A review by margaretadelle
Crown of the Sundered Empire by J.C. Kang
4.0
I enjoyed the first book I read in this particular world, "Masters of Deception" so when the author offered me this book to read for review, I was happy to agree!
There are some content warnings to be aware of. The character of Korryn has suicide ideation, regularly putting himself in harm's way with the intent of dying in battle. And there is much more emphasis in this book on the Bovyans sexual assault of the women in the lands they conquer. Nothing explicit is shown in the text, but it is referenced with discomforting regularity. These shouldn't be a problem for the average reader, but be aware if you are someone struggling with either of those things.
Admittedly, I was a bit sad that my favorite characters from the first ones wouldn't be in this one (it's not a direct sequel to Masters of Deception, revolving more around one of the protagonists and a new conflict) but I did enjoy Jie before. In this one she's a bit more fallible than her previous outing, meeting another character that can rival her at what she does. I appreciated seeing her on the backfoot.
The worldbuilding continues to be a struggle for me. There are multiple different kingdoms with a mixing of all the characters. The princess that was born in one country but heir to the throne of another, the difference between one particular race of people split up between two kingdoms (one of whom then split again), multiple different ancient races whose existence has a heavy influence on the modern culture, and so on. At certain points I just focused on the current McGuffin they were focused on, but even that got unwieldy. There was an ancient crown, a magical sphere of light, and blessed water said to have effects on fertility, all of whom were important to multiple groups for varying reasons. This is definitely a book to read slowly and make note of things.
My favorite part of the plot was the Shakespearean levels of melodrama. There were two arranged marriages between princes and princesses to secure alliances and none of them wanted a part of it. All four of them had secret lovers, with all manner of scheming and pretending to be someone else to get out of it. A princess disguised as a cabin boy, a prince disguised as a prostitute, an assassin wandering around in a princess's dress. I half expected someone to bite their thumb at someone else, it was great.
While the world and plot might have been confusing, the characters were clear as crystal. The overly daring prince with his endlessly loyal gay lover, the fiery redhead that knows she's sexy and capable, the adorkable navy lieutenant that's fearsome on a boat and clumsy as a baby giraffe on land, the fisherman that does way more lying and trap-setting than actually catching fish, it was a pretty impressive cast. I may not remember exactly who is with what country in what context, but I remember how much I couldn't decided if I wanted to be or be with Alaena. (Answer: both) It's for them that I read it. And why you should too.
There are some content warnings to be aware of. The character of Korryn has suicide ideation, regularly putting himself in harm's way with the intent of dying in battle. And there is much more emphasis in this book on the Bovyans sexual assault of the women in the lands they conquer. Nothing explicit is shown in the text, but it is referenced with discomforting regularity. These shouldn't be a problem for the average reader, but be aware if you are someone struggling with either of those things.
Admittedly, I was a bit sad that my favorite characters from the first ones wouldn't be in this one (it's not a direct sequel to Masters of Deception, revolving more around one of the protagonists and a new conflict) but I did enjoy Jie before. In this one she's a bit more fallible than her previous outing, meeting another character that can rival her at what she does. I appreciated seeing her on the backfoot.
The worldbuilding continues to be a struggle for me. There are multiple different kingdoms with a mixing of all the characters. The princess that was born in one country but heir to the throne of another, the difference between one particular race of people split up between two kingdoms (one of whom then split again), multiple different ancient races whose existence has a heavy influence on the modern culture, and so on. At certain points I just focused on the current McGuffin they were focused on, but even that got unwieldy. There was an ancient crown, a magical sphere of light, and blessed water said to have effects on fertility, all of whom were important to multiple groups for varying reasons. This is definitely a book to read slowly and make note of things.
My favorite part of the plot was the Shakespearean levels of melodrama. There were two arranged marriages between princes and princesses to secure alliances and none of them wanted a part of it. All four of them had secret lovers, with all manner of scheming and pretending to be someone else to get out of it. A princess disguised as a cabin boy, a prince disguised as a prostitute, an assassin wandering around in a princess's dress. I half expected someone to bite their thumb at someone else, it was great.
While the world and plot might have been confusing, the characters were clear as crystal. The overly daring prince with his endlessly loyal gay lover, the fiery redhead that knows she's sexy and capable, the adorkable navy lieutenant that's fearsome on a boat and clumsy as a baby giraffe on land, the fisherman that does way more lying and trap-setting than actually catching fish, it was a pretty impressive cast. I may not remember exactly who is with what country in what context, but I remember how much I couldn't decided if I wanted to be or be with Alaena. (Answer: both) It's for them that I read it. And why you should too.