Falling
Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes is the first book in a series that started in
2012. This complicated fantasy novel reads like a lighter version of Game of
Thrones at times.
There
are three lands that are close together and all suffering due to a loss of
magic in their world. There is “Auranos,” ruled by King Corvin, where Princes
Cleo is our point of view character. This kingdom is ruled fairly and is
prospering while the more militant “Limeros” ruled by King Gaius, (also known
as the King of Blood and so very obviously not a good guy) also prospers
despite being ruled by an iron fist. The point of view characters here are the King’s
son, Prince Magnus and his daughter, Lucia. Finally, the third kingdom is “Paelsia”
ruled by Chief Nasillua who is an alleged wizard. This is a poor kingdom that is
suffering and trying to survive off of trade from magic infused grapes to
create wine. The point of view character for this kingdom is Jonas the son of a
wine seller who wishes to change things for the better in his kingdom.
To talk much about the plot of this book would spoil it since
there are various twists and turns that are not discussed in the book
description. The world building in this book is fantastic with each kingdom
being very different yet connected in interesting ways. There are characters
from every point on the spectrum of good and evil.
One of
the more controversial characters for anyone reading this book was also one of
my most favorite, Prince Magnus. At times his actions were straight up
heartless and then within a page in the same chapter he would be very caring. He
reminded me of a better Jamie Lannister at times. He is a man at war with
himself. He could be a very good man or he could be a very bad man. Right now
he is somewhere in between with his morality in the balance as the book goes
on. Will he become like his Father, King Gaius, or will he chose a different
path?
Even the characters that are good are often borderline at best and
sometimes, rather evil. For example, Princess Cleo and several of her friends
do questionable, if not straight up evil things. There are shades of
nuance to all the characters, but even the good ones have some significant
issues going on making them far less than perfect.
The
battles in this book are violent and realistic unlike many fantasy series.
Being on the side of good does not exempt one from death. Surviving much of the
book does not exempt one from death. Having an interesting background does not
exempt one from death. People die and not just the evil people.
One of
the neater parts of the book was how the author depicted the same event from
the different perspectives. Each side thinks the other side is totally evil,
but things are more complicated than they appear. While there are good guys, a
lot of the bad guys have their reasons for what they do and their reasons do
make sense.
I liked this book and I look forward to the next book in the series,
Rebel
Spring.
Falling Kingdoms
Morgan Rhodes
Razor Bill (imprint of Penguin Publishing Group)
2012
ISBN# 978-1-59514-585-7
Paperback (also available in hardback, eBook, and audio formats)
448 Pages (423 Pages -- additional pages are a preview of Rebel
Spring)
$10.99
Book
supplied by the good folks of the Dallas Public Library System.
Scott
A. Tipple ©2019
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