The Ruin of Kings

As a reader who dislikes waiting for stories to be completed, I had decided to pick up Jenn Lyons' A Chorus of Dragons when the last part of the series was published. I prefer my book series long, sprawlingly ambitious, and complete. For me, the first book in the series, The Ruin of Kings - ticked off all these boxes, and a lot more.

Plot

The first of a series of five huge books (each clocking in about 600 pages), The Ruin of Kings is a hot, glorious mess. Set in the fictional empire of Quur, the story takes place in a world rife with politics and magic, with plenty of plotting and backstabbing to top it off. This book is divided into parts and starts with a conversation between the main character, Kihrin, and his jailor, a creature named Talon.

Although it's not clear why Talon is holding him captive, she soon forces her prisoner to recount his story for her so she can record it. In between, she interjects with her own narration of his life (due to reasons I do not want to spoil for you.) Kihrin starts from a point in his life where he was sold into slavery and eventually came into Talon's grasp. On the other hand, Talon prefers to go back further in time, right back to Kihrin's childhood, where everything started. The narration alternates between the two for a major part of the book.

Kihrin's past is rife with murky secrets and shady dealings... which eventually led him into trouble when he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. After discovering his real identity, he soon becomes embroiled in a web of political intrigue and deception which reaches far back into the annals of history.

Quur is a dangerous place to live in. There are demons roaming on the streets, monsters lurking in the seas, and cruel dragons holding prisoners of their own. But worse than these are the monsters that are human. Evil takes many forms in this story, and not all of them are unpleasant to look at.

Except real evil isn't a demon or a rogue wizard. Real evil is an empire like Quur, a society that feeds on its poor and its oppressed like a mother eating her own children. Demons and monsters are obvious; we'll always band together to fight them off. But real evil, insidious evil, is what lets us just walk away from another person's pain and say, well, that's none of my business.

Kihrin soon discovers that he is now a pawn in a game much larger than himself - a game that is tied to the very fate of the world. This world has a bloody history filled with ancient prophecies about mortals, immortals, demons, and witches, all of which are interpreted by different factions and religions in their own ways.

The Ruin of Kings was very hard for me to get into at first. There were just so many different families, creatures, gods, and prophecies that it took a while to finally understand what the characters were even referring to. To top that, there are characters who have similar names, who have lived multiple lives in different people's bodies. That means you can never really be sure who you are talking to. All of this, coupled with extremely tangled family trees, the complex narration jumping to and fro in time, and a general feeling of what-the-hell-is-happening, made it really hard to figure out what was going on in the first few chapters. Honestly, you just have to bear with those chapters to get through to the part where it gets good. Don't make the same mistake as me: use the glossary at the back. Take notes if you have to. This book rewards careful reading, but you'll have to put in the effort.

About a third into the book, I finally reached the point where I could not put it down. Once it finds its rhythm, it becomes a page-turner not afraid to subvert tropes. There are several moments where the story takes turns you just didn't see coming. This results in a delicious experience that takes its time to develop into an epic conflict.

Characters

Kihrin meets a host of fascinating characters throughout the story - a sea witch with a bad temper, a demon with a flair for colorful vocabulary, and goddesses who like to move mortals around like pawns in a game of chess. Everybody wants something - and they are often different things. The various characters have their own agendas to fulfill and motivations to fuel them, lingering between various shades of black and white. Lyons does an excellent job of making these characters feel real to get us invested in their stories and relationships.

Kihrin

Kihrin is an extremely flawed protagonist who struggles with his own identity and the weight of his destiny. He struggles to do the right thing while balancing the darker streak in him. At the same time, he's also witty and clever enough to think on his feet, making for a complex character that has you rooting for him despite all the mistakes he makes.

"I don't want to be a pawn," I said.

"Good. This is a war, not chess."

Worldbuilding

The world-building in this book is very detailed and intricate. The world is vast and has multiple kingdoms and religions, all with their own cultures and beliefs. Although we only visit a few of them at the moment, I have a feeling we'll see a lot more of them in the future. Plus, the magic system has clear and well-defined rules, often intertwining with politics in strange and unexpected ways. Coupled with a host of gods, demons, wizards and dragons, it makes for lore that is rich and fun to sink your teeth into.

"Sooner or later, everything falls: waves, empires, races, even gods."

Clearly, a lot of time was spent on creating the mythology of Quur and it shows. However, it does tend to be a little messy and overwhelming at times. A lot of the names are too similar and there were chapters where I found myself going back to a previous part to look up information and connect the dots.

Writing Style

For me, the writing style was the weakest part of this book. Although the prose is engaging and the dialogue is witty, the way it is presented make it hard to get into initially. There were multiple info dumps in places, and the constant flow of new information feels overwhelming at times. With way too many plot threads, the shifting timelines, convoluted history, and magic dynamics make it harder to keep track of the story. It does have a payoff but requires a lot of effort on the reader's part initially.

There were too many points where I thought of giving up. I wish that the story had followed a linear or a simpler narrative format to draw readers in, at least for the first part - when they are still deciding whether to continue with the rest of the series.

In Conclusion

Ultimately, The Ruin of Kings is a story about the blurred lines between black and white, about destiny and identity. It weaves together an impressive conclusion enriched by its detailed world-building, grey characters, and solid magic system. This is something that would make an excellent reread once you know how it ends - there are so many nuanced details that are very easy to miss on a first read.

For all its strengths, the story still has its issues, marred by the narrative structure and expository style, which seems too overwhelming to properly enjoy for the first half. However, continuing with it is a rewarding experience. This story will delight fans of G.R.R.M, Robert Jordan, and Brandon Sanderson, who like their tales epically ambitious and filled with adventure and danger.

Although it took quite a while to read this huge book, I kept thinking about it long after turning the last page. I thought I would need a bit of a break with a shorter story before starting the next book, but I couldn't follow through on that and started the next part the very same day :) stay tuned for that next week!