The Ruin of Kings

By: Jenn Lyons

Narrated by: Feodor Chin, Vikas Adam, Soneela Nankani

Length: 27 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

"Everything epic fantasy should be: rich, cruel, gorgeous, brilliant, enthralling and deeply, deeply satisfying. I loved it." (Lev Grossman, author of The Magicians)

Jenn Lyons begins the Chorus of Dragons series with The Ruin of Kings, an epic fantasy audiobook about a man who discovers his fate is tied to the future of an empire.

When destiny calls, there's no fighting back.

Kihrin grew up in the slums of Quur, a thief and a minstrel's son raised on tales of long-lost princes and magnificent quests. When he is claimed against his will as the missing son of a treasonous prince, Kihrin finds himself at the mercy of his new family's ruthless power plays and political ambitions.

Practically a prisoner, Kihrin discovers that being a long-lost prince is nothing like what the storybooks promised. The storybooks have lied about a lot of other things, too: dragons, demons, gods, prophecies, and how the hero always wins.

Then again, maybe he isn't the hero after all. For Kihrin is not destined to save the world.

He's destined to destroy it.

Library Journal Best Books of the Year - 2019
Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year - 2019

©2019 Jennifer Williamson (P)2019 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"A trio of talented narrators tackles the first book in a new fantasy series centered on a man who is destined to destroy an empire...the trio complement each other and elevate an unconventional story filled with intense world-building and vivid characters." (AudioFile Magazine)

Interesting story but incredibly confusing

The narrator's were fantastic. I absolutely enjoyed having all 3. It really set off the footnotes and made them enjoyable.

The overall story was interesting, but it was unnecessarily confusing. I'm 100% glad I listened to this via audiobook rather than suffered through all the pages.

Great book but a little of a struggle sometimes

I really do love this book the story is fantastic and keeps me guessing the only thing I don't like is how it is necessary to get some of the information through to the main character and then how he refuses to believe it, kind of like throwing a brick at a wall and then having a tantrum that it didn't stick, I do understand the main character is young and that could be there reason for it.

excellent story and narration

narrators do an excellent job creating distinct voices and characters. intriguing story with a well fleshed out world. story starts at two different timelines that merge together at the end. there are some loose ends that sets up for the sequel

amazing

best epic fantasy book ive read in a good while. its absolutely fantastic although sixty bucks is pretty pricey. the performance is top notch you definitely get what you pay for.

Incredible writing, terrific pacing and storytelling

Brilliant story telling technique! I love how this book takes you on a wild adventure, or two, (possibly three) and layers depth with each chapter. The narrators voices ring with clarity and character, this is a performance of the written word.

Good first book, phenomenal series

I almost didn't listen to this book because of the reviews describing how confusing the book was. Don't listen to them. It does sometimes take a little critical thinking to figure things out, but definitely worth it. The whole series is phenomenal, and though the world building is this first book can be confusing, it all comes together in the rest of the series. If the changing times lines is a source of confusion then my recommendation is to also have the written book to refer back to. Plus it contains descriptions of characters that can be helpful.

Epic!

Loving Soneela as Talon! The timeline is confusing in the beginning but stick with it - totally worth it!

decent story

The main character made it hard to enjoy the book. His character and attitude the whole book was terrible. I continued listening hoping he would improve but he never did. Between that and the subtle homosexuality I wouldnt read again, or pass it on to anyone.

Not bad, not great

This book does the thing where it jumps back and forth between two POVs. However, it’s the same story just starting at different places. One POV is from, say, points A-E, and the other is F-J. So, the going back and forth didn’t really add anything to the story. The voice actors were good, though! The last bit of the story is taken over by a sort of third POV, and I found that to be a little confusing. I had to re-learn character voices after having heard 80% of the book from the same two readers. I’d give the book 3.5 stars total.

genealogist's nightmare

I enjoyed the literary device of alternating narrators. However, it took some time to get used to the asides/notes of the transcriber of the story during the first 3/4 of the book. (It's probably less intrusive in written format.) The story itself is rather involved and when revelations began regarding identities, it was baffling to keep track of. It would have helped to have had a chart. That made it hard to follow the motivations in the plot about 1/2 way through. I'm still foggy on who was who and who did what and why ...