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kbc1239's review against another edition
3.0
The story started strong but seemed to lose it way. Never really got invested in the characters. There were too many flashbacks, many of which seemed to have not bearing on the story.
gabbyyyyy's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
tokugawaa's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
willrefuge's review against another edition
5.0
Exactly as I remembered it.
Sometimes, when you read a book for the second time, impressions can change. Maybe something you remembered as beautiful has now faded to grey, or perhaps a chapter that was a bore before can now be appreciated anew. Twelve Kings is one of those books that I loved on my first time through, and then again on the second. Possibly even more the second time around.
I've only read a couple other of Beaulieu's books, including the first of his Lays books, a novel that I had to flog through, constantly trying to refocus my attention. In the end I believe I rated it as a three star read: okay, but not great. Worth the time, but not as much as something else. With Twelve Kings, I have no such qualms. The spacing, the strength of the plot, the pace of the plot--all of which I found problematic in The Winds of Khalakovo--were exceptional in Twelve Kings. The plot did not rush to fruition, instead taking us on a well told and richly illustrated journey through the highly detailed streets of Sharakai. The forays into the surrounding desert, though brief, helped take away from the dense, constraining feel of the city, vast dunes of open sand to be traversed by ship or skimmer, not much of note taking place while traveling from one locale to the next.
Despite its less than rousing plot, Khalakovo is bolstered by the strength of its characters, both female and male. Twelve Kings continues this tradition, with a small but vivid set of characters; three men, one woman. Despite the disparity, however, Çeda--the main POV character in Twelve Kings--boasts nearly two-to-one page time over the collective three men. Both in chapters told in the present and those torn from her past, we are presented with a strong, independent female lead, who at the same time feels human, suffering from both crippling fear and debilitating grief throughout the tale. There are no superheroes in this book, only men (like 'mankind' kind of men).
The worldbuilding, as I'll get into more in depth later (umm hopefully), is rich and detailed, painting a vivid picture that I had no trouble wandering through in my mind as I followed Çeda through the city. Hmmm maybe I should reword that sometime. Uh, it's good. Really good.
The plot, neither too simple nor complex, reaches a pinnacle at the end of Twelve Kings, but is in no way complete, calling us to continue the adventure in With Blood Upon the Sand, Beaulieu's next offering.
[More later]
Lovely, detailed world. Deep, human characters. Can't wait for number two.
5/5 stars.
One of my favorite book ever, up there with Blood Song.
Sometimes, when you read a book for the second time, impressions can change. Maybe something you remembered as beautiful has now faded to grey, or perhaps a chapter that was a bore before can now be appreciated anew. Twelve Kings is one of those books that I loved on my first time through, and then again on the second. Possibly even more the second time around.
I've only read a couple other of Beaulieu's books, including the first of his Lays books, a novel that I had to flog through, constantly trying to refocus my attention. In the end I believe I rated it as a three star read: okay, but not great. Worth the time, but not as much as something else. With Twelve Kings, I have no such qualms. The spacing, the strength of the plot, the pace of the plot--all of which I found problematic in The Winds of Khalakovo--were exceptional in Twelve Kings. The plot did not rush to fruition, instead taking us on a well told and richly illustrated journey through the highly detailed streets of Sharakai. The forays into the surrounding desert, though brief, helped take away from the dense, constraining feel of the city, vast dunes of open sand to be traversed by ship or skimmer, not much of note taking place while traveling from one locale to the next.
Despite its less than rousing plot, Khalakovo is bolstered by the strength of its characters, both female and male. Twelve Kings continues this tradition, with a small but vivid set of characters; three men, one woman. Despite the disparity, however, Çeda--the main POV character in Twelve Kings--boasts nearly two-to-one page time over the collective three men. Both in chapters told in the present and those torn from her past, we are presented with a strong, independent female lead, who at the same time feels human, suffering from both crippling fear and debilitating grief throughout the tale. There are no superheroes in this book, only men (like 'mankind' kind of men).
The worldbuilding, as I'll get into more in depth later (umm hopefully), is rich and detailed, painting a vivid picture that I had no trouble wandering through in my mind as I followed Çeda through the city. Hmmm maybe I should reword that sometime. Uh, it's good. Really good.
The plot, neither too simple nor complex, reaches a pinnacle at the end of Twelve Kings, but is in no way complete, calling us to continue the adventure in With Blood Upon the Sand, Beaulieu's next offering.
[More later]
Lovely, detailed world. Deep, human characters. Can't wait for number two.
5/5 stars.
One of my favorite book ever, up there with Blood Song.
stelhan's review against another edition
4.0
Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant. I enjoyed this SO much.
paigeturner04's review against another edition
1.0
DNF %2.4
I liked the first chapter, the book showed a lot of promise.
But, when Osman came to visit Çeda. They started striping, that was VERY unwanted. Leading up to that the interactions with each other where rather unnerving, they both seemed really creepy towards each other. And not only was the reader just introduced into this world, we dont know this dude, we dont know ANYTHING about him, her or this world, but apparently THAT is so important that it comes over all other aspects.
I dislike reading about anything so invasive, I dont want to know about that shit! It's just disturbing.
But it was even worse to see it so soon into a book, this is to me quite sickening.
I really didn't like the fact that this is written by a man, and the main character is a young woman. Considering what was in the %2 I read a rather disturbed man at that, why someone would want to write like that is beyond me.
I wanted to know about the world, the magic system, the characters, the culture, the political tension, anything that is there to enrich this world, not some sick pervert crap.
This will be the last book written by Mr Beaulieu I will ever read.
I don't mean to offend anyone with my honest review
I liked the first chapter, the book showed a lot of promise.
But, when Osman came to visit Çeda. They started striping, that was VERY unwanted. Leading up to that the interactions with each other where rather unnerving, they both seemed really creepy towards each other. And not only was the reader just introduced into this world, we dont know this dude, we dont know ANYTHING about him, her or this world, but apparently THAT is so important that it comes over all other aspects.
I dislike reading about anything so invasive, I dont want to know about that shit! It's just disturbing.
But it was even worse to see it so soon into a book, this is to me quite sickening.
I really didn't like the fact that this is written by a man, and the main character is a young woman. Considering what was in the %2 I read a rather disturbed man at that, why someone would want to write like that is beyond me.
I wanted to know about the world, the magic system, the characters, the culture, the political tension, anything that is there to enrich this world, not some sick pervert crap.
This will be the last book written by Mr Beaulieu I will ever read.
I don't mean to offend anyone with my honest review
peterkeep's review against another edition
4.0
I won this along with the prequel novella, [b: Of Sand And Malice Made|28169745|Of Sand and Malice Made (The Song of the Shattered Sands, #0.5)|Bradley P. Beaulieu|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1455322351s/28169745.jpg|48184296], in a giveaway a while ago. I dipped my toes into the series by reading the novella, and got excited to read the main series. Well, here we are.
Twelve Kings in Sharakhai met and exceeded all of my expectations.
I liked the novella for the desert folklore and mythology. That aspect takes a bigger role here.
I liked the novella for the vivid world. Twelve Kings is more impressive and more immersive.
All in all it's a really solid book that has some faults, but has way more positives than negatives. It's not near as fast-paced as the novella (which is fine!), and there were some times where the plot seemed to drag on a bit. There were some times where the author seemed a bit overly repetitive. There were times when I felt a bit lost of the importance of certain events and characters, some of that lost in the new terminology introduced. But I still enjoyed it. At its worst, I was happy reading it.
At its best, though, it was REALLY great. There's a good cast of characters all with different motivations: Çeda and Emre felt authentic in their friendship and their goals, and all of the "side characters" fit nicely into the story. There was mythology, blood magic, endless sand dunes, and a monarchy structure that was flushed out in detail with good reason.
I have one small question that wasn't clear to me near the ending. I'll spoiler tag it. If you want to answer in the comments, spoiler tag it! Or just message me to help me clear it up.
Twelve Kings in Sharakhai met and exceeded all of my expectations.
I liked the novella for the desert folklore and mythology. That aspect takes a bigger role here.
I liked the novella for the vivid world. Twelve Kings is more impressive and more immersive.
All in all it's a really solid book that has some faults, but has way more positives than negatives. It's not near as fast-paced as the novella (which is fine!), and there were some times where the plot seemed to drag on a bit. There were some times where the author seemed a bit overly repetitive. There were times when I felt a bit lost of the importance of certain events and characters, some of that lost in the new terminology introduced. But I still enjoyed it. At its worst, I was happy reading it.
At its best, though, it was REALLY great. There's a good cast of characters all with different motivations: Çeda and Emre felt authentic in their friendship and their goals, and all of the "side characters" fit nicely into the story. There was mythology, blood magic, endless sand dunes, and a monarchy structure that was flushed out in detail with good reason.
I have one small question that wasn't clear to me near the ending. I'll spoiler tag it. If you want to answer in the comments, spoiler tag it! Or just message me to help me clear it up.
Spoiler
At the end, when Çeda kills King Külaşan and then Jalize (the maiden) why does the king say "you saved me" to her? Obviously it works out for her, but what's going on there? Was it something to do with the asirim overpowering him? Was he just confused in his death? I feel like I'm missing something here.saadiyya_reads786's review against another edition
5.0
Intricate plot and with a strong female lead. Read it within 3 days.
pauline_mad's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0