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A review by nclcaitlin
Kings of Paradise by Richard Nell
4.25
Ruka stared at the corpse of the boy he'd killed, and his stomach growled.
If that opening line doesn’t grab your attention, then you’re not reading the right books.
You can’t help but feel for Ruka despite his many moral misgivings and horrific deeds. He’s hated from birth, abandoned by everyone except his mother who dies, and is apparently marked by the gods and destined to bring about the end of world.
He starts out a naive young boy, but the book trawls through time to show the trajectory of his life which has led him to a societal outcast, menace, and villain.
I'll be part of your book, Mother, but not like Egil or Haki or Rupa. I'll be Omika, the giant. I'll be the monster who frightens little girls. That's what I am. I'll butcher the whole world one by one with my bare hands, and when they're all dead, the lawmakers and priestesses and all their servants, then I'll go to the afterlife and find you, and I'lI make you their queen.
Then we have Kale - the fourth, least favourite son of the King of Pyu, an island empire with a strong navy and delicate political ties to an ever-increasing empire to the West. Owning to his immaturity and rebellious nature, Kale l is placed in Navy boot camp where we soon learn he is ambitious, loyal, and honourable.
There are other viewpoints littered in, but this is mostly an epic high fantasy coming-of-age story about two boys from two very different casts of life.
What I found absolutely fascinating was that Ruka’s world order is based on a matriarchy where the priestesses are those who have the power to dictate the lives of all others. Nell takes the common idea of Chiefman taking numerous wives and controlling their families and inverts it, giving this mainly uncontested to the women.
Interestingly, the women cannot back this up with physical prowess, so must rely on the men they subjugate to continue their devotion and belief in the order and propaganda.
This is gritty, dark, and bloody. And I mean bloody. Ripping body parts and maybe eating them bloody.
Normally, I’m not a fan of desensitised, graphically over-done violence, but Nell makes this work with the characterisations, conflict, and story he crafts.
"I will destroy this land of ash, and make my followers kings in paradise."
If you enjoyed the Justice of Kings by Richard Swan, The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie, or The Forgetting Moon by Brian Lee Durfee, I would recommend this!
If that opening line doesn’t grab your attention, then you’re not reading the right books.
You can’t help but feel for Ruka despite his many moral misgivings and horrific deeds. He’s hated from birth, abandoned by everyone except his mother who dies, and is apparently marked by the gods and destined to bring about the end of world.
He starts out a naive young boy, but the book trawls through time to show the trajectory of his life which has led him to a societal outcast, menace, and villain.
I'll be part of your book, Mother, but not like Egil or Haki or Rupa. I'll be Omika, the giant. I'll be the monster who frightens little girls. That's what I am. I'll butcher the whole world one by one with my bare hands, and when they're all dead, the lawmakers and priestesses and all their servants, then I'll go to the afterlife and find you, and I'lI make you their queen.
Then we have Kale - the fourth, least favourite son of the King of Pyu, an island empire with a strong navy and delicate political ties to an ever-increasing empire to the West. Owning to his immaturity and rebellious nature, Kale l is placed in Navy boot camp where we soon learn he is ambitious, loyal, and honourable.
There are other viewpoints littered in, but this is mostly an epic high fantasy coming-of-age story about two boys from two very different casts of life.
What I found absolutely fascinating was that Ruka’s world order is based on a matriarchy where the priestesses are those who have the power to dictate the lives of all others. Nell takes the common idea of Chiefman taking numerous wives and controlling their families and inverts it, giving this mainly uncontested to the women.
Interestingly, the women cannot back this up with physical prowess, so must rely on the men they subjugate to continue their devotion and belief in the order and propaganda.
This is gritty, dark, and bloody. And I mean bloody. Ripping body parts and maybe eating them bloody.
Normally, I’m not a fan of desensitised, graphically over-done violence, but Nell makes this work with the characterisations, conflict, and story he crafts.
"I will destroy this land of ash, and make my followers kings in paradise."
If you enjoyed the Justice of Kings by Richard Swan, The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie, or The Forgetting Moon by Brian Lee Durfee, I would recommend this!