Tuesday 16 August 2016

Review: Kings or Pawns, J. J. Sherwood

Note: I received a free ebook copy of this novel in exchange for a review. 

Blurb from author: 


"The elven city of Elvorium has become corrupted to the core by politics. With his father dead and the Royal Schism at his back, Prince Hairem ascends the throne as king of the elven world on Sevrigel. Young and bold, Hairem is determined to undo the council’s power, but the brutal murders by an assassin loosed within the city threaten to undermine the king’s ambitions.

As corruption and death threaten to tear Elvorium apart from within, the warlord Saebellus threatens the city from without, laying siege to Sevrigel’s eastern capital. With the elven world crumbling around him, Hairem finds himself in a dangerous political balance between peace and all out war."

This novel draws on a lot of different factors to weave together a strong story with plenty of substance: strong world building, complex characters, political intrigues with a love story weaved in through. In style and substance, Sherwood's writing can be compared to Jim Butcher, his strengths lying in bringing together plenty of strong characters and handling different story lines that come together as a whole. Like other great novels, there are characters that you love, characters you love to hate, and characters for whom you wish luck in frustration because they certainly have none. 

The descriptions, while extensive, are easy and natural and allow the reader to fully immerse themselves in this Elven world. From the palaces to the streets of the city, to the swamps and lands of ice, Sherwood handles his world with flair and ease. It is the kind of writing of which everything, down to the last rock placement, has been carefully considered.

I would definitely recommend this novel to fans of high fantasy - it's an offering that will find hard to stop reading and will eagerly await the next installment.

Links/Sample: Amazon or Goodreads

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