Sunday, May 19, 2019

The Ruin of Kings: By Jenn Lyons


THE RUIN OF KINGS


SUMMARY

Kihrin grew up in the slums of Quur, a thief and a minstrel's son raised on tales of long-lost princes and magnificent quests. When he is claimed against his will as the missing son of a treasonous prince, Kihrin finds himself at the mercy of his new family's ruthless power plays and political ambitions.

Practically a prisoner, Kihrin discovers that being a long-lost prince is nothing like what the storybooks promised. The storybooks have lied about a lot of other things, too: dragons, demons, gods, prophecies, and how the hero always wins.

Then again, maybe he isn't the hero after all. For Kihrin is not destined to save the world.

He's destined to destroy it.

REVIEW

I really loved The Ruin of Kings, the characters are likable, the magic interesting, and the story engaging, the but while all of those things are good, they are not the main reason fans of fantasy should read The Ruin of Kings.

What I mean by this is I don’t know if I’ve read a book like The Ruin of Kings before. The way it was written is absolutely remarkable. Not only do you have an unreliable narrator because of nature/personality of the person speaking (he is after all a thief and a liar who is telling a story to his captor under duress) but the unreliability of the narration is exasperated by the shifts in time in the actual story itself.

What I mean by this is the narration is split between two different narrators discussing different time periods of the same story. One is from the point of view of the Kihrin, our thief/captured protagonist, and the other is from his murderous shape shifting captor, Talon, who tells the story from the points of view of the people she has eaten (yes eaten, so anytime you get a new person’s POV you know that person is not going to make it). These shifts in time between the different storytellers transform the natural flow of this story from that of a typical rags to riches story into a rags to riches/rise to power/end of the world ect.. story (aka a much more complex story that would normally evolve three books into a series instead of the first in the series). Not only that but by skipping many of the essential details between the timelines, Lyons improve upon the overall mystery surrounding Kihrin, keeping the reader guessing until even after the last pages, including myself, I personally I can’t wait to read the next book in the series, The Name of All Things.

Of course, the only downside to these time jumps in the story is that some readers might feel somewhat lost in the middle of the story, but if these readers keep going then they are sure to enjoy the final payoff.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed The Ruin of Kings. It was engaging, had likable characters, and was written with a fascinating style, and I personally can’t wait for the next book in the series. I highly recommend.

INFO

Publisher: Tor Books

Published: February 5, 2019

Price: $24.99

Link to Buy: https://www.amazon.com/Ruin-Kings-Chorus-Dragons-Book-ebook/dp/B07C75P1R6/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=jenn+lyons&qid=1557887697&s=gateway&sr=8-4
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