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feelinsoso 's review for:
The Golden Dynasty
by Kristen Ashley
Entertaining, but definitely a low 3 stars for me. I do love the war camp setting, the nomadic/warrior tribe environment and characters, and the author made an effort to create a language, which gives the story a realistic colour that I appreciated. However, the world building was a little on the weak side for me, and the main character, Circe, was really, really annoying. I understand that the initial trope introducing Circe into this world, i.e. her being chased, captured, and raped before being heralded as Queen of the Korwahk by the MMC, who is of course King, will always be difficult to explain away down the line, however you phrase it in the books. However, the way Circe comes to term with her situation is downright ridiculous - it all comes down to the "kickass" clothes, her hot husband, and her "girls", or later on her "posse". That annoyed me to no end. She also keeps referring to her husband (and his entire people, by inference) as a "savage brute" - not sure that is something I would use to describe a loved one.
The plot is very, very simple and predictable. That being said, I did have a good time reading about the Korwahk and this new world, the language, and traditions. That's what I prefer in this type of book - seeing an entirely new and foreign world through the eyes of someone who could, in theory, be me.
As I said after reading book 1 (which I really disliked), the ellipses are also something I could have done without. I still think that those are lazy tools to build relationships between characters.
If you are into the war camp setting and character dynamics (i.e. the radical cultural "clash"), I would 100% recommend reading other examples, such as the wonderful [b:Warprize|78070|Warprize (Chronicles of the Warlands, #1)|Elizabeth Vaughan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1312035638l/78070._SY75_.jpg|2114760], or even Zoey Draven's [b:Taken by the Horde King|215086143|Taken by the Horde King (Horde Kings of Dakkar, #5)|Zoey Draven|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1718983147l/215086143._SY75_.jpg|94985215] (the whole Horde Kings of Dakkar series is fantastic), or Ursa Dax's [b:Alien God|195398836|Alien God (Brides of the Stone Sky Gods #1)|Ursa Dax|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1690853113l/195398836._SY75_.jpg|197015456]. I think those have great world building, and handle the collision between an outsider FMC and a "wilder", warrior society with greater awareness and delicacy.
The plot is very, very simple and predictable. That being said, I did have a good time reading about the Korwahk and this new world, the language, and traditions. That's what I prefer in this type of book - seeing an entirely new and foreign world through the eyes of someone who could, in theory, be me.
As I said after reading book 1 (which I really disliked), the ellipses are also something I could have done without. I still think that those are lazy tools to build relationships between characters.
If you are into the war camp setting and character dynamics (i.e. the radical cultural "clash"), I would 100% recommend reading other examples, such as the wonderful [b:Warprize|78070|Warprize (Chronicles of the Warlands, #1)|Elizabeth Vaughan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1312035638l/78070._SY75_.jpg|2114760], or even Zoey Draven's [b:Taken by the Horde King|215086143|Taken by the Horde King (Horde Kings of Dakkar, #5)|Zoey Draven|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1718983147l/215086143._SY75_.jpg|94985215] (the whole Horde Kings of Dakkar series is fantastic), or Ursa Dax's [b:Alien God|195398836|Alien God (Brides of the Stone Sky Gods #1)|Ursa Dax|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1690853113l/195398836._SY75_.jpg|197015456]. I think those have great world building, and handle the collision between an outsider FMC and a "wilder", warrior society with greater awareness and delicacy.