Reviews

The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan

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aspiringwriter77's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

To be honest, I never really got into this book. The first half in particular was a slog and I just found the writing to be dull, with a lot of over-explaining unimportant details. For example, there's a scene where the main characters enter a town (described in great in great detail), then they leave their horses with some guards (again greatly detailed), enter a house (more description) and then walk to another house (lots more description), before finally interviewing someone. The problem is none of this is interesting. I want to read an entertaining story, not excessive detail on the interior design of an imaginary house.

The action picks up in the second half, but it's pretty standard and cliche, with tropes familiar to anyone who has seen action scenes before. The characters succeed mainly due to sheer luck and improbably timing rather than any skill of their own. There's a silly scene where a character is held prisoner in a dungeon and . . . just runs away. Yeah, that's right, they just run out the door and the villians just don't catch them.

By far the biggest problem is the narrator, Helena, who felt more like a narrative device than an actual person. She spends most of the book passively observing her surroundings, which made me wonder what the point of creating her character in the first place was.

We are repeatedly told that she is an intelligent 19 year old woman who grew up on the streets, but none of her actions match this. Instead she is incredibly naïve and constantly requires obvious things explained to her. She acts like a child, repeatedly throwing tantrums and sulks over the most trivial issue. She is like a parody of a teenage girl who only cares about boys and falls in "love" with someone she has met only twice. It was impossible to believe this girl had really been a street orphan or had spent two years working with a justice. If instead you had told me she was a spoilt 14 year old who had never left her mansion, I would have found that more credible.

cyfox's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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

mangokiste's review

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

bookish_withsky's review

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4.0

It has a lot to work on, I’ll admit it. However, the murder mystery entwined with the fantasy was such a pleasant surprise. I had such a good time with it. While it did lag here and there, it quickly grabbed my attention back. Not the best, not perfect, but quite enjoyable and has me intrigued about the rest of the series.

athenezadam's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

In The Justice of Kings, a man representing the Emperor's Justice and his team investigate the murder of a provincial aristocrat and uncover a broader conspiracy. The magic is creepy, set against an ominous setting. Action scenes are realistically gory and tense. The pacing of this novel is slow, which is appropriate as it relates to the investigation, but scenes involving politics are dull since they are explained to the reader and not seen. Recommended for epic fantasy lovers who enjoy investigative stories with underlying politics.