Scan barcode
foxwish's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Starts out as a murder mystery, which quickly becomes an empire ending threat. Justice Konrad is a very mysterious character and as the story is told from the POV of his apprentice/clerk Helena as an older woman we get to see his character shift and what seems to be the start of a moral decline from an outside POV. Helena herself is very dull and a victim of insta-love unfortunately, she has no idea what she wants in life, her streetrat orphan background is barely relevant to her character, and for some reason older Helena stands by her insta-love as her "first true love". Sir Radomir develops into a wonderfully charismatic character by the end of the book and the climax makes for a compelling start to this trilogy. I will be reading the sequel and hoping for better characterisation for Helena.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Cursing
Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Sexual harassment, Cultural appropriation, Death, Confinement, Death of parent, and Grief
Minor: Alcoholism, Rape, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, and Child death
bookishwondergoth's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Every now and then a book will come along that I feel was written specifically for me to enjoy. ‘The Justice of Kings’ is one such book. Essentially a murder mystery framed by enormous political upheaval, the story follows the Emperor’s Justice, Sir Konrad Vonvalt. Accompanied by his taskman Dubine Bressinger and his clerk (and our narrator) Helena Sedanka, Vonvalt makes his way from town to town across the Sovan Empire, exacting the law as judge, jury and executioner.
I don’t think—outside of Skulduggery Pleasant—I’ve ever read a fantasy crime book before, but that’s basically what this book is. There’s so much weighing of the law vs justice vs morality amongst these pages, that it’s easy to see where comparisons to Andrzej Sapkowski’s ‘The Witcher’ come from. The rumination on these different factors made for such thought-provoking reading, and I was totally invested in the outcome of each case.
Richard Swan is a wonderful storyteller with a keen grasp of character. Subtext is key, and it’s what’s unsaid as much as it is what’s said. Helena is a highly fallible narrator, writing as an older woman looking back on her young petulant self. I found her fraught, jealous, hormonally-charged father/daughter relationship with Vonvalt relatable and endearing, and Richard Swan falls into none of the traps male fantasy authors are prone to falling into when writing about hormonal young women. I thought he did a really good job. Vonvalt also is a compelling and charismatic protagonist (for truly, it is his story Helena is telling), and I definitely grew attached to this dysfunctional little family in ways that will no doubt hurt me in future books to come.
The framing narrative of the crumbling Sovan Empire was, in my opinion, far less interesting than the legal nuances of the murder mystery at its core, which is why my rating drops down to 4 stars for me. I would honestly love to read an entire book that solely consists of Vonvalt, Bressinger and Helena travelling around and episodically exacting the law. I just find it so so interesting. AND it got proper brutal in places, my God! Just… all the things I love. Like it was written specially for me, like I said.
Loved it. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Can’t wait for ‘The Tyranny of Faith’.
I don’t think—outside of Skulduggery Pleasant—I’ve ever read a fantasy crime book before, but that’s basically what this book is. There’s so much weighing of the law vs justice vs morality amongst these pages, that it’s easy to see where comparisons to Andrzej Sapkowski’s ‘The Witcher’ come from. The rumination on these different factors made for such thought-provoking reading, and I was totally invested in the outcome of each case.
Richard Swan is a wonderful storyteller with a keen grasp of character. Subtext is key, and it’s what’s unsaid as much as it is what’s said. Helena is a highly fallible narrator, writing as an older woman looking back on her young petulant self. I found her fraught, jealous, hormonally-charged father/daughter relationship with Vonvalt relatable and endearing, and Richard Swan falls into none of the traps male fantasy authors are prone to falling into when writing about hormonal young women. I thought he did a really good job. Vonvalt also is a compelling and charismatic protagonist (for truly, it is his story Helena is telling), and I definitely grew attached to this dysfunctional little family in ways that will no doubt hurt me in future books to come.
The framing narrative of the crumbling Sovan Empire was, in my opinion, far less interesting than the legal nuances of the murder mystery at its core, which is why my rating drops down to 4 stars for me. I would honestly love to read an entire book that solely consists of Vonvalt, Bressinger and Helena travelling around and episodically exacting the law. I just find it so so interesting. AND it got proper brutal in places, my God! Just… all the things I love. Like it was written specially for me, like I said.
Loved it. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Can’t wait for ‘The Tyranny of Faith’.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Religious bigotry and Murder
Minor: Xenophobia, Cursing, Sexual violence, Rape, and Sexual content
grimdark_dad's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Child death, Grief, Medical trauma, Medical content, Murder, Sexism, War, Blood, Confinement, Alcohol, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, and Violence
More...