Whitley’s review of Legacy of Kings (Blood of Gods and Royals #1) by Eleanor Herman.

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 newcomer Katerina, who must navigate the dark secrets of court life while hiding her own mission: kill the Queen. But Kat’s first love, Jacob, will go to unthinkable lengths to win her, even if it means competing for her heart with Hephaestion, a murderer sheltered by the prince. And far across the sea, Zofia, a Persian princess and Alexander’s unmet fiancée, wants to alter her destiny by seeking the famed and deadly Spirit Eaters.

Weaving fantasy with the salacious and fascinating details of real history, New York Times bestselling author 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.

Legacy of Kings has some rich worldbuiling and plots, complex characters, enormous potential…and some pretty severe pacing problems. I didn’t really notice how bad it was until I finished the book, because the writing was engrossing enough that I was carried along anyway, but the rushed ending really ended up highlighting how slow the rest of the book was. Overall not a terrible thing, but it left me with a bit of a sour note, and unfortunately the last note in a book is what stays with me after I’m finished reading it…

The book is told in seven different POV’s, and it could have been done easily in four. On the one hand, I really did enjoy the variety in views that we got, as all the characters are distinct and (most) had a great layer to add to the story, giving us insights and showing different aspects of court life in ancient Macedon. There was a ton of backstory in the early part of the novel, but there were so many characters and everything was so vivid that it fit rather well. We had a lot to get used to, so a slow pace and plenty of introduction was fine. I enjoyed the various plots going on: Cyn’s rather novice attempts at treachery, Kat slowly learning about her mother’s past, the little flecks of magic that kept popping up.

And then the ending came, where a whole war from concept to first battle was thrown into the last 25% of the novel, and I that’s about the part where I started thinking “you know, we probably could have replaced some of those backstories with more setting up for this.” If the book had maintained the same pacing throughout, I probably wouldn’t have even noticed, but with the sudden shift into “oh shit, let’s throw all this in,” it was kind of obvious. Kat suddenly traveling three countries over and getting one chapter’s worth of ‘training’ didn’t help matters, either. I mean, I liked those plots; I would have been perfectly happy to spend more time with them.

I could have done without Zophia’s POV entirely. Her story didn’t intersect with the rest of the cast at all, it wasn’t a complete arc, and we went so long between her chapters that I kind of forgot she existed in the interim. Plus there was a lot about her story that just squicked me, especially the “I’m going to chuckle while I’m sadistic to you” guy she meets at the end. Just…I’m never comfortable reading that sort of a character, and doubly so when it doesn’t seem to serve much purpose. Even without that, her story was just one round after another of rape threats and captivity, and I didn’t see the point since there was zero conclusion to her side. Not even a cliffhanger conclusion, just a fizzle of a pause.

The rest of the characters were interesting, but none of them really leapt out at me. What really had me hooked was the sense of history to the writing. There were lots of details and references that kept the story well-grounded in its historical setting, and stuff like that just always tickles me. That, and trying to figure out what happened to Kat’s mother. I did end up guessing correctly, but not until a couple chapters before the reveal, which just the way I like it. Lets me feel smart but not frustrated. 😛

Overall, I’d recommend it to fantasy and history fans alike, but if you prefer your books with lots of activity, this might not be for you.

Rating: 3 out of 5

This title is available from Harlequin Teen.  You can purchase it here or here in e-format.