The Forsaken King

As a big fan of R.J. Barker's Bone Ship trilogy, I was excited to sink my teeth into his follow-up series. Here he trades guillame for gasmaw, shipwife for skyraft, and hag for hetton. I was impressed by Barker's ability to once again conjure up an entirely new world filled with distinct and fascinating flora and fauna. 

We're dropped directly into this fully-formed world and left to puzzle out what is going on with Cahan, our main character with a dark and mysterious past. The subsequent events are mostly a means to unravel Cahan's background and set up how he's positioned to reshape the world of Crua.

The action and buildup are satisfying, but the quieter moments are not as engaging and the story beats sometimes feel repetitive. That said, the ingredients are definitely here for a compelling series. With an opportunity to build upon the groundwork laid down in the book, I'm very intrigued to see where the next books will venture.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Anything with a sentient forest and I'm SOLD

I do believe I would have enjoyed this more if I had physically read it, but it was my mood and tired brain that effected my audiobook experience.

That said it was such a good book.

I loved all of the characters even those we are meant to hate. The small character moments were so sweet and loved reading about them. But it is the magic system and the world that sold me on this book. it was so interesting to read about that I kept wanting more.

Also, the sentient forest!
Think trees so tall you can't see the top and still the tree will be taller than you think.

The book itself took some time to get into but once I got into it, I couldn't put it down. The ending was well worth the time it took me to get into this book.

R J Barker has a way with words. Highly recommend this book.