Legacy of Kings (Blood of Gods and Royals #1) by Eleanor Herman
Published: August 18th 2015 by Harlequin Teen
Genre: young adult, historical fiction, fantasy
Goodreads summary: Imagine a time when the gods turn a blind eye to the agony of men, when the last of the hellions roam the plains and evil stirs beyond the edges of the map. A time when cities burn, and in their ashes, empires rise.
Alexander, Macedonia’s sixteen-year-old heir, is on the brink of discovering his fated role in conquering the known world but finds himself drawn to a newcomer…
Katerina must navigate the dark secrets of court life while hiding her own mission: kill the Queen. But she doesn’t account for her first love…
Jacob will go to unthinkable lengths to win Katerina, even if it means having to compete for her heart with Hephaestion, a murderer sheltered by the prince.
And far across the sea, Zofia, a Persian princess and Alexander’s unmet betrothed, wants to alter her destiny by seeking the famed and deadly Spirit Eaters.
Weaving fantasy with the shocking details of real history, New York Times bestselling author of Sex with Kings Eleanor Herman reimagines the greatest emperor the world has ever known, Alexander the Great, in the first book of the Blood of Gods and Royals series.
REVIEW
When I first heard about this book, I was
definitely intrigued, because of the time period it was set in. In YA
historical fiction, we mostly have novels set in the 19th century,
sometimes 18th century, but let’s be real: that’s pretty much it. So
of course, being this huge history nerd, every time I see a book set before
those time periods, I add it to my TBR (even though they’re not always great,
like Into the Dim *sobs*).
Because Legacy
of Kings was written by a historian, the world was totally accurate, and I
actually could grasp how people had lived during this time period. There were
also so many myths the author mentioned, that intertwined with the story
perfectly. Moreover, the fantasy aspect of the novel also depended upon the
historical setting, because it was about the gods, the mythological creatures
and so on. However, be warned that in this first book, we don’t see that much of the fantasy aspect, but it’s
definitely introduced and we’ll get more of it in Empire of Dust.
This book had seven points of view, which was
definitely too much. It actually took me quite some time to get
through the first seventy pages or so, because each chapter introduced a point
of view. I quickly adapt though, but at times some points of view felt a bit unnecessary.
It didn’t help me to connect with some characters, as they were more secondary
than anything. I particularly struggled with Zo, because she was so far from
the action (but I’m sure it’ll be better in the next book!) and Jacob, because
he was so self-centred, and the
author kind of forgot his point of view at the end of the book, haha.
Nevertheless, all of these points of view helped to understand the bigger
picture and I liked that.
Legacy of Kings definitely felt like the first book
in a series, because it was introducing so many aspects, the world, the
characters, but also multiple subplots. It definitely set up to be an amazing
series and it showed that so many things will happen in the latter books, but
as a standalone, I didn’t feel like I had enough closure, because it was an
introduction. I still liked it though, because I was invested in most of the
storylines and it got me totally intrigued. But I’ve seen it bothered many readers
and I can understand why.
I was really engrossed into the story during
almost the whole book and am excited for the next one. However, I was a little
disappointed because I had guessed the final plot twist early on… I think that
plot-wise, it was heavy, because there was so much going on, for seven characters. I don’t think I would
advise you to start fantasy with this one, even though I loved it. This novel
was also quite dark, which I liked, because it wasn’t sugar-coating anything.
Eleanor Herman chose to have so many strong
female characters, which I was so excited about, because it’s the Antiquity! I
don’t mean I like all of them, but
they were all so interesting. Indeed, the author wrote realistic characters,
who all had their own agendas, even if it made them flawed, like Olympias, who
was more on the villainous side, or Cynane, a morally grey princess. Moreover,
can we talk about how Olympias has snakes everywhere and I’m scared to death of
snakes?? I will never go near this woman, seriously. I would have liked to have
more of Alexander’s point of view, because the book was supposed to be about
him, but it was more about Kat, even though I liked her.
I wasn’t a huge fan of the dynamics between the
characters, sadly. In the first chapter, the author hinted something was going
on between Kat and Jacob, but I didn’t like how he treated her during the whole
novel… At some point, something was also going on with Heph and I had no idea where it was coming from. So
yeah, sometimes it felt a little bit forced. However, I liked the friendship
between Heph and Alex, they were so loyal to each other and Cynane was definitely
jealous.
The action definitely picked up during the last
chapters of the novel and I was addicted. The characters will have to face so
many enemies but I can’t wait to see it. Moreover, I’m curious of the paths
some of them are going to take, because they will be farther away from the
palace, as the war is starting.
Overall, this book was a very good
introduction to a new epic series and I loved reading it. It definitely had
flaws though, like the number of points of view or some dynamics between the
characters, but my enjoyment of the novel was so high. It was also quite dark, which is so fitting in fantasy. If
you haven’t yet, you should read this one, especially because Empire of Dust, the second book, is
coming out at the end of June!
Have you read this book? What did you think of it? Are you excited for Empire of Dust? Have you read other YA novels set in Ancient Greece?
