**Thank you to NetGalley and Rebellion Publishing for the free ecopy of this book in exchange for honest feedback!!**

Mike Brooks does it again, bringing the reader back to the world of the Black Keep. I absolutely adored The Black Coast, and this second installment in The God-King Chronicles delivered everything that I expected!

Check out the first book in the series before diving into this one as the character's lives and journey's are all deeply intertwined. I can't wait to finally get into the third book and reach the conclusion of this epic series.

I read this one a while back but forgot to made my comments...

Mike Brooks writes great fantasy! His prose is amazing, his world are great and most of all for me his characters are just the best! Read it! Read him!

I didn't realize that this was the second book in a series - so I did not end up finishing it. But what I did read was written very well.

The Splinter King by Mike Brooks is a fantastic sequel to The Black Coast .

As the book progresses Brooks manages to kick up the action by several notches, while keeping the reader well immersed in the world he has created.

I would recommend this book to fans of Robert Jordan or tad Williams .

Mike Brooks' The Black Coast and The Splinter King were in my top 5% favorite reads from 2021 (out of 252 books!). I discovered both of these via Netgalley, and went on to purchase hard copies afterwards and to recommend them in person to anyone I thought would listen. Prior to reading these I hadn't had much luck with adult high fantasy, but I found Brooks' series utterly engaging. The sequel lived up to my expectations and set things up perfectly for the next installment. The plot, pacing, and characters all deliver, and the voice/dialogue is witty and distinctive. I think this series will please both fantasy fans and the more general reader of adult fiction.

The Splinter King is the sequel to The Black Coast and it truly ups the action, but never loses the amazing worldbuilding and character work that made me love the first book! It’s masterful how well the plot juggles small moments and large ones. I think there are even more viewpoints here than there were in book one, and yet I still never felt adrift. I was just thinking about how to summarize the plot, and it’s enormous – there are so many things going on, but I can’t get over how very readable this is.
Full review to come on YouTube.

I was given a free copy of The Splinter King by Mike Brooks (author), Rebellion/Solaris (publisher), and Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. The Splinter King is the second book in the God-King Chronicles. Black Coast is the first book in the series. I reviewed Black Coast and rated it 3.25 stars.

This review will not contain any spoilers.

I would characterize Splinter King as high fantasy or epic fantasy.

The greatest strength of the story is the world building. Mr. Brooks continues in this story that he started in Black Coast by creating interesting cultures, cities, and very vivid descriptions of trekking in the cold through the mountains.

Magic is featured in this story but I would suggest this story has low fantasy and not important feature of the first two books.

My biggest issues with this story are the characters and story. I liked the chapters featuring povs from Saana, Tila, Saana's husband, Zhanna, and Marn. I did not find the other pov characters to be engaging or interesting. I though their arcs slowed the flow of the story. Even in the parts of the story I liked, I thought the the plot meandered and went on side quests which I took me out of the story.

My favorite character arc is Tila and I know I would enjoy a story featuring her and the side characters in her arc. I think Mr. Brooks created an interesting dual character in Tila and her secret persona. I enjoyed reading about the criminals who operated in the criminal underworld as well as the court intrigue and political machinations in Tila's chapters.

I stopped reading The Splinter King at fifty-two percent and before that I skimmed through the parts of the story featuring character povs that I did not find interesting.

I rate The Splinter King 2 stars.

I would like to thank Mr. Brooks, Rebellion/Solaris, and Net Galley for the free ARC.

This is the second book in the series, and dare I say, a better book than the first one. This series has a lot of different POVs, and this book does a better job of jumping between them. There is politics, running from a daemonic warlord, culture clashes and interesting relationships. It is definitely a doorstop, coming in at 600+ pages. But if you enjoy big, epic fantasy, this is a good series to pick up. I’m excited to see where it goes.

TL;DR

The Splinter King by Mike Brooks is a wonderful follow up to The Black Coast. Return to the world of dragons, sars, and raiders in this fun epic fantasy.

Disclaimer: The publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Any and all opinions that follow are mine alone.

SPOILERS FOR BOOK 1 AHEAD

STOP READING IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED THE BLACK COAST

Review: The Splinter King by Mike Brooks

Epic fantasy is a genre enjoying a fun moment where the settings are more than just substitutes for Western European culture. Earlier this year, Mike Brooks published The Black Coast, the first in The Chronicles of the God-King series. It featured an interesting mix of cultures: Asian, Viking, and vaguely Middle Eastern. I loved the setting of that book, and I wanted to see more of the world that Brooks had imagined. Lucky for me, the second book in The God-King Chronicles comes out today. The Splinter King picks up soon after the events of the first book and ranges much farther into the world. The Splinter King builds on the promise of the first book and sets its characters up for the next one. Along the way, we learn more about each culture. Oh, and there’s new species of dragons. This is the epic fantasy series you should be reading.

The Tjakorshi have settled with the Naridans around the Black Keep. Daimon has married Saana and been saved from the crime of patricide through a technicality. Tila is headed back to the intrigues of the Court. Jeya and Galem are hiding from the thugs who killed the Splinter King’s family. The draug known as the Golden sent raiders to retrieve Saana and kill her clan, but the raiders failed. The Golden is not likely to forgive their failure. And rumors swirl that the God-King has been reborn.

The Splinter King is a close third-person epic fantasy. And at over 600 pages, it is quite epic. Each chapter follows a certain character in a certain region of the world. From the Black Keep to the Smoking Valley to Idramar to Kibaru ce Alaba to the Sun-Palace, itself, this book does a lot of traveling. It varies locations more than the first book, which took place mostly in the Black Keep. In addition, new POV characters are introduced in this book. The Splinter King continues the story from The Black Coast soon after its finish, and the story continues to build in epic proportions.

As expected, Brooks shows us more of his world. We learn more about Narida outside the Black Keep. I liked Marin’s chapters quite a bit. His character expands beyond the husband of a blacksword and more than just a thief. Saana’s daughter, Zhanna, gets a lot of page time, and when she’s out from her mother’s vicinity, she reveals her abilities as a leader. I liked her much more in this novel than the previous because she had more to do than fight with her mother. While I’m not sure which is my favorite storyline, I’m most interested in seeing how Jeya’s develops. The Splinter King moves the story along while deeping the world and characters. That’s what I look for in middle books in a series.

Transitions

The Black Coast was a book about integration of immigrants. The Tjakorshi and the Naridans found a tentative peace, a working relationship that saw them both survive. This doesn’t mean that everything is hunky dory. The two cultures still clash occasionally, and, like anything, a small crowd can’t let go of the past and the stereotypes that each fell into. These problems still exist in The Splinter King, but they’re not the focus. This book is about transitions, which fits for a second book in a series.

Some characters are remaining in place; others travel throughout to develop and expand the plot. I don’t know if its on purpose, but the characters with a lot of POV chapters in the last book tend to remain in place here. The new POV characters get a chance to explore the wider world. I imagine that it is on purpose because this allows the reader to keep up with established plotlines even while new ones are introduced.

The Tjakorshi and Naridans are entering a transitory phase where their cultures are blending. Saana’s daughter carries a Naridan sword and is raising dragons. Naridan youth are tattooing their foreheads in the Tjakorshi manner after the battle. This, of course, is not universally welcome. But it’s an inevitable step. Despite certain groups wishes, culture is not static; it is constantly in flux. Though people wish to maintain ‘traditions,’ it’s really a fear of change. But one way a society stabilizes is the blending of cultures and the creation of new traditions. In The Splinter King Brooks shows the beginning of the two societies cultural evolution.

Tila is a woman of two worlds. She is the divine princess and is also the underworld boss known as Livnya the Knife. Where the reader saw her mostly as Livnya in the first book, we get to see her navigate the royal court as Tila, the divine princess. But Livnya is never far from her. Tila is a woman constrained court politics and misogynistic tradition. Livnya earned her place among the crime lords of Idramar. From the text, it looks like Tila performs her divine princess duties out of loyalty to her brother and family, but she’s more free as Livnya.

It's a Big Book

The Black Coast was a big book, and The Splinter King is also quite big. The publisher and author include a synopsis prior to the prologue. Do not make the same mistake I did and skip the synopsis. There are so many characters, and I forgot some of the minor ones. There’s enough context to catch up quickly, but the synopsis prepares you.

Conclusion

Mike Brooks’ The Splinter King builds on the storylines introduced in the previous book and adds new elements. This book expands upon the world of The God-King Chronicles and cements it as a series worth reading.

The latest installment in the The God-King Chronicles picks up pretty much where the first one ended. Fast-paced, interesting and various POVs. War-dragons! And other animals akin to dinosaurs in my visualization.

The first book was very much an introduction to the different societies and the protagonists of the story. This novel ups the ante with conflicts that already begin to intervene the web of stories.

The different gods, folklores, rulers have set up an intricate series with intriguing characters. I never felt bored reading this and for all almost 700 page book it didn’t feel like it was that long. Can’t wait to see where the series goes with the next book. Hopefully it is published sometime next year!

The first book in the God-King Chronicles series came out in March, which I thought was an incredibly promising start to a new series – so I was very thankful to get an ARC of the sequel.

In some respects, The God-King Chronicles is a pretty standard epic fantasy series. There are a range of characters from the north, south and west of the map – some of them are some of them are nobles, some of them are raiders, and some of them are religious leaders or gutter thieves. There are dragons (though these particular dragons are more like dinosaurs, really). This book does the standard things reasonably well: the world is relatively well-fleshed out with limited info-dumps, as we see the different cultural groups that make up Narida and its surrounding regions come into each others’ orbit, and the characters are all interesting enough to follow, even if I still have my favourites from book one, most notably Daimon and Saana, as well as Daimon’s brother Darel.

But there are two things the series does differently, and they are both on display in The Splinter King.

Firstly, I love that this is a series about conflict resolution via negotiation, rather than fighting. There are some battles, and some people do die, but this is overwhelmingly a hopeful series about what can happen when two parties seek to communicate with each other, compromise, and make genuine efforts towards reconciliation and harmony.

Secondly, Brooks does some really interesting things with gender. Narida is a queernorm world, with a range of different pronouns that signify the spectrum of possibilities for gender representation (in additional to multiple queer relationships). The Splinter King takes this a step further by introducing us to characters who are still figuring out where they sit on that spectrum, and how they might want to move along it and what this means for navigating their way through society. It takes a bit of getting used to as a reader, but after a while it becomes second nature, and it’s one of my favourite things about the series.

The Splinter King does suffer relatively significantly from ‘middle-book syndrome’. My main issue with book one was that a number of the characters felt disconnected from the main action that took place as Daimon and Saana tried to broker peace between their communities, and were clearly only introduced so we knew who they were in book two. These characters are much more integrated in this book – but the trade-off is that there are now far too many POVs, and the book isn’t able to fully do justice to all of their stories. There are a lot mini-climaxes and chapters that are very clearly about positioning characters for the finale, and a lot of stop-start action that comes from getting invested in one character’s story, only to transition to another.

Despite these challenges, on reflection my experience with The Splinter King was a positive one, as evidenced by the fact that I am very keen for the next book in the series – we have been blessed with the first two books arriving within six months of each other, so I can only hope Brooks keeps up the epic pace.

A terrific follow up to The Black Coast and really moves the series forward in so many interesting ways!! The developments through each of the POV's went to unexpected places and I enjoyed each of them very much. The story picks up right after the events in The Black Coast, Darel has left as Thane of Blackcreek to go to Idramar and faces challenges along the way. His introduction to court life and his feeling completely out of place is understandable and has funny moments, he also finds a new friend and ally in Hiran. Tila continues to try and pick up the pieces after her return but is thwarted in new ways that have deadly consequences. Daimon and Saana deal with an envoy from Darkspur and realize that they are an eminent threat to the peace they have built there. Jeya certainly deals with the most changes and realizations that shakes them right to the core and the results have the potential to affect the entire kingdom. I thoroughly enjoy Mar and Laz's relationship and the trek to find and save the reborn Nari adds some great funny moments. I found this book had much better flow to it and as the events moved along it really keeps you engaged in the story. Part of that may be that I was familiar with each of the different cultures and their speech patterns so that probably helped a lot in the overall enjoyment of the book. I am really hooked on these characters now and really looking forward to the return of the Unmaker and all of these story lines coming together in the next book!!

Having somewhat enjoyed the first book I was thinking I would have a good read with The Splinter King. I didn't think it was perfect or anything but a solid story for sure. Some of the things with the way he writes how everyone identifies themselves is still a little annoying and confusing. The writing and the story keep you interested or rather kept me interested for most of the book. There were a few characters that didn't grad me fully with every page but then I get back to them when their chapters come around again. Zhanna proved to be the most interesting for me this time and hope takes more pages in the next book. The story itself is sort of boring or slow paced but it picks up at in moments you least expect. There are some things that happen that have me thinking the author is really trying to surprise people or keep them guessing as to what will happen next. This is another reason that keeps you turning pages. The intrigue that happens could be enough to make some happy but I prefer the action and fights that happen more. There is a fair mix of both so should please people who like either. It wasn't until the last few chapters that had me really thinking I can't wait to see what happens next. From the story so far I am wondering if he plans on a trilogy or more books because this story could go in some surprising directions. Look forward to seeing what comes next as always.

So here's the thing-- this is a very good second entry, but it does suffer from a bit of a pacing problem and I think it's mostly to do with the vast size of the cast. Personally, most fantasy books take me a good 100-200 pages before I'm fully invested in the story and I think that's largely due to setting a backdrop before flying right into the action. With so many storylines slowly building steam, it took me about half the book before I was really feeling it.

But there are so many things happening! And while we do spend less time with my favs from book 1, several other characters get some much needed development and there are definitely more dragons! By the end I was happily switching between POVs as all the storylines had me wanting more.

I'm not 100% sure if this is going to be a trilogy or a longer saga, but Brooks certainly builds on themes in the first book, adds complexity to several plotlines, and packs in the action + intrigue. If you enjoyed the first entry, The Splinter King is certainly worth your while!

I hope that some of the pacing is resolved in the next installment and we can get into the action a lot quicker.

Mike Brook's The Splinter King takes the events of the first novel (The Black Coast) and sets them free within the larger world he's created - his characters begin to see their actions and decisions reverberate across the land, and they must deal with the consequences. Brooks continues to worldbuild, with each protagonist followed exposing more and more of the realms he's created. I like the way Brooks has managed to mesh multiple inspirations into his world - he doesn't pigeonhole any characters into just one "type" or background, but takes their experiences and history into consideration as they develop. You can also tell that Brooks enjoys the stories he develops - the plot grows and widens, not shoehorned into following one linear path. Plus, I'm pretty sure he makes an attack helicopter joke that left me chuckling out loud. All in all, this is a great second book in a great series - it's well worth your time to check out.

Definitely enjoyed more than the first one !!!

We hear more from the secondary characters that were introduced in the first book from different areas and their stories start to come together in such an interesting way!

I'm interested to see where this story goes in book 3!!

HIGHLIGHTS
~excuse me sir, those are not dragons they are dinosaurs
~‘cease this foolishness and die quietly’ is a Vibe
~a society that meets in secret is a secret society, Marin
~don’t fight ‘well’, fight smart
~libraries are sexy

I really wasn’t sure what to expect from The Splinter King after the ending of book one, The Black Coast (and if you haven’t read Black Coast, please proceed no further, because spoilers!) Now that I’m finished, I’m in two minds about it.

I loved a lot of things about Black Coast, but the worldbuilding was definitely the winner for me: if you’ve been following this blog at all, it should be clear to you by now that there is no faster way to win my heart than by presenting me with truly excellent worldbuilding. Bonus points if it’s queer. And the God-King Chronicles gets those bonus points.

But The Splinter King is the second book in a series – in a trilogy, actually, according to one interview Brooks gave – which means I’m already familiar with the worldbuilding (bar some new, small bits and pieces introduced here and there). So it had to give me something else to make me love it.

…And it didn’t, really.

It’s a very readable book; I ended up reading about 70% of it in two days. The prose is perfectly pleasant and I liked most of the cast. But for the most part, it kind of felt like nothing really happened. Which is strange, because actually, too much was happening. Where most of the POVs of book one interacted with at least a few of the others – Sanna and Damien and Zhanna were all in Blackcreek, for example – here, they all got spread out. The result felt like every character had their own side-quest – most of which weren’t very interesting and weren’t really all that important to the story – and the book was completely lacking a central plot.

I’m used to books with lots of POVs; I didn’t have a problem following where everyone was and what they were doing. But I was…kind of bored. I kept waiting for the action to start, and it didn’t. When we did get an intense moment, it was immediately cut off by an edge-of-your-seat cliffhanger…and then there were three or four very bland chapters from other POVs, which meant that by the time we got back to the high-tension moment…the tension was gone.

When I finished The Splinter King earlier today, I was left thinking ‘what was the point?’ For the most part, the book felt very much like filler or padding. Quite a few of the different plotlines ended on impressive cliffhangers again at the end, and that was as exciting or interesting as they’ve been for the whole book. It reminds me of the show Supernatural, which I used to love but stopped watching long before it finally ended; they used to have pretty epic cliffhangers at the end of every season as well – and then the first episode of the next season was always a complete let-down.

Ultimately, I wanted to love this so badly – and I just didn’t. Even the enormous, huge, world-changing revelation-scene at the very end ended up being so completely underwhelming. The Splinter King never gave me goosebumps, never made the hairs on my arms stand up, never gave me those electric shivers you get when a line just resounds inside you. The worldbuilding is impressive, but wasn’t expanded upon enough from what we saw in book one to be interesting for its own sake. And every time I had an omg!!! moment, the book effectively punished me for it by then drowning me in chapter after chapter of stuff I could not care less about, so what should have been a roar turned into a whimper instead.

All of that said? I did enjoy the reading experience; I appreciate how easy it was to just keep turning the pages, and I do want to give points for the handful of very cool moments that we got (‘cease this foolishness and die quietly’ is a line I will not soon forget). That’s why I’m rating this as high as I am. But I’m no longer at all sure I’m going to be picking up the next book in the series.

I loved the Black Coast and found it an excellent fantasy novel. This is one is even better, if possible.
It's a mammouth story (672 pages) of adventures, humour, twists and turns and I read it quite fast as the gripping plot kept me hooked.
There are multiple POVs, we catch with the characters of the previous book and meet some new. This choral story is fascinating and we get to know more of this world and how they live.
An excellent story, gripping and highly entertaining.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine