Because in this world souls do very much exist, and reincarnation is entirely possible. If you are killed when wearing it, you are immediately reincarnated in the body of your murderer, who takes your place in the land of the dead. A major plot point revolves around something called The Stone of Shackles. There are some cunning magical artefacts as well. They can also be very clever in their use of spells. The magicians in The Ruin of Kings have thought about practical applications of their art. Yes, there is magic, but this is a sophisticated society we are talking about here. He’s what a dragon should be.ĭid you notice that I mentioned “magical recordings”? That should tell you something.
The Old Man is to other dragons what Godzilla is to other iguanas. He’s known as The Old Man, and he’s the sort of dragon who makes Smaug seem like a winged gecko in comparison. He’s not an idle bystander in the telling of the story either, because he has footnoted his report extensively. Thurvishar himself, as it turns out, was not an idle bystander in these proceedings. The book is framed as a report by one Thurvishar D’Lorus to his Imperial ruler on the events of the past years, based mainly on magical recordings made by Talon while she and Kihrin were telling their stories. It has pirates and dragons and elf-like people and tentacled monsters. There is a lot about The Ruin of Kings that is very traditional. Within a few chapters I too was entranced. Roz is a very good judge of fantasy so I bought a copy. I discovered this book when I saw Roz Kaveney tweet about how much she had enjoyed it. Tor describes it as, “The most anticipated fantasy debut of 2019.” They have a point. There is a lot of hype around The Ruin of Kings. As the strapline on the cover of my edition says, “What if you weren’t the Hero?” It is a neat inversion of the traditional fantasy trope. Kihrin will one day destroy the world.Īt least, that’s what the prophecies say. He is the Lawbreaker, the Thief of Souls, the boy who will one day wield the sword, Urthaeniel, known as Godslayer and the Ruin of Kings.
He is the boy about whom prophecies have been written. Kihrin is the boy from the backstreets who discovers that he is secretly of royal birth.
As for her prisoner, Kihrin, well, he is the Chosen One. Talon is the jailer, and she is able to describe events because she has eaten people who witnessed them. Half of the story is told by Talon, a demonic mimic and eater of memories. As for the prisoner in Lyons’ book, well… We may have a better idea of the truth of the story when we hear the testimony of other members of his band. Jenn Lyons does the same thing in The Ruin of Kings. Marlon James does it in Black Leopard, Red Wolf. Having a story told by one of the protagonists from his prison cell must be this year’s thing.
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