Thanks to the publisher for providing an ARC for review.

The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons is quite the romp. There is a beautifully and imaginatively crafted world that offers vast potential as the setting to a deeply personal and massively epic story. These wonderful elements, however, are wrapped up inside a structure that is puzzling and frustrating. Reading the book is akin to eating crab—it’s a delicious delicacy, but you spend more time worrying at the shell than enjoying the food.

Both the main character, Kihrin, and the worldbuilding in The Ruin of Kings are exceptional. The detail that Lyons has worked into every part of her world is captivating. From royal houses to thousands of years of history, the setting of this world invites you deeper and deeper into the story. The magic system was tantalizing. There is vast potential here. I love epic fantasy that has a deep backstory and invites you into a world that is conceived in such a way that it feels real. Lyons’ story has that in spades. I also felt Kihrin was a very well fleshed out MC. It was interesting seeing both his own internal perspective as well as an external perspective. I’m not sure that either represents a particularly reliable perspective, and this questioning of perspective does keep things interesting. Individual chapters fly by and induce a deep-seated need to know what happens next. There is a middle section that moves more slowly than the rest, but this ramps up into an appropriately epic finale.

Unfortunately, for me a lot of that vast potential in the setting gets lost in the odd structure of the novel. We begin with a brief letter written by a character to explain recent events. This character serves as the ultimate narrator, providing footnotes throughout the book. There is then a frame story in third person between Kihrin and a second character named Talon as the former waits in a jail cell. They each then alternate telling Kihrin’s tale while it’s recorded by a magic rock (which is used by our ultimate narrator as his main source for writing the story). To further complicate the structure, Kihrin begins telling his tale at one point in time, but Talon thinks he should have started earlier, so begins the telling earlier in Kihrin’s life. Kihrin tells it from first person perspective, while Talon tells it from third person, often changing the perspective character. For me, this structure just did not work. The footnotes were distracting and hinted at fascinating things that never got fleshed out. Jumping around in the timeline from chapter to chapter made it difficult to let the story overtake me. I wanted to be immersed in this world, but never felt like that happened. Instead, I was jarred out of the story often. In addition, early timeline Kihrin sometimes calls folks by a made up name, thus keeping us from knowing exactly who a character is until later in the story—but not necessarily later in the timeline because late timeline Kihrin may already know who that character is. I love complex fantasy, but for me The Ruin of Kings ended up less complex and more complicated. If these things connect for a reader, I think the novel will be full of glorious tension. When they don’t connect for a reader, I think it all conspires to be an unsatisfying experience.

There is vast potential here, but the structure works against the natural tension and immersion of the story. I would have preferred it was told chronologically in third person, allowing the setting to really come to life and carry me away, rather than feel jerked around. Having said that, the writing is superb and the individual chapters are extremely well-crafted. Like I said, the meat is there and delicious, but you spend a lot of time fighting with the shell to get it out.

Goodreads: 2.75/5 stars.

5 – I loved this, couldn’t put it down, move it to the top of your TBR pile
4 – I really enjoyed this, add it to the TBR pile
3 – It was ok, depending on your preferences it may be worth your time
2 – I didn’t like this book, it has significant flaws and I can’t recommend it
1 – I loathe this book with a most loathsome loathing