For the Killing of Kings

The Ring-Sworn Trilogy, Book 1

By: Howard Andrew Jones

Narrated by: Lori Prince

Length: 16 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Howard Andrew Jones' powerful worldbuilding brings this epic fantasy to life in For the Killing of Kings, the first audiobook of his new adventure-filled trilogy.

Their peace was a fragile thing, but it had endured for seven years, mostly because the people of Darassus and the king of the Naor hordes believed his doom was foretold upon the edge of the great sword hung in the hall of champions. Unruly Naor clans might raid across the border, but the king himself would never lead his people to war so long as the blade remained in the hands of his enemies.

But when squire Elenai’s aging mentor uncovers evidence that the sword in their hall is a forgery, she’s forced to flee Darassus for her life, her only ally the reckless, disillusioned Kyrkenall the archer. Framed for murder and treason, pursued by the greatest heroes of the realm, they race to recover the real sword, only to stumble into a conspiracy that leads all the way back to the Darassan queen and her secretive advisers. They must find a way to clear their names and set things right, all while dodging friends determined to kill them - and the Naor hordes, invading at last with a new and deadly weapon.

©2019 Howard Andrew Jones (P)2019 Vibrance Press

Ready for books 2 and 3

This is a new epic fantasy that focuses on an elite group of warriors trying to defeat treachery in their ranks and evil leaders both at home and abroad. The author compared it on GoodReads to a Three Musketeers vibe, and I definitely see that here. The difference is, that this world, like any good fantasy world, has magic in it.

One of the things I love about a good fantasy story is that it usually has an ensemble cast where small sections are going on their own really amazing adventures. They will eventually meet up, but in the mean time, just before you’re bored, the narrative shifts to whatever one of the other groups is doing. We have two sets of good characters here, one at home and the other on the fringe looking for help.

There is a prophecy in this book, but the fun thing with it is that it’s not a huge one that will go across the entire trilogy. Without being specific with spoilers, it does come to a satisfying end for this first volume of the trilogy. There is still more to see and do, and I’m here for it.

I got this audiobook because I am a fan of the narrator. Due to the length and nature of the book, there was a huge cast, and she got to let her voice work shine. Her males sound male and different from each other. Her females also have different tones, including one voice for Varama (? I’m not sure of exact spelling) that would have been a perfect voice for Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter series (that slightly out of touch but sharply intelligent voice.) This was a long story, but Lori’s great performance made it easy to dig in and get lost with it.

Recommended to fantasy lovers. This is my first from this author, but as long as Lori Prince remains the narrator, I’ll keep listening.

Disclaimer: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Refreshing

This well written fantasy was a breath of fresh air. The story, plot and characters were intriguing and were developed slowly and steadily throughout the book. The author build his new world clearly and as a reader, I was excited to learn more with each passing page. I'm excited to read the upcoming books in the series.

Blessedly light on politics!

Herein we have an exciting, imaginative epic fantasy that thankfully doesn't focus much attention on the politics or nobility.

Lori Prince gives an unexpectedly fantastic audio performance! Many (if not most) women struggle to create believable (or even not ridiculous sounding) male voices (not that this is in any way unique to women. The majority of men fail to create convincing female voices as well). But not so here. Her voices are excellently crafted, distinct, and consistent. Her control of tempo and vocal inflections are probably her biggest weakness, as they are only very good.

First, let me just say how refreshing it is to read a fantasy that feels suitably epic while mostly dodging the GoT-eske heavy focus on politics and nobility.

That said, while we do have quite an array of characters spread between several locations and pursuing different goals, they are introduced at a rate that makes it easy to remember who is who without having to go back and reread their introduction (a common problem with a lot of epic fantasy).

Similarly, each character has a distinct voice with their own traits, quirks, and goals. Each one feels like a real person.

The story is a little meandering at times, but is well thought out and I didn't notice any glaring plot holes.

There are a few issues that kept this from being a 5-star read, however. The biggest four are:

1) Early on, we have a POV character who has basically one scene then is not seen again. It wouldn't bother me so much if this scene conveyed essential information that can't be conveyed any other way. Alas, it does not.

2) Excessive descriptive details, particularly about clothing and hair styles. Yes, a certain level of detail adds depth to the writing and the world, but this goes far beyond that level. Even worse though is that apart from one character's focus (one might almost call it an obsession) on the "assets" of the opposite gender, the description highlights the same sorts of details no matter who the POV character is. Which would be fine if the story was being told by an omniscient narrator. But since it isn't, the details that are highlighted should be tailored to the POV character.

3) Similarly, the action sequences largely feel like they are being narrated by an omniscient narrator who is not emotionally connected to the action. Most of it is told rather than shown and lacks the internal processes of the character that make reading fight scenes exhilarating.

4) This one is probably the biggest issue. There aren't any real character arcs. Despite more than one character beginning with a world view that is inherently problematic and could have made for a great arc, no one really changes much in any way that matters.

All that said, this is a well told and entertaining story with some really cool world building elements.

The ending came together nicely. And while it's nowhere near a complete, full stop kind of ending, it found a good closing point that did a good job of closing things out and tying the ends together.

I would definitely recommend this book to any lover of epic fantasy who's burned out on all the political/royalty/nobility focused fantasy that's been flooding the shelves since the rise of Game of Thrones.

***obligatory disclaimer***
While I did receive a free copy of this book, I'm choosing to leave a review of my own volition and the views expressed herein are entirely my own.

Original Engaging High Fantasy

Writing that pulls you in and characters that have depth and development. Cant wait for volume 2.

Great story; not so great narrator

It’s a classic fantasy epic, well written and a great read. I’m not so crazy about the narrator though due to her pronunciation of certain things. Like “calvary” instead of “cavalry” and every st sound is pronounced “sht”.

Exciting Story

While I enjoyed this story, it feels more like half a book than a full story as non of the arcs really came to an end. That said, the world building and characters are fantastic. I just wish the story arc was better and the story showed rather than told a bit more than it currently does.

Overall, if you're alright with having to read more than just the first book to feel satisfied with the story arc and love world building with interesting characters, then you should definitely give this one a shot.

Great story with interesting & distinct characters

I really enjoyed For the Killing of Kings. I thought the overall premise was pretty good and I found most of the characters very interesting and they all have a different feel to them with different personalities and back stories. I like that their is an old guard of Heroes and a new guard who are trying to prove themselves and find their way. This story has some great action sequences and battles and also has mystery and conspiracy thrown in as well. The 'magic system' is different and I enjoyed it and am interested to see it in the future installments as well.

Lori Prince did a great job with the narration and most characters have a fairly distinct voice. I overall really enjoyed this first book in the series and can't wait for the future installments to see how things progress as the ending of this book leaves alot of questions and things to wrap up.

"Please note I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

Solid. Unintentionally a great Final Fantasy story

I hate to say that it's a Final Fantasy story but I struggled for a while to quantify just what kind of fantasy this book was. The author is a huge sword and sorcery (heroic fantasy) nerd in the best possible way, so I was expecting something along the lines of Conan or his other works--Dabir and Asim in Desert of Souls (check it out). In any case, this was nothing like classic sword and sorcery, but it does update the genre to a new level. It has all the trappings of a great adventure, plenty of heroic characters in an ensemble cast, lots of humor, plenty of action, mystery, and the threat of war.

Then it dawned on me, that this wasn't grimdark, military fantasy, epic fantasy, young adult, etc., but a mixture of all. And thus it reminded me of a little old video game franchise called Final Fantasy. And with all the hints and nods to board games, magic stone and magic rings, fights that are basically boss battles, and more, I just felt an airship and a moogle could have made this into the next Final Fantasy game. I'm being one hundred percent serious. In fact, looking at the book in this light actually made me more sympathetic towards the book and enjoy it so much more.

Overall it is very good. Not amazing, not mindblowing, but very good. The worldbuilding is fine, the characters are mostly good, and the narration is also mostly good. I did have a huge problem with some of the voices. Most voice actors have one or two that aren't that good, but here there were some characters that sounded like they were in the middle of a dental exam when they spoke and it was like nails on a chalkboard. I really think this narrator is better suited to young adult romance books rather than an epic style fantasy, but she did a decent enough job here. I also didn't love some of the boy characters sounding like Bart Simpson as a pervy teenager but maybe that's just the way they were written.

I will listen to the next one, and I think this one will improve over time in my memory. Might even need a re-read. Some books I wouldn't tread a second time, and often weaken in hindsight, but I think this will grow on me. Howard Andrew Jones is also one of my favorite writers, so I don't doubt the next books are even better.

Give it a shot.

Good story

The story itself is good. The narrator was not super great. That said, you can tell she spent considerable effort to do the best they could. And for the most part, you can differentiate character and the mispronunciations and inconsistencies were few and far between.

Overall if you have a good attention span and sub par narration doesn’t bother you. This really is worth listening to.

Great Story!

Let me begin by saying, I really enjoyed this book. It was given to me for free in exchange for my unbiased review and so I am presenting this review now. I enjoyed the storyline, I enjoyed the characters, I felt really involved in what was going on and have no complaints about narrator storyline or author. As a matter of fact I am quite looking forward to book 2 because I want to know what's going on with the queen, and I want to know what's going on with this mysterious guy who showed up at the end of the big battle. So thank you for providing such a lovely story for me to listen to and I am intrigued to hear more.