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A review by e_flah
The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons
Did not finish book.
DNF at 28% in 2019; DNF at 38% in 2024
I have been hearing a ton of hype from Tor about The Ruin of Kings. Maybe that led me to go in with expectations that were a bit too high. Maybe this just isn’t my kind of fantasy. Either way, I found myself trying to mentally calculate how long it would take me to push through to the end, which was a sure sign that it was time to let this one go.
The Ruin of Kings switches narrative POVs nearly every chapter as we follow a first-person narration of Khirin’s journey as a slave sold to a mysterious order called the Black Brotherhood and a third-person narration as Khirin’s jailer, Talon, tells the story of how he ended up in a prison cell. Both narrations feature lots of narrative footnotes that provide commentary from the royal advisor who compiled the tale. The idea of telling Khirin’s story from two very different perspectives and places in the narrative was initially intriguing but grew tiresome. In reality, just as I would get invested in the events of one narrative, the next chapter would switch to the other POV. I also really struggled with how pointlessly dense and complicated both the writing and the story were. The plot, at least up to the point I quit, had the makings to be gripping but it was bogged down with lots of world-building asides and other writing tricks that seemed to only serve the purpose of trying to impress me.
The part of The Ruin of Kings that I struggled the most with was, even though I found it frustrating and slow, a little part of me wants to keep reading in the hopes it will get more exciting. This is a book with so much potential, especially if you have more of a stomach for dense fantasy than I do.
**2024 thoughts**
The switching POVs didn't bother me this time around but what did get me was the overwhelming number of male characters who we were supposed to view as "extraordinary." I wanted to like Khirin but just didn't find him a compelling main character.
I have been hearing a ton of hype from Tor about The Ruin of Kings. Maybe that led me to go in with expectations that were a bit too high. Maybe this just isn’t my kind of fantasy. Either way, I found myself trying to mentally calculate how long it would take me to push through to the end, which was a sure sign that it was time to let this one go.
The Ruin of Kings switches narrative POVs nearly every chapter as we follow a first-person narration of Khirin’s journey as a slave sold to a mysterious order called the Black Brotherhood and a third-person narration as Khirin’s jailer, Talon, tells the story of how he ended up in a prison cell. Both narrations feature lots of narrative footnotes that provide commentary from the royal advisor who compiled the tale. The idea of telling Khirin’s story from two very different perspectives and places in the narrative was initially intriguing but grew tiresome. In reality, just as I would get invested in the events of one narrative, the next chapter would switch to the other POV. I also really struggled with how pointlessly dense and complicated both the writing and the story were. The plot, at least up to the point I quit, had the makings to be gripping but it was bogged down with lots of world-building asides and other writing tricks that seemed to only serve the purpose of trying to impress me.
The part of The Ruin of Kings that I struggled the most with was, even though I found it frustrating and slow, a little part of me wants to keep reading in the hopes it will get more exciting. This is a book with so much potential, especially if you have more of a stomach for dense fantasy than I do.
**2024 thoughts**
The switching POVs didn't bother me this time around but what did get me was the overwhelming number of male characters who we were supposed to view as "extraordinary." I wanted to like Khirin but just didn't find him a compelling main character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Slavery and Trafficking