I'm very excited to read the full book, so I'll give this a high rating, but I wish that this had clearly stated it was only an excerpt at the time of my requesting it. I'm not a big fan of reading an eARC that I think is the full book and then finding out it's only a partial preview.

Another good excerpt. Hoping the whole book lives up to the preview. Hope I have time to add this book to my reading list.

Sadly I wont be reading this excerpt after having done so with previous books and not enjoying not having the full book to enjoy and review. 

When I requested this I saw no indication that this was a preview excerpt only and am very, very disappointed not to have access to the full book that I thought I was requesting.

The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons was not much different than the typical books which include magic, mysteries, dragons, and poor imps who find out they are actually royal. This review process wants me to include something good about the book that I liked. So, the time period has always fascinated me. Love magic, dragons and powerful people. I felt the characters in this story were one dimensional . My attachment to them was lacking which in turn made the story lackluster for me. This was just not the book for me.

while i mostly enjoyed this excerpt with its exotic locations and mythological beings, i found the constant changing of POV to be more than mildly irritating in the beginning but it became less so the further on/more i understnad which character was which. The general pace of the story was fair and I found the characters enjoyable to read. I will keenly await this novels release in February as i am intrigued as to where it is heading plot-wise

The Ruin of Kings is a debut fantasy novel by Jenn Lyons. It is the first in, what I understand is to be, a 5 books series titled A Chorus of Dragons. To date, I have only read the preview, so this review is based on that alone.

Since I have not read the book in it’s entirely, here is what the publisher has to say:

Kihrin is a bastard orphan who grew up on storybook tales of long-lost princes and grand quests. When he is claimed against his will as the long-lost son of a treasonous prince, Kihrin finds that being a long-lost prince isn’t what the storybooks promised.

Far from living the dream, Kihrin finds himself practically a prisoner, at the mercy of his new family’s power plays and ambitions. He also discovers that the storybooks have lied about a lot of other things things, too: dragons, demons, gods, prophecies, true love, and how the hero always wins.

Then again, maybe he’s not the hero, for Kihrin isn’t destined to save the empire.

He’s destined to destroy it . . .

What I liked most about the book is that I was drawn into the world immediately and became invested in the character right away. I felt sorry for Kihrin because he was in jail, even though I thought he brought some of his situation on himself,  I wanted to know the whole story behind how he ended up in this situation.

The plot moved along nicely.  Even though I only read the preview, I was able to get a sense of the world that allowed me to follow the story without any problems. I would think as the book progressed you would have more world building and character development. It worked for me and I actually prefer that authors don’t do a data dumb at the beginning.

The way the author told the story from the present looking back reminded me of The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. However, unlike Rothfuss, the author had two characters tell the story and the book jumped between three time lines, the present, and two pasts told from different POVs. This I found a little confusing and a couple of times had to reread a few pages to stay on track with each timeline. I thought this could have been handled better and took away a little from the book.

Overall, despite the one negative, I liked the story and want to read the book in its entirety.  I would recommend this book to anyone who likes epic fantasy. 

I received my preview of The Ruin of Kings, via NetGalley, from the publisher.

The Ruin of Kings really grabbed my attention right from the start! I found myself trying to predict where the story was going, and being completely wrong. It does not follow any previous or banal formulas for attempting to build a new fantasy series/world. Our main character, Kihrin, lives in a world that is harsh and cruel and filled with faults, which is why the stakes feel so high. I really liked Kihrin as a character, he is witty, charming, and surprising honest for a thief. I also liked trying to guess whether every character we were introduced to was a friend to Kihrin or a foe. No one’s motives are clear and every character feels realistic, with the capability of doing good or doing true evil.

I found some things a bit confusing such as the narrative switches between first and third person, as their are two characters acting as storytellers, Kihrin and his jailer, Talon. Eventually it becomes clear as to why Lyons chose to tell the narrative this way and it works it just takes a bit of getting used to. Another thing is that there are footnotes that aim to expand and add to the world building without slowing the pace of the main story. These are helpful but were more difficult to navigate on my kindle. Lastly, the preview did end on a cliffhanger, but that is to be expected and only made me more committed to finding out what happens next. I will definitely be picking up the finished version on February 5, 2019.

I was given a copy of this preview excerpt from NetGalley for an honest review.

The description of The Ruin of Kings drew me in and it didn't disappoint. From the first page I was interested in what was going to happen next. This was only a preview excerpt and I'm definitely interested to see where the rest of the novel goes.

The world building particularly for the novel is stunning from the get go. There's a history to this world and it isn't a great one, it's dark and it gets gritty. Not only is there a history, but there's it's own monetary system, social class, and different races of beings. If nothing else give this novel a shot for the world. It'll suck you in.

The plot is definitely what one would expect out of an epic fantasy with demon, gods, and lots of intrigue abound. There's even the diversity that I've started to look for. The main character is still your typical white male, but there's certainly racial inclusion in the other characters and there's even a lesbian! There's witty dialogue and even some deeper conversations between characters that I enjoyed.

Now, there were a few things about this novel that could have been tweaked a bit. Kihrin, our main character, is enjoyable, He has some snark that I can appreciate, but for growing up in a brothel and being a thief he's surprisingly and almost annoyingly good. He has no flaw that I really picked up on. Now, his flaw may appear later in the book or at least become more obvious, but I live for the flaw and right now it just isn't there.  The one other part that was a bit of a struggle for me. The narrative. I love the idea of telling a story through the characters telling the story. I think it's a brilliant idea. However, both storytellers follow Kihrin, but at different points in his story, It makes the characterization seem shaky at times. Final note, love the foot notes, but they aren't great for the kindle. If I wanted to read the footnote I'd have to bookmark the page or lose my spot. While not a big deal if there was only one there are a fair amount and that can make it a bit tedious.

So, as a whole I would definitely recommend reading this book. There's a solid world, diverse characters, and a great fantasy plot.

Warnings: (implied) rape, slavery, torture. I didn’t feel like any of these points became overly graphic, but they are also major points in the novel and not something that can be avoided. 
	In many ways I was not prepared for, or expecting such a large chunk of an excerpt. I honestly think (but do not know for sure) that this was about half the book. Which I’m obviously very grateful for. I’m merely guessing at the size of the excerpt though, based on what was covered and what still has to be covered. 
	The Ruin of Kings drew me in right from the beginning. It has an epic plot, interesting characters, and reasons to be emotionally invested in what happens next. Having an intriguing magic system and even better fights was just icing on the cake.
	This novel is one part a coming of age story, one part a classic princeling story (you know the type, where he’s had to flee the throne in order to save his life? Usually without ever knowing the truth), and one major part epic fantasy. 
	There are many elements of this story that felt familiar…but in an almost soothing way. Jenn Lyons cleverly used these elements to jumpstart certain plots in her writing. This allowed her to more efficiently get along to the more exciting parts. It was really well done.
	Kihrin was an interesting character. He’s charming, intelligent, and oddly naive despite what he’s been through. This is likely due to all the fairytales he grew up listening to. There’s something oddly endearing about this fact, and it really does help the story along.
	The plot jumps back and forth between a couple of points in time. This worked really well here – Lyons was able to move the main plot forward in one timeline, while also teaching us about the main character and the world in another. It was effective.
	I honestly can’t wait for The Ruin of Kings to release so I can read the second half of the book. I’m so anxious to see what happens next, and how it will all fall together.

This book is extremely interesting! I liked the way it is written as well as the whole plot. The characters were fascinating and I can't wait to have a finished copy in my hands!

From what I read so far from this 23 chapter extended preview, I LOVE the story. I can’t wait to read the entire book!!! 

This book is split up into three different timelines. There’s the present with Kihrin and Talon in third-person, Kihrin telling his story from the beginning (that starts four years back) in a first-person POV, and Talon telling Kihrin’s story in third-person from a different starting point also four years in the past. You don’t really see much from what I would call present-day, so it’s really alternating chapters between them to tell the story.

I actually really like this kind of storytelling, and personally, I love reading fantasy in first-person, so I was flying through this preview. This extended preview does end in a cliffhanger and left me wanting more, and I can’t wait to read the rest of Kihrin’s story!!! I might buy the audiobook as well as a physical copy (there are footnotes in this story but the e-book formatting is really well done reading this on my Kindle) because I want to know how to pronounce all the character names and places.

Not a bad start since this is a substantial preview. The world building is definitely intriguing and it holds your attention. I would definitely be interested in seeing more. I'm on the fence on whether the use of footnotes help or hinder the flow of the narrative, though.

Epic Fantasy read.  Will require attention as you will be introduced to different characters and the book is told in two different narratives 1st and 3rd person and in different time lines.  Kihrin's jailor forces him to tell his story that led him to where he is when we are introduced to him.  While his captor Talon recounts for Kihrin's earlier story. There are footnotes in each small chapter that adds to the tale.

A book of gods, demons, magic, kingdoms, dragons  and adventure.  It keep my attention and I wanted to know what was going on and understand what role Kihrin play's in this book.  Written in an interesting way and looking forward to see how the 2nd book will be done.

I recommend this book for Fantasy readers who enjoy the complexities of a new world and new characters.  Always fun when kingdoms are involved and the different wars and not just between humans but gods as well.  A good addition to your TBR pile.

Thank you to Netgalley for generously providing this arc preview. 

So far so good!! I love the main character and the world building is nice. The pacing takes some time to get used to and it was a little confusing at times but I was really enjoying it...so far! I'm super sad right now because I thought this was the whole book arc. Sadly, its a long arc preview.... So I got up to the end of chapter 23 and BOOM it ended.... so I am VERY excited to get my hands on the full copy of this!

I didn't realise this was an excerpt until I was halfway through, and now I'm gutted! I was truly drawn into the world Lyons created, and thankfully it was a lovely long excerpt. I'll be sure to try and get my hands on a full copy when it's released.

Normally I don't like these kinds of books. But the back and forth between present and past, or somewhat present really kept the story fresh for me. I also loved the little banter that went on between chapters or rather characters switching.

This is a really refreshing read. I would recommend this to everyone!

It is incredibly difficult to review this since this is only an extended excerpt and not the entire book itself. Nevertheless, The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons is quite the romp. There is a beautifully and imaginatively crafted world that offers vast potential as the setting to a deeply personal and massively epic story. These wonderful elements are wrapped up inside a structure that is puzzling and frustrating.

Both the main character, Kihrin, and the worldbuilding in The Ruin of Kings are exceptional. The detail that Lyons has worked into every part of her world is captivating. From royal houses to thousands of years of history, the setting of this world invites you deeper and deeper into the story. The magic system was tantalizingly fascinating. There is vast potential here. I also felt Kihrin was a very well fleshed out MC. It was interesting seeing both his own internal perspective as well as an external perspective. I’m not sure that either represents a particularly reliable perspective. Individual chapters fly by and induce a deep-seated need to know what happens next.

Unfortunately, for me a lot of that vast potential in the setting gets lost in the odd structure of the novel. We begin with a brief letter written by a character to explain recent events. This character serves as the ultimate narrator, providing footnotes throughout the book. There is then a frame story in third person between Kihrin and Talon as Kihrin waits in a jail cell. They each then alternate telling Kihrin’s tale while it’s recorded by a magic rock (which is used by our ultimate narrator as his main source for writing the story). To further complicate the structure, Kihrin begins telling his tale at one point in time, but Talon thinks he should have started earlier, so begins the telling earlier in Kihrin’s life. Kihrin tells it from first person perspective, while Talon tells it from third person, often changing the perspective character. For me, this structure just did not work. The footnotes were distracting and hinted at really interesting things that never got fleshed out. Jumping around in the timeline from chapter to chapter made it difficult to let the story overtake me. I wanted to be immersed in this world, but never felt like that happened. 

There is vast potential here, but I think the structure works against the natural tension and immersion of the story. I would have preferred it was told chronologically in third person, allowing the setting to really come to life and carry me away, rather than feel jerked around. Having said that—I can’t give it less than three stars, simply because the writing is superb and the individual chapters are so well crafted. I’ll have a hard time recommending it, even so.

I enjoyed The Ruin of Kings. It left me wanted to read more and delve deeper into Kihrin's world. I look forward to seeing more from this author and more about Kihrin and the land of Quur.

I enjoyed the story and characters in The Ruin of King but struggled a lot with the voice, timeline jumps, and footnotes.  I'll try again when it comes out and I can physically flip to the footnotes.

This book sucked me in from the very beginning. The writing is set up to tell 3 timelines for the main character at once; giving you an origin story where the MC is a street urchin with a mysterious birth, a what-happened-next main story-line where the MC is older and now dealing with magic, gods and demons, and a how-it-ended-up story line where the MC is in a dungeon being taunted by a demon.
Honestly, I think this is a brilliant way to draw the reader in. I'm dying to know how to he got from street urchin to vitally important MC, to obviously having gone wrong somewhere and in a dungeon. I just need to know!
The characters are good, not necessarily predictable, very distinct, and not too like their tropes, although I think the dialogue could use a little work. I like the Main Character, although the world-building is happening a little Too slowly, leaving us annoyingly in the dark about some basic facts about this world. I like not dumping it on us all at once, but I wish for a little more.
The use of "footnotes" within the text, as if the book were a report being written to some government official, is a nice way to provide world-building information without interrupting the story. I like the whimsical feel of a 3-rd party commenting on the events.
I was only given Part One to read, so I'm dying to get the book for real and find out how it end!
I received this book as an ARC copy from NetGalley in return for an honest review.