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brendalovesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
This book started off really strong, and I was hooked pretty quickly. Unfortunately, it didn't stay quite as strong throughout. The writing was good, and the story is definitely interesting. At times I had a hard time figuring out the time period--exactly how much time had passed, a few days, weeks?
The baby they were carrying was really sick. In fact, Odosse mentioned that she had seen a baby who looked similarly ill who had died within a few hours. But it seems that this baby lives on for weeks in a weakened state near death. I couldn't quite figure that out. It's not a huge thing, but if I can't figure out how much time is passing it makes it harder for me to stay immersed in the story.
There were a lot of interesting characters, although some things could have been fleshed out a bit more. The back story that was given in places wasn't quite enough to get a feel for what was going on and why. It seems, at times, the author wanted to bring in too many different cultures and characters and so instead of being given a richly detailed world, a lot of what we were given was just surface stuff.
I really did like the writing, though, and will definitely read the next in the series. The story didn't go at all where I thought it would; it went in a completely different direction, so I'd like to see where it goes from here. I would recommend this to fans of fantasy, and will watch this author in the future.
The baby they were carrying was really sick. In fact, Odosse mentioned that she had seen a baby who looked similarly ill who had died within a few hours. But it seems that this baby lives on for weeks in a weakened state near death. I couldn't quite figure that out. It's not a huge thing, but if I can't figure out how much time is passing it makes it harder for me to stay immersed in the story.
There were a lot of interesting characters, although some things could have been fleshed out a bit more. The back story that was given in places wasn't quite enough to get a feel for what was going on and why. It seems, at times, the author wanted to bring in too many different cultures and characters and so instead of being given a richly detailed world, a lot of what we were given was just surface stuff.
I really did like the writing, though, and will definitely read the next in the series. The story didn't go at all where I thought it would; it went in a completely different direction, so I'd like to see where it goes from here. I would recommend this to fans of fantasy, and will watch this author in the future.
jmoses's review against another edition
3.0
Not a bad read, but not great. I enjoyed it, but didn't have a problem putting it down. The world felt like generic fantasy land #7 with generic plot 7. The characters were interesting and more than one dimensional though, so that was nice.
beastreader's review against another edition
5.0
The year is 1217.
There is a feuding war going on between the kingdoms of Oakharn and Langmyr.
Brys Tarnell is a mercenary. He was part of Sir Galefrid of Bulls’ March entourage. An ambush was waiting for Sir Galefrid outside the church, they were praying in. Brys was not in the church. On his way out of town, Brys is handed a baby. The baby is Wistan, who is heir to the throne.
Odosse and her newborn son, Aubry are all alone. When Brys comes upon them promising safety, Odosse agrees to become nurse maid to Wistan.
Sir Kelland Knight of the Sun. Bitharn is Sir Kelland friend and companion. She is deadly with a bow and arrow. What Sir Kelland doesn’t know is that Bitharn loves him.
Leferic is the brother of Sir Galefrid’s. He already has dreams of power and glory now that his brother is dead. The only person who could crush Leferic’s dreams is Wistan. It is going to be a long journey on The River Kings’ Road.
The River Kings’ Road is author, Liane Merciel’s debut novel. This book is a mixture of Lord of the Rings for the adventure, The Sword and the Stone for the theme, and The Riyria Revelations series for the great story line and characters. I have to admit through I really enjoyed all of the characters; my favorite parts of this book were when Brys and Odosse were featured. From the first page to the last page, this book grabbed me. There was not a dull moment to be found in this book. All of the characters interacted well with each other. The River Kings’ Road is one book you will be recommending to your friends, over and over again.
There is a feuding war going on between the kingdoms of Oakharn and Langmyr.
Brys Tarnell is a mercenary. He was part of Sir Galefrid of Bulls’ March entourage. An ambush was waiting for Sir Galefrid outside the church, they were praying in. Brys was not in the church. On his way out of town, Brys is handed a baby. The baby is Wistan, who is heir to the throne.
Odosse and her newborn son, Aubry are all alone. When Brys comes upon them promising safety, Odosse agrees to become nurse maid to Wistan.
Sir Kelland Knight of the Sun. Bitharn is Sir Kelland friend and companion. She is deadly with a bow and arrow. What Sir Kelland doesn’t know is that Bitharn loves him.
Leferic is the brother of Sir Galefrid’s. He already has dreams of power and glory now that his brother is dead. The only person who could crush Leferic’s dreams is Wistan. It is going to be a long journey on The River Kings’ Road.
The River Kings’ Road is author, Liane Merciel’s debut novel. This book is a mixture of Lord of the Rings for the adventure, The Sword and the Stone for the theme, and The Riyria Revelations series for the great story line and characters. I have to admit through I really enjoyed all of the characters; my favorite parts of this book were when Brys and Odosse were featured. From the first page to the last page, this book grabbed me. There was not a dull moment to be found in this book. All of the characters interacted well with each other. The River Kings’ Road is one book you will be recommending to your friends, over and over again.
colorfulleo92's review against another edition
3.0
Need to read more fantasy, as I'm reading terrifying little of it and thought this book sounded interesting enough. It's an okay story, kinda entertaining but I wasn't hooked on the stories or the characters and was anything but invested in it. But it might be a me thing and I need to get more in the fantasy mindset.
proggeddy's review against another edition
5.0
I liked it a lot. The characters were rich and felt like real people. She described their interactions with one another in a way that was easily imaginable and true to the characters. It was also a lot more subtle book than your everyday fantasy novel. Sometimes I wonder if life is more or less just a bunch of subtly leading onward.
There's a lot left to discover, and I look forward to seeing where The River Kings' Road will take us.
There's a lot left to discover, and I look forward to seeing where The River Kings' Road will take us.
eserafina42's review against another edition
4.0
Set in a feudal world not unlike Europe after the breakup of the Roman Empire, The River Kings' Road begins with the massacre of a village and a visiting lord from a neighboring country, along with his family, who were the targets\. One knight and the lord's infant child survive, however, and along with a village girl and her child, they make their way across dangerous country seeking safety and attempting to avoid the killers, who know that they have not succeeded in wiping out the entire family. I liked this book because, despite being a first novel, it is well-written and the world, with its history, religion and magic, appears to have been well-planned and well thought out beforehand. Also, the characters are complex - the man behind the killings, for example, is not pure evil and even suffers some remorse - nor do people behave in stereotypical ways. The ending, to, was a twist on the tried-and-true old standby that I expected to find. I look forward to future installments in this series.
nixnixnixnixnix's review
4.0
This was probably a solid 3.5, but I was feeling generous for the way this book got better as it went along. It didn't have much world building and it took a while for the characters and story to really come together, but by the end I was hoping for more.
I'm only bothered by one thing: what's with the kind of racist character development? One character is obviously described as shocking to anyone he meets because of his darker skin tone. I couldn't really get past that. At least he's kind of the good guy...?
I'm only bothered by one thing: what's with the kind of racist character development? One character is obviously described as shocking to anyone he meets because of his darker skin tone. I couldn't really get past that. At least he's kind of the good guy...?
epersonae's review against another edition
3.0
A solid fantasy novel with interesting plot twists, lots of rich description, and a crazy number of different POVs. Even some of the unsavory characters end up having sympathetic sides, which is always intriguing to me. Not so psyched on the plot thread of "they're in love, but he's taken a vow of chastity" -- although it's not done too badly. But otherwise enjoyable, and I'll probably read the sequel when it comes out.
ptaradactyl's review against another edition
2.0
I'd call it a middle-of-the-pack fantasy. Not a horrible read, but nothing to write home about, either.
It's definitely set up to be a series (because the world obviously needs more drawn-out fantasy series) that I just can't see myself anxiously following. It uses the chastity-vow-as-a-plot-device, and while it doesn't get broken in this series, it managed to annoy the crap out of me. I will admit to being intrigued by the Thorns, and the treasonous brother is probably one of the most likable usurpers I've come across in a long time. Some of the back story hinted at seems far more interesting than the plot itself, though.
It's definitely set up to be a series (because the world obviously needs more drawn-out fantasy series) that I just can't see myself anxiously following. It uses the chastity-vow-as-a-plot-device, and while it doesn't get broken in this series, it managed to annoy the crap out of me. I will admit to being intrigued by the Thorns, and the treasonous brother is probably one of the most likable usurpers I've come across in a long time. Some of the back story hinted at seems far more interesting than the plot itself, though.
stenaros's review against another edition
1.0
I really disliked this book. First off, what does every medieval fantasy novel worth its salt have in the front cover? Yes! A map. This is handy for several reasons, but mostly because when I read that Brys and Odosse traveled between Willowfield and some border town in Oakharn I need a visual to understand how far that is and also where everything is in relation to each other. Without that, all those town names are only made-up words on a page. The map makes the narrative real. Other problems? There are too many characters that flit in for two paragraphs and then don't return for 50 pages. When they do return, they appear without reintroduction, which would be fine if they were memorable characters in the first place. Unfortunately, they weren't and I didn't care enough to flip back and find out who they were--and here e-readers with their search function would be very handy in this instance, though I suspect I wouldn't actually use the function-- so I spent substantial portions of the narrative thinking, "who is this?" Also, the author employs the abhorrent Steven King technique of killing off a very nice innocent minor character whose kindness should have been rewarded. Overall, this was an entirely unsatisfying 388 pages and I don't recommend this book in any way, shape or form.