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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
Welcome to Arka Empire. Where magick is punishable by death. When Mithrid stumbles upon a spell book her life will be forever changed. The Outlaw King and his rebellion may be her only chance. Full of daemons, dragons, mages and minotaurs. Great stuff!
The Forever King is so long… Which might not have been a problem, if it had caught my interest right from the start, but I only started to really engage with the plot at about the halfway point.
I wonder if I would have liked this better if I had read the previous series, The Written, as this seems to be kind of a sequel series. Maybe if I had already known these characters, I might have cared about them earlier? As it is, it took me ages to connect to them, they felt flat for a long while before they finally took shape in my mind.
My husband who read it at the same time enjoyed it more, and to that specific problem just shrugged and said, “Oh well, it’s a more classical fantasy.” He also and didn’t mind the bad guy seemingly being bad for the sake of being the villain. And the hero saves the world because that is what heroes are supposed to do. I personally like more rounded and deeper characters.
In the second half the characters have started to settle a bit, but mostly it’s the action being turned up high that makes me more engaged, and still not the characters.
I also didn’t like the way it felt very classic and ‘tame’ most of the time, but then felt grimdark for one paragraph, before falling back to an easy style. For me the switch didn’t feel natural, but grinded a bit and stood out.
I wonder if I would have liked this better if I had read the previous series, The Written, as this seems to be kind of a sequel series. Maybe if I had already known these characters, I might have cared about them earlier? As it is, it took me ages to connect to them, they felt flat for a long while before they finally took shape in my mind.
My husband who read it at the same time enjoyed it more, and to that specific problem just shrugged and said, “Oh well, it’s a more classical fantasy.” He also and didn’t mind the bad guy seemingly being bad for the sake of being the villain. And the hero saves the world because that is what heroes are supposed to do. I personally like more rounded and deeper characters.
In the second half the characters have started to settle a bit, but mostly it’s the action being turned up high that makes me more engaged, and still not the characters.
I also didn’t like the way it felt very classic and ‘tame’ most of the time, but then felt grimdark for one paragraph, before falling back to an easy style. For me the switch didn’t feel natural, but grinded a bit and stood out.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Forever King is full of strong elements: motivationally complex characters, strong visual flare, and a wide arrange of fantastical elements. But it suffers from a variety of small issues, albeit relevant issues, that make it hard to enjoy the book. Yes it it full of scenes and moments intended to be visually rich and impressive, but often times the prose fails to deliver on what the author so clearly envisioned.
The characters are complex, and make many relevant and defining decisions, but they're also hard to like. Mithrid starts off strong with a great narrative catalyst, and her core personalities traits of vengeful and mistrustful make her dynamic but she doesn't evolve beyond these, or garner more positive traits, as the narrative progresses, resulting in a character that's constantly negative and combat with everyone she interacts with in almost every scene. This is exacerbated when a side character accurately points out that Mithrid is acting constantly furious with everyone around her as if she's the only one with a reason for vengeance when everyone around her has just as much greivance with the book's antagonist, highlighting a streak of self-important to the reader. And yet Mithrid doesn't change at all in her behavior, doesn't grow. (This was where I began to sour on her.) A secondary issue with the book's characters (most primarily in the first half) was that it dedicated a significant amount of time to the legacy characters of the previous series. I've not read that series, so this resulted in me constantly being forced to look away from Mithird (A character with narrative and motivation that I had developed) to a character that I had no investment in, and had no development in the works. (Mithird at this time had both potential character development, and several questions that were being teased.) It was frustrating. There's also an attempt at romance, but it's gets barely any attention and happens almost entirely off scree with no effort put to developing chemistry or positive interactions. It kind of just gets teased once, then bluntly stated attraction later on.
The second major issue was the antagonists, and how they were constantly rendered impotent. The tyrannical king (and primary antagonist for this book) is constantly being blatantly manipulated in front the reader. He commands demons, who achieve nothing despite multiple scenes of conflict and action and a fair amount of hype in their descriptions and history. They would arrive in a scene, gutted hyped up with some form of description, and then be defeated. The malignant dragons were constantly outclassed, and a huge amount of time and effort was devoted to the buildup and introduction of a new powerful mage type called the Scarred that were meant to balance out our protagonists one major advantage, only for them again to achieve nothing and again be absolutely outclassed in every interaction. (Likely because the mages they're supposed to be balancing out are all legacy characters.) Add into this a helping of blatantly, and knowingly, idiotic military decisions (literally sacrificing a huge number of troops for no reason other than to make a statement.) It all results in antagonists that aren't allowed to be threatening, and who only succeed when the narrative needs them to. (another minor issue was how the siege was conducted, with the evil army somehow surviving in a harsh northern environment despite terrible equipment without suffering apparent casualties, and somehow making headway against trained soldiers atop immense battlements with untrained conscripts. On the open field, yes the radically superior numbers would affect the balance, but not on walls after the attacker spent all night freezing, and starving. Oh, and there was no moat around this fortress that was specifically built and designed for this battle. Yes, that might seem like such a small, and likely esoteric, thing, but it just niggled at me and compiled with all the other minor issues in the siege, like converting new recruits into competent fighters over a span of weeks.
I found the actual magic system a little simplistic, mostly just throwing fire, lightning, or raising shields.
The characters are complex, and make many relevant and defining decisions, but they're also hard to like. Mithrid starts off strong with a great narrative catalyst, and her core personalities traits of vengeful and mistrustful make her dynamic but she doesn't evolve beyond these, or garner more positive traits, as the narrative progresses, resulting in a character that's constantly negative and combat with everyone she interacts with in almost every scene. This is exacerbated when a side character accurately points out that Mithrid is acting constantly furious with everyone around her as if she's the only one with a reason for vengeance when everyone around her has just as much greivance with the book's antagonist, highlighting a streak of self-important to the reader. And yet Mithrid doesn't change at all in her behavior, doesn't grow. (This was where I began to sour on her.) A secondary issue with the book's characters (most primarily in the first half) was that it dedicated a significant amount of time to the legacy characters of the previous series. I've not read that series, so this resulted in me constantly being forced to look away from Mithird (A character with narrative and motivation that I had developed) to a character that I had no investment in, and had no development in the works. (Mithird at this time had both potential character development, and several questions that were being teased.) It was frustrating. There's also an attempt at romance, but it's gets barely any attention and happens almost entirely off scree with no effort put to developing chemistry or positive interactions. It kind of just gets teased once, then bluntly stated attraction later on.
The second major issue was the antagonists, and how they were constantly rendered impotent. The tyrannical king (and primary antagonist for this book) is constantly being blatantly manipulated in front the reader. He commands demons, who achieve nothing despite multiple scenes of conflict and action and a fair amount of hype in their descriptions and history. They would arrive in a scene, gutted hyped up with some form of description, and then be defeated. The malignant dragons were constantly outclassed, and a huge amount of time and effort was devoted to the buildup and introduction of a new powerful mage type called the Scarred that were meant to balance out our protagonists one major advantage, only for them again to achieve nothing and again be absolutely outclassed in every interaction. (Likely because the mages they're supposed to be balancing out are all legacy characters.) Add into this a helping of blatantly, and knowingly, idiotic military decisions (literally sacrificing a huge number of troops for no reason other than to make a statement.) It all results in antagonists that aren't allowed to be threatening, and who only succeed when the narrative needs them to. (another minor issue was how the siege was conducted, with the evil army somehow surviving in a harsh northern environment despite terrible equipment without suffering apparent casualties, and somehow making headway against trained soldiers atop immense battlements with untrained conscripts. On the open field, yes the radically superior numbers would affect the balance, but not on walls after the attacker spent all night freezing, and starving. Oh, and there was no moat around this fortress that was specifically built and designed for this battle. Yes, that might seem like such a small, and likely esoteric, thing, but it just niggled at me and compiled with all the other minor issues in the siege, like converting new recruits into competent fighters over a span of weeks.
I found the actual magic system a little simplistic, mostly just throwing fire, lightning, or raising shields.
Welcome back to Emaneska, 20 years later. The old characters are there along with feisty new ones and the usual demons, gods, dragons and vampires.
If you've not read any of Ben's books about Emaneska before, don't worry, there's a full synopsis (which was great for reminding me too) and this book works well on it's own, as the beginning of a great new saga.
Ben's characters come alive and jump off the page, and you find yourself rooting for the goodies, and booing the baddies. There are lots of twists in the tale, some seen and some surprising.
The book is about magick and the fact that it's use is now banned in Emaneska, or is it? Mithrid Fenn lives in a fishing village which clings to the cliffs. When a wreck is seen, she and the other children race to be first there and to have first dabs on the spoils. What has turned up though, is a book if magick. When Mithrid reads a spell, she starts off a series of events which have you on the edge of your seat as you follow the twists and turns of the tale.
A book full of battles, intrigue and treachery. Fabulous book Ben, when's the next one out??
If you've not read any of Ben's books about Emaneska before, don't worry, there's a full synopsis (which was great for reminding me too) and this book works well on it's own, as the beginning of a great new saga.
Ben's characters come alive and jump off the page, and you find yourself rooting for the goodies, and booing the baddies. There are lots of twists in the tale, some seen and some surprising.
The book is about magick and the fact that it's use is now banned in Emaneska, or is it? Mithrid Fenn lives in a fishing village which clings to the cliffs. When a wreck is seen, she and the other children race to be first there and to have first dabs on the spoils. What has turned up though, is a book if magick. When Mithrid reads a spell, she starts off a series of events which have you on the edge of your seat as you follow the twists and turns of the tale.
A book full of battles, intrigue and treachery. Fabulous book Ben, when's the next one out??
Ben Galley's The Forever King has it all - history, war, adventure, magic, and mystery. You can feel the author's creative passion seeping through the pages. Fans of epic fantasy will be thrilled. Sadly, I'm not one of them.
Arka Empire banned magick (yes, with k) and kills those who possess it. Sure, there is a rebellion (there's always one) led by the Outlaw King, but they operate near the empire's northern fringes. Mithrid Fenn leads challenging but overall enjoyable life until the spellbook washes ashore. Then, things go terribly, terribly wrong, and she loses everything she holds dear.
She joins the rebels, learns valuable lessons, discovers her inner potential and appetite for revenge. Of course, it's much more complicated than that, what with dragons, politics, precarious balance of power. You'll find out for yourself if you give it a try.
Mithrid is a fierce female protagonist. Not always likable, sometimes headstrong, but focused and determined, and I appreciate those qualities. Her development and acceptance of her potential to do magick is gradual and convincing. Kudos for that.
Side characters are relatable and magic inventive - it's based on words and sounds, and some mages have spellbooks carved into their backs. Fascinating stuff.
While The Forever King's world is quite captivating, the amount of information can feel cumbersome. Readers have to consume a lot of lore to understand where the story takes them. Of course, fantasy readers want lore and worldbuilding, but it sometimes feels like the story doesn't always come first. That said, I'm not too fond of epic fantasy precisely because of this. I may be just the wrong reader to appreciate Ben's work; extensive worldbuilding tires me quickly.
Although the story takes some time to get going and wrap up toward the end, it feels structurally balanced. However, the story's pacing may feel uneven to those who like a faster pace; the extended passages and some repetitions slow it down. I think (but it's strongly subjective) that cutting off 20 % of the text wouldn't hurt it—quite the opposite.
The Forever King will appeal to fans of dark and epic fantasy. Even though it drags, it still packs a punch and provides solid entertainment. The evocative setting, relatable characters, and intriguing events create a memorable story. Not surprising or original, but hitting all the right epic fantasy beats. Additionally, the audiobook version is excellent, and I highly recommend this format to those who enjoy audiobooks.
Arka Empire banned magick (yes, with k) and kills those who possess it. Sure, there is a rebellion (there's always one) led by the Outlaw King, but they operate near the empire's northern fringes. Mithrid Fenn leads challenging but overall enjoyable life until the spellbook washes ashore. Then, things go terribly, terribly wrong, and she loses everything she holds dear.
She joins the rebels, learns valuable lessons, discovers her inner potential and appetite for revenge. Of course, it's much more complicated than that, what with dragons, politics, precarious balance of power. You'll find out for yourself if you give it a try.
Mithrid is a fierce female protagonist. Not always likable, sometimes headstrong, but focused and determined, and I appreciate those qualities. Her development and acceptance of her potential to do magick is gradual and convincing. Kudos for that.
Side characters are relatable and magic inventive - it's based on words and sounds, and some mages have spellbooks carved into their backs. Fascinating stuff.
While The Forever King's world is quite captivating, the amount of information can feel cumbersome. Readers have to consume a lot of lore to understand where the story takes them. Of course, fantasy readers want lore and worldbuilding, but it sometimes feels like the story doesn't always come first. That said, I'm not too fond of epic fantasy precisely because of this. I may be just the wrong reader to appreciate Ben's work; extensive worldbuilding tires me quickly.
Although the story takes some time to get going and wrap up toward the end, it feels structurally balanced. However, the story's pacing may feel uneven to those who like a faster pace; the extended passages and some repetitions slow it down. I think (but it's strongly subjective) that cutting off 20 % of the text wouldn't hurt it—quite the opposite.
The Forever King will appeal to fans of dark and epic fantasy. Even though it drags, it still packs a punch and provides solid entertainment. The evocative setting, relatable characters, and intriguing events create a memorable story. Not surprising or original, but hitting all the right epic fantasy beats. Additionally, the audiobook version is excellent, and I highly recommend this format to those who enjoy audiobooks.
The Forever King is a classic epic fantasy chock full of monsters, magic, and big, bad ass battles.
Mithrid is a defiant teenager, living an unremarkable life in a small coastal village. Raised by her abusive alcoholic father, she teeters on the cusp of adulthood. But everything will change when she and her childhood friends discover a shipwreck touched by deadly magic.
Farden is the titular Forever King, a tough, seasoned warrior and mage. He leads a decades long rebellion against a brutal empire that seeks to outlaw magic itself. Haunted by the burdens of leadership, desperate to free the land of Emaneska from tyranny, he seeks a weapon that will turn the tide of this war.
The characters populating this novel were solid but not, I felt, its strong suit. Mithrid is certainly the most fleshed out and dynamic character, with just enough stubbornness to help her stumble into peril, but not so much as to elicit eyerolls. She is fierce and determined, she has regrets and worries. She is slow to trust. I enjoyed her journey and the evolution of her skills and unique magic. Farden was also fairly well established, but he felt a little flatter to me. He is extremely powerful and in a position of total authority so its hard to see much of a character arc for him. This is ok. I get the sense that he is closer to a James Bond type by this point in the story. The Forever King is the first book in this series but there were a number of books with him as main character in the previous series. He fulfilled his role in my opinion though he didn’t stand out. It was Malvus that I felt was a little lacking. The novel’s antagonist was just a bad guy. He was evil without clear motivations. Like he would kill a servant for not cutting the crust off of his sandwich. It made him feel pretty one-dimensional and detracted from my enjoyment of the story as a whole.
The plot of the Forever King is relatively straight forward. It’s a version of your classical fantasy setup: rural teen has life upended, discovers they possess unique power, uses the power to fight evil in the land. The particulars were well done though. I kept turning pages at a good clip, compelled to discover what happened next. Despite this novel’s chonky heft at well over 600 pages, the pacing was very strong. I never felt bogged down. This story is crammed full of action scenes. If you love fantasy action, you need to read this book. Honestly, I don’t usually go for lots of long fight sequences, but the author did a good job keeping them interesting.
I’m a little split on the prose. For the most part I think they were quite good. The story had a distinct voice, a light touch of humor, and did a good job of painting a vivid picture. However, there were a few instances of odd or esoteric word choices, a few stilted sentences that were confusing, and a few similes that felt a bit off.
The Forever King shines in its worldbuilding. I, for one, really enjoy a story with lots of old school fantasy tropes like this. Emaneska feels like a world with depth to it. I’ll say there were a few small instances where I felt like I might be missing something from the previous series, but these were very minor and in all I think Galley handled this remarkably well. I never felt like I was getting a big info dump of all the stuff I missed in the last books, but I never felt lost either. The Written, Emaneska’s top tier mages, were a pretty cool element, as were the dragons and gods and other supernatural creatures. I really enjoyed how much magic suffused this story. A lot of fantasy has a pretty meager dash of magic, which I always find a little disappointing. Not so in this case. Emaneska’s magic weaves through every strand of plot, and character, and worldbuilding.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It nailed a few of my favorite tropes and provided an entertaining, action-packed narrative. The pacing and worldbuilding were both excellent, while characterization and plot were solid if not amazing. It has big battles, potent magic, and mysterious supernatural forces. Fans of classic epic fantasy should definitely try the Forever King.
Mithrid is a defiant teenager, living an unremarkable life in a small coastal village. Raised by her abusive alcoholic father, she teeters on the cusp of adulthood. But everything will change when she and her childhood friends discover a shipwreck touched by deadly magic.
Farden is the titular Forever King, a tough, seasoned warrior and mage. He leads a decades long rebellion against a brutal empire that seeks to outlaw magic itself. Haunted by the burdens of leadership, desperate to free the land of Emaneska from tyranny, he seeks a weapon that will turn the tide of this war.
The characters populating this novel were solid but not, I felt, its strong suit. Mithrid is certainly the most fleshed out and dynamic character, with just enough stubbornness to help her stumble into peril, but not so much as to elicit eyerolls. She is fierce and determined, she has regrets and worries. She is slow to trust. I enjoyed her journey and the evolution of her skills and unique magic. Farden was also fairly well established, but he felt a little flatter to me. He is extremely powerful and in a position of total authority so its hard to see much of a character arc for him. This is ok. I get the sense that he is closer to a James Bond type by this point in the story. The Forever King is the first book in this series but there were a number of books with him as main character in the previous series. He fulfilled his role in my opinion though he didn’t stand out. It was Malvus that I felt was a little lacking. The novel’s antagonist was just a bad guy. He was evil without clear motivations. Like he would kill a servant for not cutting the crust off of his sandwich. It made him feel pretty one-dimensional and detracted from my enjoyment of the story as a whole.
The plot of the Forever King is relatively straight forward. It’s a version of your classical fantasy setup: rural teen has life upended, discovers they possess unique power, uses the power to fight evil in the land. The particulars were well done though. I kept turning pages at a good clip, compelled to discover what happened next. Despite this novel’s chonky heft at well over 600 pages, the pacing was very strong. I never felt bogged down. This story is crammed full of action scenes. If you love fantasy action, you need to read this book. Honestly, I don’t usually go for lots of long fight sequences, but the author did a good job keeping them interesting.
I’m a little split on the prose. For the most part I think they were quite good. The story had a distinct voice, a light touch of humor, and did a good job of painting a vivid picture. However, there were a few instances of odd or esoteric word choices, a few stilted sentences that were confusing, and a few similes that felt a bit off.
The Forever King shines in its worldbuilding. I, for one, really enjoy a story with lots of old school fantasy tropes like this. Emaneska feels like a world with depth to it. I’ll say there were a few small instances where I felt like I might be missing something from the previous series, but these were very minor and in all I think Galley handled this remarkably well. I never felt like I was getting a big info dump of all the stuff I missed in the last books, but I never felt lost either. The Written, Emaneska’s top tier mages, were a pretty cool element, as were the dragons and gods and other supernatural creatures. I really enjoyed how much magic suffused this story. A lot of fantasy has a pretty meager dash of magic, which I always find a little disappointing. Not so in this case. Emaneska’s magic weaves through every strand of plot, and character, and worldbuilding.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It nailed a few of my favorite tropes and provided an entertaining, action-packed narrative. The pacing and worldbuilding were both excellent, while characterization and plot were solid if not amazing. It has big battles, potent magic, and mysterious supernatural forces. Fans of classic epic fantasy should definitely try the Forever King.
A solid book that I really enjoyed overall. It has a simple, linear plot with interesting characters. I had a couple of issues with it though:
1. The writing wasn't very...visual. I had a hard time "seeing it" in my head and I usually have no issues with that.
2. The relationship between Farden and Mithrid. It felt like there was not enough bonding time for them to become as close as they turned out to be towards the end.
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator wasn't the best and I had to speed it up in order to make it sound like normal speed.
This was my entrypoint to the series and I really enjoyed jumping into it on this end. I will definitely continue with the series.
1. The writing wasn't very...visual. I had a hard time "seeing it" in my head and I usually have no issues with that.
2. The relationship between Farden and Mithrid. It felt like there was not enough bonding time for them to become as close as they turned out to be towards the end.
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator wasn't the best and I had to speed it up in order to make it sound like normal speed.
This was my entrypoint to the series and I really enjoyed jumping into it on this end. I will definitely continue with the series.
I brought the second book in this series after reading less than fifty pages of this story. The author's writing was very engaging and I enjoyed the time that I spent in the world and with the characters he created. My one main gripe is that the primary antagonist was one dimensional and was a villain simply because he wanted to maintain his power. There was not much depth provided about his motivations, outside of power. Also, Mithrid was so annoying on many occasions. I guess she was a perfectly written teenager. I hope that there is significant character growth for her.
However, to be fair while the The Forever King: Scalussen Chronicles can be read as a standalone series; it is part of a larger world that includes several previous books. So, it is possible that one of my complaints regarding the villain may have been answered in the previous novels.
However, to be fair while the The Forever King: Scalussen Chronicles can be read as a standalone series; it is part of a larger world that includes several previous books. So, it is possible that one of my complaints regarding the villain may have been answered in the previous novels.
3.75/5 stars. This is definitely EPIC fantasy at it's core. This is a big sweeping world with a pretty typical pacing structure of first act (high action), second act (low action), third act (build-up) and then climax. Galley wasn't afraid to step outside the fantasy norms, he came up with his own creatures and lore in a lot of cases which were well explained and slowly introduced. He also played with some typical creatures though like minotaurs and vampyres, which I liked because that meant that not everything was new. The magick system in this book was amazing, and was a riff off an elemental system in some ways, which I like because it grounds you in the familiar while introducing the unique quirks present especially in the cases of The Written and their books.
Now it was clear that this is a sequel series, so it did feel like there was some history and some story that had already been told, but I do believe that you can enter the world of Scalussen from this book and still enjoy it thoroughly.
Now it was clear that this is a sequel series, so it did feel like there was some history and some story that had already been told, but I do believe that you can enter the world of Scalussen from this book and still enjoy it thoroughly.