The Prince’s Poisoned Vow

Infernal War Saga I

De: Hailey Turner

Narrado por: Gary Furlong

Every country is built on revolution.

THE WARDEN. Soren is a nameless, stateless man, tasked with keeping watch over Maricol’s borders. He isn’t meant for politics, only dealing with the dead. His past was buried in the poison fields, but after a fateful encounter with a prince, Soren comes to realize he can’t keep what magic burns inside him hidden forever.

THE PRINCE. Vanya Sa’Liandel was the spare who survived the Houses’ murderous games to become the Imperial crown prince of Solaria. He has a duty to his country, but he’ll owe his life to the wardens. Payment of any kind is costly, especially when he’s at risk of losing his heart to the man who saved his life.

THE COG. Caris Dhemlan hears the siren song of clarion crystals better than anyone in Ashion. That skill for inventing has enriched her bloodline, but it’s who she can become that will ultimately entangle her with the Clockwork Brigade.

THE PRINCESS. Eimarille Rourke should have been raised to be queen of one country; instead, she is prisoner of another. Guided by a star god, Eimarille bides her time in a gilded cage, spinning a political web to gain a throne and start a war the world isn’t ready for.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Hailey Turner (P)2024 Hailey Turner

Good if you're experienced with multi pov epics

TLDR: Fun characters and a good setting and interesting plot, but some writing choices may turn readers away. other readers will love those choices (I did). Epic fantasy with romance, not romance with an epic fantasy backdrop.

This story has a lot going on. I loved it, but have a fondness for long complicated novels. I'll keep this mostly spoiler free (relationships spoiled, but also kinda obvious from literally the first time you meet the characters, so...)

Some reviews mention this ends in a cliffhanger. It does and doesn't - yes, things are set up for book 2, and things are happening, but this is not an unpleasant cliffhanger in the way that some are. The book ends poised above the cliff, with a view of what is to come, but not in a way that feels unfinished or like the story cut off right after you took an uneeded step.

Pieces of the plot are obvious from the onset, or become so as you listen, but that is not a bad thing. Yes, things are predictable at times, but honestly in a story with this many plotlines, that's a good thing - it means that the story is comprehensible. it also doesn't go too far in this direction, making it feel like the story is looking down on readers.

The romances in this are in an interesting place you don't often see in novels. Much of romance media has a focus on characters getting together throughout a book, and will tear apart a relationship through misunderstandings or forced drama in later books, as just making a loving couple be functional is sadly uncommon. Not so here.This book is heavy on romantic pairings, but those pairings are stable, and not the focus of the book.

For character relationships in general: the book has many timeskips, often a year or two at a time, so much of the character (and relationship) developments happen off screen. for example, after Soren leaves Vanya, the first time, the next time he has a POV is a year later. After that, it timeskips again but this time including countless meetings between the two that readers aren't privy to. After we first meet Caris at 16, we don't see her again until she's 20 and graduating, in which time she and Nathaniel have grown from initial attraction to having been friends for years as he waits for her to be interested in moving their relationship forward (side note: yay for the 16 year old not immediately getting into a romantic relationship with someone at least 4 years older. their age gap isn't huge but 16-20 is a very different story than 20-24 in terms of life experience). I personally enjoyed this storytelling style, as it feels like things happen in the time we don't see characters, and honestly, this book is 18 hours without the slice of life, and adding the slice of life relationship changes would be distracting. If you're reading for court intrigue and zombies with references to stable relationships and character growth that is shown at it's conclusion rather than the shaping, this story is for you. if you want slice of life romance, stay away.

I found the characters engaging, and different enough from one another (and their stock roles) to enjoy. That being said, they are definitely cliche roles. The warden, the exiled princess, the lost princess, the adopted parents, the scheming families with backstabbing, the loyal for no real reason beyond bloodlines bodyguard, etc. that being said characters mostly rise above their two sentence description. They are their titles in the same way that lord of the rings is a story about getting rid of some jewelry no one likes.

Warning for people who listen in public places or with family or anything else: there are explicit sex scenes.

Side note: I typed this in the audible app, so please forgive any weird typos or formatting.

Reminds me of Final Fantasy XV/Kingsglaive

A breathtakingly vast story with lots of interesting characters and places. TV show worthy. The narrator did an amazing job and I can't wait to listen to the next book.

Amazing multi-pov switches

Each pov is compelling. Even if its not a "main character" the pov will allow the world to bloom and give insight into others. Almost like movie scenes.

Expertly-Crafted Queer Steampunk

An excellent addition to queer sci-fi, rich in political intrigue with a strongly fleshed-out world and unafraid to depict a merciless collection of cultures. Turner’s skill at writing shows their evolution with this work and sets up what looks to be a promising multi-part epic re-synthesizing qualities of Dune and A Song of Ice and Fire.

My main criticism is that the first part/95 minutes is front loaded with characters, many of which are peripheral to the core protagonists, and constantly shifts focus which makes it hard to find footing until the narrative shits to a more grounded style for the rest of the read. If you get thorough this first section (or skip and come back to it later) you’ll find a rewarding read.

Looking forward to the next book, planning to get the series in hard copy!

Huge new world

There are A LOT of moving pieces to this mammoth start to the Infernal War Saga series along with an immense amount of world building. More than once I lost track of details and had to backtrack to clear something up in my mind. That said, both the author and narrator did a good job with telling the story. The political maneuvering isn’t my favorite, but with the way the story is progressing, it’s necessary and fortunately not excessive to the plot. So far, I’d say that signs of romance are slight and merely peripheral to getting all the chess pieces on the board for a game between star gods. That may or may not change later on, but it’s proving to be one heck of a story despite stopping at an inconvenient point (to the reader/listener at least). Is it next year yet.

Rating 4.5 stars, but rounded up despite frustration!