I wanted to like Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes more than I did. I liked it, but didn't love it. Some reviewers on Goodreads have suggested that maybe it was a problem with using the high fantasy genre for a YA book. And I have to say I'm not a high fantasy fan, although I have finally downloaded the first Game of Thrones book as an audiobook and will give it a try. And I don't want to overstate the negative because this was a masterfully written book brimming with terrific characterization and intrigue. But for me the entire book seemed like back-story for the second (forthcoming) book, Rebel Spring. It looked very much like Rhodes felt she needed (and maybe she did) an entire book to get her chess pieces into place for what is sure to be a detailed action/adventure/intrigue-ridden second book. So in many ways there was a lot of explanation and throat-clearing in this first installment even though it was unquestionably beautifully written.
The book follows the stories of four main characters - a prince, two princesses, and a commoner - spread amongst three kingdoms. And let's face it - it's there in the title. One or more kingdoms WILL fall. But most of this is set-up for the next part of the story where the search for magical items and witchcraft is on. The creation of the mythical lands, their politics and the concerns of their royalty and citizens is beautifully crafted here. But in some cases to the detriment of the characterization. Magnus, in particular (the prince who carries one of the main storylines) is an incredibly complex character fighting to find his true nature and torn between idealism and love on the one hand and his father's penchant for hate and naked ambition on the other. I would have liked to see more depth in this character as I felt the issues he dealt with were somewhat repetitious. I had a similar criticism, although to a slightly lesser extent, with one of the princesses (Cleo). She gets away with being the bratty second daughter of the king (so not quite heir-to-the-throne) at the beginning of the story and has to grow into herself by the end of the story so she will definitely be a character to be reckoned with in the next book. But again I would have liked to see more depth in her character in this book. She goes through a LOT of anguish in this book but I never felt it as deeply as I would have liked to. And my hat is off to Rhodes for not being afraid to kill of her characters. There's certainly a lot of coping with death in this book.
One word about the audiobook - because I did cheat and listen to this one on audiobook - the narration here by Fred Berman is very strong. He creates the different characters and voices beautifully although sometimes he made the royals sound a little too "common". But he slipped between accents and made the dialogue come alive very expertly.
Overall despite my nitpickiness over character and genre I would recommend this book and will read the next book (or at least listen to it on audiobook). It's definitely a series to watch out for.
The book follows the stories of four main characters - a prince, two princesses, and a commoner - spread amongst three kingdoms. And let's face it - it's there in the title. One or more kingdoms WILL fall. But most of this is set-up for the next part of the story where the search for magical items and witchcraft is on. The creation of the mythical lands, their politics and the concerns of their royalty and citizens is beautifully crafted here. But in some cases to the detriment of the characterization. Magnus, in particular (the prince who carries one of the main storylines) is an incredibly complex character fighting to find his true nature and torn between idealism and love on the one hand and his father's penchant for hate and naked ambition on the other. I would have liked to see more depth in this character as I felt the issues he dealt with were somewhat repetitious. I had a similar criticism, although to a slightly lesser extent, with one of the princesses (Cleo). She gets away with being the bratty second daughter of the king (so not quite heir-to-the-throne) at the beginning of the story and has to grow into herself by the end of the story so she will definitely be a character to be reckoned with in the next book. But again I would have liked to see more depth in her character in this book. She goes through a LOT of anguish in this book but I never felt it as deeply as I would have liked to. And my hat is off to Rhodes for not being afraid to kill of her characters. There's certainly a lot of coping with death in this book.
One word about the audiobook - because I did cheat and listen to this one on audiobook - the narration here by Fred Berman is very strong. He creates the different characters and voices beautifully although sometimes he made the royals sound a little too "common". But he slipped between accents and made the dialogue come alive very expertly.
Overall despite my nitpickiness over character and genre I would recommend this book and will read the next book (or at least listen to it on audiobook). It's definitely a series to watch out for.
RSS Feed