions and cheering when they were defeated — and a satisfying number of annoying characters got punched in the face, so that was also quite gratifying. I have said many times before that a mark of a good writer is the level of emotional investment they can get the reader to place in their characters, and Daniells has proved herself, once again, to be more than adept at doing so.
Readers worried about being left in the lurch again, as with the ending of The Usurper, need not worry. Although Daniells leaves the world open for a possible revisiting, the ending is quite settled. I won't reveal any spoilers, but I will say that it was ultimately satisfying, and some characters even got happy endings. (gasp!)
The King Rolen's Kin series is an excellent read. I highly recommend it to all fans of Big Fat Fantasy, especially the grittier kind. It's probably fair to say that Daniells' books generally are not for the faint of heart (there is violence and rape). But they are excellent. To readers who have read the earlier three books and didn't hate them, I can think of no reason not to go on to read King Breaker.
5 / 5 stars
You can read more of my reviews on my blog.
Speaking of, this is a book four in a four book fantasy series. The series is excellent, but I expect that someone picking up King Breaker without having read the earlier books will be a bit lost (and would not have the same investment in the characters, of course). Start with book one, The King's Bastard. On the other hand, someone picking this book up three years after having read the previous one — as I did — should have no trouble getting back into the story. Maybe it's that the earlier books burned into my brain through sheer excellence, but I think the deft way in which Daniells included reminders about past events definitely contributed.
Although this book picks up shortly after book three, The Usurper, left off, it also follows Gazrik, the main character of The King's Man novella, alongside the three children of old King Rolen and Florin the Mountain girl of the earlier books. I would suggest that Gazrik's storyline is a completion of the arc begun in The King's Man and those not reading the novella first would be missing out. It's not strictly necessary, unlike the earlier books, but I would recommend it. If you disagree, you could always read it afterwards to fill in his back-story. (And another reason to read it is because it's good. If you enjoy Daniells' work, why wouldn't you?)
Daniells is particularly good at writing characters that behave in irritating, yet entirely plausible ways. The group of point of view characters and their friends are all intelligent and well-educated (which makes sense since most of them are royalty) but their minor antagonists (as opposed to Cobalt the usurper) tend to be frustratingly short-sighted, ignorant or just horrible people. The utterly believable way in which Daniells wrote them had me heckling the page on several occasions and cheering when they were defeated — and a satisfying number of annoying characters got punched in the face, so that was also quite gratifying. I have said many times before that a mark of a good writer is the level of emotional investment they can get the reader to place in their characters, and Daniells has proved herself, once again, to be more than adept at doing so.
Readers worried about being left in the lurch again, as with the ending of The Usurper, need not worry. Although Daniells leaves the world open for a possible revisiting, the ending is quite settled. I won't reveal any spoilers, but I will say that it was ultimately satisfying, and some characters even got happy endings. (gasp!)
The King Rolen's Kin series is an excellent read. I highly recommend it to all fans of Big Fat Fantasy, especially the grittier kind. It's probably fair to say that Daniells' books generally are not for the faint of heart (there is violence and rape). But they are excellent. To readers who have read the earlier three books and didn't hate them, I can think of no reason not to go on to read King Breaker.
5 / 5 stars
You can read more of my reviews on my blog.
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