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thewitchykitty's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Grief, and Death of parent
chantaal's review
3.0
I came out of this appreciating the straightforward and interesting fantasy story we get, but feeling a little disappointed that it didn't really bring much new to the table.
Blood of the Old Kings takes place in a fantasy world where the all powerful empire maintains its power with magic. This magic is powered by the corpses of dead sorcerers, who keep being magical batteries forever and ever. Fucking fantastic magical premise, right? In this world we follow three characters who are bucking against the weight of the Empire and how it has affected their lives. Loran lost her family, and the story kicks off with her visiting a dragon and gaining power and a pretty rad sword from it and a destiny to become the next king of her conquered homeland. Cain lives in the capital, laying low and surviving as much as he can as he investigates the death of someone close to him. Arienne is magic student, taken from her home and put into school, except all this school really does is prepare their students to take care of themselves so they'll be very good, strong batteries for the Empire when they're dead.
Having three different main characters like this allowed for the story to explore this fantasy world and the politics and magic and revolution in three different ways...but the characters themselves mainly fell flat, and that's where the biggest disappointment stems for me.
Arienne probably had the most interesting storyline, as it digs into the weird, creepy, awful magic system. Her backstory and her motivations were the most interesting - she runs away because she doesn't want to spend her whole life under the thumb of the Empire, preparing for death. Unfortunately, Loran and Cain paled in comparison. Loran has a typical hero plot line (with some interesting magic), and Cain had a shadowy politics storyline that I was incredibly bored with.
The writing I think was the weakest part of the book as a whole, and led to the weak character work. I don't think this is a translation issue. The prose is serviceable. It's fine. It's so Just Fine that I didn't once feel any sort of expanded emotion toward anything except moments of huh and wow, okay. I didn't feel truly connected to the plot or characters or world whatsoever, and I spent the last third of the book mentally checked out - which is terrible, because that's when all the action stuff happens. I just didn't care! Which is disappointing!
This story ends in a way that leaves things very much open for a series, but even if it doesn't continue on, then it still wraps up fine.
I keep thinking about how I wish I had enjoyed this more, and how much more interesting the story would have been if it had been much more about Arienne.
Anyway! A solid 3 stars, a decent fantasy romp. Nothing bad here, but nothing super great. This is actually a really good beginner level fantasy for anyone looking to get into the genre, now that I'm thinking about it.
Thanks to Tor Books and Net Galley for the advance reader copy in exchange for this review, and HUGE double thanks to Tor Books for sending me a finished copy. Blood of the Old Kings is available now.
Blood of the Old Kings takes place in a fantasy world where the all powerful empire maintains its power with magic. This magic is powered by the corpses of dead sorcerers, who keep being magical batteries forever and ever. Fucking fantastic magical premise, right? In this world we follow three characters who are bucking against the weight of the Empire and how it has affected their lives. Loran lost her family, and the story kicks off with her visiting a dragon and gaining power and a pretty rad sword from it and a destiny to become the next king of her conquered homeland. Cain lives in the capital, laying low and surviving as much as he can as he investigates the death of someone close to him. Arienne is magic student, taken from her home and put into school, except all this school really does is prepare their students to take care of themselves so they'll be very good, strong batteries for the Empire when they're dead.
Having three different main characters like this allowed for the story to explore this fantasy world and the politics and magic and revolution in three different ways...but the characters themselves mainly fell flat, and that's where the biggest disappointment stems for me.
Arienne probably had the most interesting storyline, as it digs into the weird, creepy, awful magic system. Her backstory and her motivations were the most interesting - she runs away because she doesn't want to spend her whole life under the thumb of the Empire, preparing for death. Unfortunately, Loran and Cain paled in comparison. Loran has a typical hero plot line (with some interesting magic), and Cain had a shadowy politics storyline that I was incredibly bored with.
The writing I think was the weakest part of the book as a whole, and led to the weak character work. I don't think this is a translation issue. The prose is serviceable. It's fine. It's so Just Fine that I didn't once feel any sort of expanded emotion toward anything except moments of huh and wow, okay. I didn't feel truly connected to the plot or characters or world whatsoever, and I spent the last third of the book mentally checked out - which is terrible, because that's when all the action stuff happens. I just didn't care! Which is disappointing!
This story ends in a way that leaves things very much open for a series, but even if it doesn't continue on, then it still wraps up fine.
I keep thinking about how I wish I had enjoyed this more, and how much more interesting the story would have been if it had been much more about Arienne.
Anyway! A solid 3 stars, a decent fantasy romp. Nothing bad here, but nothing super great. This is actually a really good beginner level fantasy for anyone looking to get into the genre, now that I'm thinking about it.
Thanks to Tor Books and Net Galley for the advance reader copy in exchange for this review, and HUGE double thanks to Tor Books for sending me a finished copy. Blood of the Old Kings is available now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
fromjuliereads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Thank you to Tor for an advanced e-arc of this book in return for an honest review.
This book was such a fantastic surprise to me.
I hadn't seen this book around the online bookish community, but when I saw the cover and read the synopsis on Netgalley, I was immediately intrigued. It sounded like such a cool concept. And I was not disappointed.
There were so many elements to this plot and story that were unique and varied from other fantasy books that I have read. Sorcerers who have powers that are so different from the typical magic users. A woman who declares her destiny to a dragon, a dragon who aids her. And a seemingly ordinary person, with glasses (!!!) who finds his destiny while on a different path. Sure you might have read stories of similar characters, but when you add the plot, the magic, the worldbuilding, and the writing to these? It becomes something else.
I had been struggling to read, picking up other books and consistently putting them down. I couldn't put this one down.
While it's definitely more of a plot driven story, the characters are well done and you root for them throughout the story. But I imagine there is more that will delve into the characters in the sequels. The plot and writing are truly the focals for this book and they drive the story very well. There is also an air of sci fi, I think, with the way the magic is worked and these automotons that are part of the story.
I would definitely recommend this book to my friends who enjoy fantasy, curious to hear their thoughts as well.
Sung-Il Kim, and translator Anton Hur, have crafted the start of an epic tale and I cannot wait to see where it goes next.
This book was such a fantastic surprise to me.
I hadn't seen this book around the online bookish community, but when I saw the cover and read the synopsis on Netgalley, I was immediately intrigued. It sounded like such a cool concept. And I was not disappointed.
There were so many elements to this plot and story that were unique and varied from other fantasy books that I have read. Sorcerers who have powers that are so different from the typical magic users. A woman who declares her destiny to a dragon, a dragon who aids her. And a seemingly ordinary person, with glasses (!!!) who finds his destiny while on a different path. Sure you might have read stories of similar characters, but when you add the plot, the magic, the worldbuilding, and the writing to these? It becomes something else.
I had been struggling to read, picking up other books and consistently putting them down. I couldn't put this one down.
While it's definitely more of a plot driven story, the characters are well done and you root for them throughout the story. But I imagine there is more that will delve into the characters in the sequels. The plot and writing are truly the focals for this book and they drive the story very well. There is also an air of sci fi, I think, with the way the magic is worked and these automotons that are part of the story.
I would definitely recommend this book to my friends who enjoy fantasy, curious to hear their thoughts as well.
Sung-Il Kim, and translator Anton Hur, have crafted the start of an epic tale and I cannot wait to see where it goes next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Colonisation
Minor: Vomit
jalexpulliamkepler's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
It feels like it could have been good with better editing but instead we are left with an inconsistent world, underdeveloped characters, and a convoluted plot.
Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher as a Goodreads Giveaway. A review was requested but not required and the content and star rating are both my own. The edition I received was an Advanced Reader Copy and may differ from the published version.
Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher as a Goodreads Giveaway. A review was requested but not required and the content and star rating are both my own. The edition I received was an Advanced Reader Copy and may differ from the published version.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Colonisation
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Genocide and Vomit