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A review by stuckinafictionaluniverse
Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes
4.0
4.5. A tiny step from a 5, but it’s not quite there.
Let’s play a game called ’’Which expectation was unmet?’’, a simple one that I just invented.
When I first took a good look at Falling Kingdoms, I was immediately intrigued and said the following:
a) Yay, fantasy! Well, I think it’s safe to say that I’ll end up liking this at the very least. It is one of my favorite genres after all.’’
b) ’’Based on the cover, the will be bloodshed and possibly even magic involved.’’
c)’’Julie Kagawa blurbed it, therefore it will be amazing.’’
d)’’The critics have recommended it to Game of Thrones and Graceling fans. Pfft, I bet they say that about every single fantasy book. It’s probably nothing like that.’’
Guess which statement was wrong?
…I’ll give you a moment to think.
__________
Statement D was wrong; I more than liked it, there was bloodshed and magic, Kagawa’s judgement is trustable, and the book is pitched as the two popular fantasy stories for a reason.
Falling Kingdoms reminds me why I love some good old fantasy. The kind that have character lists and maps at the beginning (Is there anything better than maps of fictional worlds? *dreamy sigh*).
The kind that are well-written, have plenty of action as well as royal drama and intrigues in them.
And it’s so damn good.
Ruled by a merciless bloodthirsty king who holds the kingdom in a tight grip,the people of Limeros, particularly the ones living in the castle, are frightened and must tread carefully around him.
Magnus - the heir.
As the Limerian king’s son, he has been raised and trained to conquer and take after his father. He is a rather unlikeable person with few redeeming qualities. Somehow I managed to appreciate him despite that. He's a multilayered character who is not quite good and not quite bad either. I love seeing all his internal struggles, one of them concerning his complicated and harsh relationship with his father.
The back of the book promises forbidden love. Well, that’s not an exaggeration.
It is forbidden, the feelings Magnus has for his sister Lucia. So very forbidden.
Seeing it from a reader’s perspective, I think the incest storyline was a great way to build tension between them and made Magnus into a more real character. In his cold-hearted and unlikeable behavior, we rarely ever catch a glimpse of someone more sympathetic. His despair over Lucia is crucial for his character, and I’m glad Morgan Rhodes took the opportunity to include the subject.
I’m not going to say much about Lucia, as I think it’s hard to avoid spoilers in that department. Even the synopsis, although one of the better ones I’ve read, reveals a little too much about her.
All you need to know is that she’s Magnus’s sister who has an exceptional gift and a mysterious past.
I hope we’ll see more of her in the next three books and am excited for what’s to come of her character.
Spoiler-filled thoughts on the relationship between the siblings:
The synopsis is partly to blame for it: Lucia, adopted at birth into the royal family, discovers the truth about her past.
I nearly screamed, ’’I bet they’re not related!’’ when I read the line.
Despite the summary, it shouldn’t be that easy to guess one of the major twists.
I almost started expecting them to be related, because that would’ve been a good way to play with the reader’s mind, and unlike what did happen, completely unexpected.
But naturally, we have to keep it a little more PG-13 rated, although it pushes some boundaries with the bloodshed and incest storyline in the first place.
That was the one of the very few problems I had with Falling Kingdoms, and the reason why I couldn’t give it a full 5 stars. I wanted to be shocked by the turn of events, and it didn’t happen. Predictability can completely ruin a book for me. Luckily, this didn’t, just lowered the rating a tiny bit.
Auranos, the safest country in my opinion, is a place very different from Limeros. Here fear isn't a constant feeling etched into the habitants' hearts. The environment is mostly peaceful and a nice change in setting compared to the other kingdoms.
Cleo - the princess. She has to travel through an unknown land to find out more about a long-forgotten magic that will save the people she love.
Cleo is the youngest of the main characters, and incredibly mature for her age. Her stubbornness and determination are my favorite things about her. She grows a lot in this book, and has the potential of becoming a kick-ass heroine.
Paelsia is a land in the shadows where, unlike the other kingdoms, luxury is a thing never to be seen.
Starvation and helplessness are a big part of the people’s lives.
The habitants envy their rich neighbors and a long held grudge eventually boils over.
When a wine seller is murdered by an Auranian lord for ridiculous reasons, an uprising slowly begins.
Led by the wine seller’s son Jonas, the country fights back against the injustice and are fueled by rage and seek revenge. Paelsia is now a force to be reckoned with.
Jonas - the face of the rebellion. His sorrow turns into anger and hatred. It’s no longer a game the country’s deemed to lose. It’s war.
I like how we get to see some of the events through the ’antagonist’s' eyes, although there certainly is more than one of them. All the characters have motives, secrets and a strong will, a need. For love, power, freedom. You name it. The story isn’t all about the world-building and magical elements, it’s about people.
Constrast in landscape, class and characters are some of my favorite things to read about. All three are displayed here and beautifully done so.
We have the privileged princess, the cold-hearted heir and the poor rebel. They are all remarkable characters, and the three points of views improved the story, much to my surprise.
The rating:
I rarely ever give out 5 stars nowadays. A book deserving of that needs have a big emotional impact on me. A novel that will always be memorable, that will get a spot on my favorites shelf.
Falling Kingdoms was so ridiculously close to being just that. But it just isn’t. Something’s missing.
It amazed me, it was wonderful and thrilling. It tried so hard, and came close to succeeding. But it’s not five-star worthy.
The other con I can think of bothers me as much as heaving rain on a day I’d planned on staying inside anyway.
It’s a con, nonetheless, and it’s hidden under the spoiler tags at the beginning of the review where I talk about Magnus and Lucia.
Still, I loved this book. It’s one of my favorites of 2014, and now the third book is one of my most anticipated releases of the year.
Final verdict:
A more than promising start to a quartet with a rich and intricate fantasy world. I must get the sequel!
Recommended for fans of fantasy shows and books such as Game of Thrones, Graceling or really anything from the genre.
Let’s play a game called ’’Which expectation was unmet?’’, a simple one that I just invented.
When I first took a good look at Falling Kingdoms, I was immediately intrigued and said the following:
a) Yay, fantasy! Well, I think it’s safe to say that I’ll end up liking this at the very least. It is one of my favorite genres after all.’’
b) ’’Based on the cover, the will be bloodshed and possibly even magic involved.’’
c)’’Julie Kagawa blurbed it, therefore it will be amazing.’’
d)’’The critics have recommended it to Game of Thrones and Graceling fans. Pfft, I bet they say that about every single fantasy book. It’s probably nothing like that.’’
Guess which statement was wrong?
…I’ll give you a moment to think.
__________
Statement D was wrong; I more than liked it, there was bloodshed and magic, Kagawa’s judgement is trustable, and the book is pitched as the two popular fantasy stories for a reason.
Falling Kingdoms reminds me why I love some good old fantasy. The kind that have character lists and maps at the beginning (Is there anything better than maps of fictional worlds? *dreamy sigh*).
The kind that are well-written, have plenty of action as well as royal drama and intrigues in them.
And it’s so damn good.
Ruled by a merciless bloodthirsty king who holds the kingdom in a tight grip,the people of Limeros, particularly the ones living in the castle, are frightened and must tread carefully around him.
Magnus - the heir.
As the Limerian king’s son, he has been raised and trained to conquer and take after his father. He is a rather unlikeable person with few redeeming qualities. Somehow I managed to appreciate him despite that. He's a multilayered character who is not quite good and not quite bad either. I love seeing all his internal struggles, one of them concerning his complicated and harsh relationship with his father.
The back of the book promises forbidden love. Well, that’s not an exaggeration.
It is forbidden, the feelings Magnus has for his sister Lucia. So very forbidden.
Seeing it from a reader’s perspective, I think the incest storyline was a great way to build tension between them and made Magnus into a more real character. In his cold-hearted and unlikeable behavior, we rarely ever catch a glimpse of someone more sympathetic. His despair over Lucia is crucial for his character, and I’m glad Morgan Rhodes took the opportunity to include the subject.
I’m not going to say much about Lucia, as I think it’s hard to avoid spoilers in that department. Even the synopsis, although one of the better ones I’ve read, reveals a little too much about her.
All you need to know is that she’s Magnus’s sister who has an exceptional gift and a mysterious past.
I hope we’ll see more of her in the next three books and am excited for what’s to come of her character.
Spoiler-filled thoughts on the relationship between the siblings:
Spoiler
Turns out, Lucia is not Magnus’s blood sister… No shit. It was so obvious straight from the beginning, and yet it took half of the book for it to be confirmed.The synopsis is partly to blame for it: Lucia, adopted at birth into the royal family, discovers the truth about her past.
I nearly screamed, ’’I bet they’re not related!’’ when I read the line.
Despite the summary, it shouldn’t be that easy to guess one of the major twists.
I almost started expecting them to be related, because that would’ve been a good way to play with the reader’s mind, and unlike what did happen, completely unexpected.
But naturally, we have to keep it a little more PG-13 rated, although it pushes some boundaries with the bloodshed and incest storyline in the first place.
That was the one of the very few problems I had with Falling Kingdoms, and the reason why I couldn’t give it a full 5 stars. I wanted to be shocked by the turn of events, and it didn’t happen. Predictability can completely ruin a book for me. Luckily, this didn’t, just lowered the rating a tiny bit.
Auranos, the safest country in my opinion, is a place very different from Limeros. Here fear isn't a constant feeling etched into the habitants' hearts. The environment is mostly peaceful and a nice change in setting compared to the other kingdoms.
Cleo - the princess. She has to travel through an unknown land to find out more about a long-forgotten magic that will save the people she love.
Cleo is the youngest of the main characters, and incredibly mature for her age. Her stubbornness and determination are my favorite things about her. She grows a lot in this book, and has the potential of becoming a kick-ass heroine.
Paelsia is a land in the shadows where, unlike the other kingdoms, luxury is a thing never to be seen.
Starvation and helplessness are a big part of the people’s lives.
The habitants envy their rich neighbors and a long held grudge eventually boils over.
When a wine seller is murdered by an Auranian lord for ridiculous reasons, an uprising slowly begins.
Led by the wine seller’s son Jonas, the country fights back against the injustice and are fueled by rage and seek revenge. Paelsia is now a force to be reckoned with.
Jonas - the face of the rebellion. His sorrow turns into anger and hatred. It’s no longer a game the country’s deemed to lose. It’s war.
I like how we get to see some of the events through the ’antagonist’s' eyes, although there certainly is more than one of them. All the characters have motives, secrets and a strong will, a need. For love, power, freedom. You name it. The story isn’t all about the world-building and magical elements, it’s about people.
Constrast in landscape, class and characters are some of my favorite things to read about. All three are displayed here and beautifully done so.
We have the privileged princess, the cold-hearted heir and the poor rebel. They are all remarkable characters, and the three points of views improved the story, much to my surprise.
The rating:
I rarely ever give out 5 stars nowadays. A book deserving of that needs have a big emotional impact on me. A novel that will always be memorable, that will get a spot on my favorites shelf.
Falling Kingdoms was so ridiculously close to being just that. But it just isn’t. Something’s missing.
It amazed me, it was wonderful and thrilling. It tried so hard, and came close to succeeding. But it’s not five-star worthy.
The other con I can think of bothers me as much as heaving rain on a day I’d planned on staying inside anyway.
It’s a con, nonetheless, and it’s hidden under the spoiler tags at the beginning of the review where I talk about Magnus and Lucia.
Still, I loved this book. It’s one of my favorites of 2014, and now the third book is one of my most anticipated releases of the year.
Final verdict:
A more than promising start to a quartet with a rich and intricate fantasy world. I must get the sequel!
Recommended for fans of fantasy shows and books such as Game of Thrones, Graceling or really anything from the genre.