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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
The next big blockbuster fantasy series, at least according to the massive publicity push.
There are three narrative threads switching back and forth, sometimes with lightning speed: there is the present-day, in which our handsome hero, Kihrin, is in prison, telling his story to Talon in first person.
Then we get Talon’s narrative intrusions explaining Kihrin’s past, interpolated with a mysterious narrator who also adds footnotes.
It’s clear that the author is having prime fun with narrative devices; the footnotes veer between mordant-toned commentary and casual worldbuilding nuggets. The result is a snarl of time and place and POV that the reader must constantly adjust to, but there is enough cleverness in the prose, and vivid imagery (sometimes too vivid for my wimpy self) to make it worthwhile-- if one likes this type of fantasy.
And a lot of people will. It’s intelligently written, with wildly inventive worldbuilding stitching together the usual fantasy tropes of kings, demons, wars, and priests doing blood magic, etc.
The book should do super well as there is enough torture, blood, guts, brothel-forced sex, incest, rape, and agony (while still preserving Kihrin’s fabulous looks and nascent powers) to satisfy the Game of Thrones fans who go into fantasy expecting astronomical body counts.
Since this was a preview, ending on a thousand mile drop of a cliffhanger, there is no predicting how this first book of a projected five book series hangs together, but judging by the exhilaratingly wild ride of this glimpse, I expect it will do what its fans want most: entertain.
Preview provided by NetGalley
There are three narrative threads switching back and forth, sometimes with lightning speed: there is the present-day, in which our handsome hero, Kihrin, is in prison, telling his story to Talon in first person.
Then we get Talon’s narrative intrusions explaining Kihrin’s past, interpolated with a mysterious narrator who also adds footnotes.
It’s clear that the author is having prime fun with narrative devices; the footnotes veer between mordant-toned commentary and casual worldbuilding nuggets. The result is a snarl of time and place and POV that the reader must constantly adjust to, but there is enough cleverness in the prose, and vivid imagery (sometimes too vivid for my wimpy self) to make it worthwhile-- if one likes this type of fantasy.
And a lot of people will. It’s intelligently written, with wildly inventive worldbuilding stitching together the usual fantasy tropes of kings, demons, wars, and priests doing blood magic, etc.
The book should do super well as there is enough torture, blood, guts, brothel-forced sex, incest, rape, and agony (while still preserving Kihrin’s fabulous looks and nascent powers) to satisfy the Game of Thrones fans who go into fantasy expecting astronomical body counts.
Since this was a preview, ending on a thousand mile drop of a cliffhanger, there is no predicting how this first book of a projected five book series hangs together, but judging by the exhilaratingly wild ride of this glimpse, I expect it will do what its fans want most: entertain.
Preview provided by NetGalley
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The chapters flip back and forth between two periods of time - I have seen this work well in other novels but not when it happens every single chapter and when the momentum of each chapter means that as a reader you are veing thrown violently from one situation to the next - one moment in a brothel speaking with your friends, another you are witnessing a demon summoning; the next a war flashback, right in the action, then you're having a tense dinner with your toxic, dangerous family; you're running from a dragon and then finding out that your mum really isn't dead. From a pacing point of view it might work for some, because this story flies by - there's actions and machinations in every single chapter, you won't be the slightest bit bored - but its also really confusing because Lyons has created a very detailed world that is heavy on characters, myths, houses and heirarchy. If you're not paying attention, or reading too quickly, or still trying to adjust to the time switch, it's hard to get with the program and reorient yourself to the current group of characters - and then just as soon as you have, the chapter ends and you're back where you started. Or you spend half the book asking yourself who the heck is Doc/ Thruvishar/ Shelomon? Who is whose mortal enemy? Why is this other guy in cahoots with that other guy???
I could see how this paid off in the last chapters, when the two periods and perspectives converge on each other. It was very clever, and gave a full vast picture of everything leading up to the peak of conflict. This made it feel like the moments had weight, that the world really was going to end, because of everything we had (sort of) understood before.
This book had huge potential because it is creative and vast - so much world building, particularly interesting to layer magic and religion across the structure of three worlds/ dimensions: the living, the land of magic, and that of the dead. But also at times so suffocating because of how much Lyons tries to build in and explain.
Kihirin, the main character, suffers from an excess of tropes - he is the illegitimate son of one of the lords of the House of D'mon (still haven't wrapped my head around who and why exactly), has powers yet to be unlocked, possibly the boy destined within a prophecy, is allegedly very pretty, has a voice that enchants dragons etc. And while some of the other characters come with backgrounds and context attached, all too often I felt that someone was introduced to move the story along and then pushed off the pages, never to be seen again. The additional difficulty of this was that so many characters died, and then came back to life, or just straight up died and never came back, that it was not really worth the effort to care too much about any of them.
And the cast all had similar sounding names - Tana, Therin, Taena, Teraeth - or multiple names and past identities referenced in the same chapter.
And one final personal complaint - my Libby version puts all the footnotes in the end chapter, so I didn't get to really experience the exact commentary along the chapters, which honestly might have been for the better given how much is crammed in here.
I think this could have worked better split in 2, maybe ending when Kihirin decides how he will go after Gadrith and escapes Ynisthana, and beginning again when he lands back in the City.
A fun book that delivers classic gritty high fantasy with a twisting plot.
The story starts with Kihrin imprisoned, being prompted to tell his story by his jailor. He starts telling the story of how he was sold as a slave at 16 and ended up on a tropical island with an assassin cult. His jailor soon interrupts him and says, no, you should start with your childhood as a thief and then a prince and starts telling Kihrin’s backstory. The two narrators trade off until the full picture is reveal. This was a reread as I prepare to read the rest of the series, and I will say that this book does benefit from a double reading. It is intentionally confusing due to complicated lineages, random immortals, shapeshifters, and body swapping. I found the overall chaos really fun, but your milage may vary. I thought this book did a good job of gritty high fantasy without reveling in the ugliness and an overall inclusive cast. This book does have a lot of characters and plot lines, but i will say that the cast doesn’t expand too much more for the rest of the series, so if you can get a handle on this book, the rest of the series is much more streamlined.
Recommended if you want a fun, messy, complicated high fantasy. Also, I binged this series in a week, which I also recommend so all the characters and plots are fresh.
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Very long, very dark, unbelievable number of identity swaps, don't much like storys about gods and there kept being more of them. In the end it all just wore me down even though I went so far in.
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
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
