You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
quazar 's review for:
The Ruin of Kings
by Jenn Lyons
I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. This is the best book I have ever read. Forget 'best fantasy book' just--- just best book. End of.
I know that many criticise this book for the reason that it has a non-linear way of telling the story, but I think it adds to the mystery of the opening lines and the vaguely displayed data - While I was reading it, I found my ideas of the characters changing as the book progressed and more information was revealed. The whole story telling dynamic between the main character Kihrin and his cellholder Talon is a very interesting and also original in my opinion way of telling the story. The narrator, Thurvishar, was a character I found myself very invested in and I looked forward to reading his comments on the narrative, while he was also developed in the story itself. I found the attempts at comedy convincing and fun, and they made me like this character more.
As for the main character, the thematic of a character who is not really that powerful on his own but many people want him under their control because he is in possession of a powerful artifact was also interesting - Overall, the displays of power are limited to the ending of the story and, in part, I was pleased by this because it made getting there all the more worthwhile.
The lack of romance was appreciated. I feel like many fantasy stories lean a lot towards romance and while it's not necessarily a bad thing and some stories benefit from it, Ruin of Kings would have not found much success focusing too much on Romance when so much conflict and so much chaos was present and occuring at the same time. That being said, I like reading romance and I'm open to it as the series continues :D
In terms of lore, I was so happy to see a glossary of terms rather than have the narrator spill tons of trivia for extended periods of time to delay the story - While the narrator does at times mention some it's limited to a few lines and it's usually with a bit of pizzazz of characterisation and at times I'd go as far as to say it deepens the character (as we get to see his views and at times have his own backstory exposed, although it's mere subtext.) The idea of the royal families was clear and nicely developed in the story - The family that the main character is from makes a huge twist on the idea of healers, making them ruthless and cold people instead for the most part. The gods/goddesses and the history of the Known World was very appealing and interesting to me and I found myself wanting to know more.
In conclusion, although the plotline was messy, I enjoyed order within the chaos, and I found myself interested in most if not all of the characters equally. The conclusion of the book leaves a nice opening for more to ocurr, but if you don't want to commit, I think you can comfortably read Ruin of Kings and not move on to The Name of All Things in peace.
The low ratings in this book are practically bullshit, this book is incredibly good in so many ways and it excels at characters, story, lore and the way the story is told. Why the hell does ACOMAF have 4.80* and TROK 3.80*? Guess some things don't make sense. I was in love with this book, its writing style, its comedy paired with serious topics and so much more. The most perfect book I think I'll ever read.
[Note for me, I read this last year during fall I think, but I forgot exactly when. Maybe it was winter. Fuck it idk. I just want to put a date]
5 [ deserved ] stars.
I know that many criticise this book for the reason that it has a non-linear way of telling the story, but I think it adds to the mystery of the opening lines and the vaguely displayed data - While I was reading it, I found my ideas of the characters changing as the book progressed and more information was revealed. The whole story telling dynamic between the main character Kihrin and his cellholder Talon is a very interesting and also original in my opinion way of telling the story. The narrator, Thurvishar, was a character I found myself very invested in and I looked forward to reading his comments on the narrative, while he was also developed in the story itself. I found the attempts at comedy convincing and fun, and they made me like this character more.
As for the main character, the thematic of a character who is not really that powerful on his own but many people want him under their control because he is in possession of a powerful artifact was also interesting - Overall, the displays of power are limited to the ending of the story and, in part, I was pleased by this because it made getting there all the more worthwhile.
The lack of romance was appreciated. I feel like many fantasy stories lean a lot towards romance and while it's not necessarily a bad thing and some stories benefit from it, Ruin of Kings would have not found much success focusing too much on Romance when so much conflict and so much chaos was present and occuring at the same time. That being said, I like reading romance and I'm open to it as the series continues :D
In terms of lore, I was so happy to see a glossary of terms rather than have the narrator spill tons of trivia for extended periods of time to delay the story - While the narrator does at times mention some it's limited to a few lines and it's usually with a bit of pizzazz of characterisation and at times I'd go as far as to say it deepens the character (as we get to see his views and at times have his own backstory exposed, although it's mere subtext.) The idea of the royal families was clear and nicely developed in the story - The family that the main character is from makes a huge twist on the idea of healers, making them ruthless and cold people instead for the most part. The gods/goddesses and the history of the Known World was very appealing and interesting to me and I found myself wanting to know more.
In conclusion, although the plotline was messy, I enjoyed order within the chaos, and I found myself interested in most if not all of the characters equally. The conclusion of the book leaves a nice opening for more to ocurr, but if you don't want to commit, I think you can comfortably read Ruin of Kings and not move on to The Name of All Things in peace.
The low ratings in this book are practically bullshit, this book is incredibly good in so many ways and it excels at characters, story, lore and the way the story is told. Why the hell does ACOMAF have 4.80* and TROK 3.80*? Guess some things don't make sense. I was in love with this book, its writing style, its comedy paired with serious topics and so much more. The most perfect book I think I'll ever read.
[Note for me, I read this last year during fall I think, but I forgot exactly when. Maybe it was winter. Fuck it idk. I just want to put a date]
5 [ deserved ] stars.