The Ruin of Kings
Ratings50
Average rating3.7
"Everything epic fantasy should be: rich, cruel, gorgeous, brilliant, enthralling and deeply, deeply satisfying. I loved it."—Lev Grossman, author of The Magicians When destiny calls, there's no fighting back. 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. Jenn Lyons begins the Chorus of Dragons series with The Ruin of Kings, an epic fantasy novel about a man who discovers his fate is tied to the future of an empire.
Series
Featured Series
4 primary books#1 in A Chorus of Dragons
A Chorus of Dragons is a 4-book series with 4 primary works first released in 2019 with contributions by Jenn Lyons.
Reviews
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Epic, multibook fantasy seems a lot less common these days, but Jenn Lyon's A Chorus of Dragons is an intriguing new entry into this niche subgenre. The Ruin of Kings is an impressive setup. Told through two narrators of questionable reliability an impressive amount of world building and character development is achieved. We have some dubious prophecy, gods walking around as men and a deep history of conflict and conquest across multiple species. There is plenty to keep a fantasy nut interested!
Even though we have two narrators, the story follows a single character (one of the narrators) and is told from their perspective or from the jailor's perspective in alternating chapters, with their story tending to be more current compared to the jailor's telling of the older parts of their history. With roots in both the criminal underworld and the ruling upper classes we have an insight into all parts of the society we are witness to.
This was a fun read - plenty of swashbuckling action, myth building and general epicness. Whilst it falls into a few tropes in places, these do not feel to tired and the general sense of story is carried impressively through the alternating story telling. The voice of the narrators is clear enough too.
An impressive start to what is slated to be a 5 book arc. I look forward to seeing where this one goes!
I think this might have been excellent if I'd read it on paper. As an audiobook, I was just lost. I couldn't keep track of who was who under the changing names. :(
