I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

I found the story compelling and the main character to be very lovable and realistic. The problem, for me, was all in the writing, which seemed too juvenile and inappropriate to the themes the text wanted to present. I feel like, with a bit more work, this would’ve become a really great read.

The Sins of Kings by Daniel Thomas Valente

The Sins of Kings is a action packed epic fantasy novel loaded with secrets, mystery, and corruption.
The story is loaded with intrigue, politics, and betrayal, which draws you into the story quickly. Who can you trust when you are part of the royal family? What happens when secrets that have been hidden, are finally revealed? I enjoyed the plot for the most part and liked how it was carried out. The mystery of the rotting legs found in the forest is interesting.

I really liked the main character, Edlen. Elden is a young woman that wants to see and participate in life around her, but because she is a princess, she can't just explore. She is also extremely loyal to her friends and family. The Eyes are an interesting group as well. I would love to know more about them, and hope this is explored more in the next book. I also liked the Three Drinks mantra. One For Pleasure, One too Savor, and one for truth, and liked the way it was used throughout the story. While I enjoyed some of the other characters, I also disliked some.

Although it was an enjoyable read, I found that it drug in some places. It seemed like a YA book, but some topics were definitely not YA. The multiple points of view were a bit much, especially at first, but as the story continued, I was able to follow them. The book had a Game of Thrones feel in some parts, and fans of the series would enjoy this fantasy.

Overall, I would say it's more 3.5 stars, rounded up to four stars.

Ich weiß ehrlich gesagt nicht, wie ich dieses Buch bewerten soll, da ich es aufgrund relativ kurzer Ausleihdauer (ohne Verlängerung) nicht lesen konnte.

I enjoyed the plot but I found it hard to get past the writing style. It felt quite juvenile at times, almost more like YA.

This was great!
Honestly, no idea who the author is but I'm a fan!
Favorite genre/trope..hoping for more!

Thank you NetGalley for the eArc copy of this book for an honest review.

'two severed legs stood upright in their boots'... That's one way to get your readers attention!

Personal it wasn't for me. But I am glad I gave it a go. It was different and I think it opened up opportunities for me to want to explore similar books in the genre.

Ps. It has a map! All good readers know, that books with maps must always be explored.

A veces es la cubierta de un libro lo que te impulsa a leerlo, aunque no conozcas el autor. Esa mano que mueve como un títere una corona fue lo que me llevó a The Sins of Kings, aunque luego me encontrara un libro escrito con oficio, pero poco original en sus pretensiones. Esto es algo que me sucede cada vez más con la fantasía, me acabo cansando del reino pseudomedieval envuelto en intrigas palaciegas y guerras por el control del terreno con el toque de magia que corresponda.

Una mano que maneja como una marioneta una corona de rey.
Daniel Thomas Valente tenía una idea muy ambiciosa en mente cuando comenzó a escribir esta novela y la serie a la que da comienzo y no negaré que sale bien parado en cuanto a la ejecución, pero de ideas me parece que iba un poco más cortito, porque tanto la dinastía que lleva siglos en el poder como la heredera que se camufla para parecer uno más entre el pueblo llano no son de lo más original que puedas leer en el género. Hay diversos puntos de vista y están bien equilibrados, es solo que me suena a historia ya conocida y repetida hasta la saciedad.

Es cierto que trata algunos temas de más profundo calado social que las batallitas entre ejércitos, como el racismo y la desigualdad social, pero creo que le hacen un flaco favor al compararlo con la obra de Abercrombie, que le da sopas con honda. El libro está bien escrito y se ve que el escenario está bastante trabajado y nos deparará alguna sorpresa en las posteriores entregas. Tiene un primero capítulo impactante, que luego se ve lastrado por una bajada en el ritmo de la aventura, debido principalmente a la presentación de los personajes, que son muchos, y a los cambios de punto de vista, que quizá necesitarían una revisión.

También suena bastante tópico la existencia de una “amenaza que vuelve desde el pasado” y en general, el tono de la magia a la que se hace referencia en el libro es muy del siglo pasado. No creo que sea imprescindible explicar cada regla de la magia y aplicarla como axiomas en el desarrollo de un libro, pero tampoco me gusta el “lo hizo un mago” de Lucy Lawless en los Simpsons, dicen que la virtud está en el equilibrio y aquí al menos no lo encontramos.

Para ser una primera novela me parece interesante y le veo potencial a la historia, acompañada por una prosa atractiva. Espero que se desarrolle el mundo de una forma más interesante y que el autor sea capaz de aportar alguna idea más novedosa en la siguientes entregas de la saga.

À tale of intrigué, politics, and betrayal, which was definitely my kind of thing. I genuinely enjoyed the plot throughout and how it was carried out.

I really liked the main character, Edlen, even though it was a little tropey. However, I was not a fan of her brocken friend and his self-pity. It was very grating throughout the book. I also felt that I couldn't connect to him at all as there wasn't much in the way of redeeming characteristics.

The Eyes are an interesting group, and I would like to learn more about them.

It was an enjoyable read, but I did find that it was hard going at times. I had a hard time getting into it, and it did drag in places. I also felt that things were a bit too neatly explained away with convenient plot devices sometimes, as well.

Overall, I would say it's more 3.5 stars. I would definitely read the next one, however.

While the book was enjoyable, it was convoluted with the amount of characters there were. I also felt there were too many adult themes for a YA novel.

This book was too slow of a burn for me. The first four chapters were hard to get into which made me lose a lot of my energy for the book. I also felt that their language and says were forced and didn’t fit very well. I understand that many fantasy worlds have different terms and phrases for cursing or surprise this one just felt really forced and kinda cheesy to me.

"The sins of a king are not forgiven by the gods".

This book is mostly about power corrupting people, difficult choices kings have to make. Choices that shape their realms. Should a king choose well-being of his family above his domain? What choice is right when all of them lead to people dying? What even *is* sin? Is surrendering to an enemy you have no chance at defeating wrong?

I wish there were character list at the beginning. I wrote down all names and titles that seemed important but more than once I was left confused who's who. Apparently Rhen and Rhohl are two different characters. The lore isn't explained which is good because there are no infodumps but I have a lot of questions. Like what religion do they follow? What's role of priests in the society? Who are pedagogues? What are the rules of knight tournaments?

I am not sure how all that theme gonna play out in book 2. People being selfish and trying to protect their own even when it can cause death of innocents, people doing evil things because they believe other options are worse are explored in the story. I can't name a single character that is malignant just for the sake of it. Which is great for me because I despise good characters who don't have any reasoning behind being good.

I was a bit frustrated by some of the characters refusing to acknowledge that something magical is going on. It's the least interesting aspect of the story, come on. A few plot twists I saw a mile away which isn't inherently bad but I got the feeling author wanted me to be surprised. I enjoyed political scheming and politicians being more interested in getting money than in their subjects. Overall I liked the story and I am intrigued what will happen next.

This book was confusing with so many different points of view but when you got into the thick of the story it was fantastic. Edlen and Darrin were absolutely amazing to read about. The story was captivating and had a mix of just about everything - eg. Tournaments, knights, royalty, and even giants.

I hope to see that this book is a first of many by this author.

DNF at about 20-30% and so disappointed. The cover of this book is so captivating - the title intriguing - the blurb makes you want to dive into an epic fantasy adventure. And then.....well it was just lacking. And at the 20-30% mark I just could not force it one page more. It felt disjointed, characters were not well developed and too emotional. Just not my cup of tea.

I just reviewed The Sins of Kings by Daniel Thomas Valente. #NetGalley

I had a really hard time getting into and reading this book. Based on the synopsis I wanted to like this book, but I couldn’t keep track of the characters, who they were, how they were related, or even the plot. I’m all for multiple POV in a book, but this was just too much.

Like many other reviewers, I found this book started out really promising but simply didn't deliver. It was uneven and couldn't seem to decide if it was a YA novel, or not. I also found the characters uneven - they seemed to veer from normal human being to raging psychopath and back within a few pages. One character is introduced as a rather meek and timid woman who is slapping people across the face a few pages later. It felt like a first draft, to be honest.

The opening of the novel was fairly intriguing!
Unfortunately, I quickly felt myself becoming a little bit bored and more inclined to skim-read. I found it a bit difficult to connect with the characters enough to really root for them.
In the end, there were some neat ideas, turns of phrase, and story beats, but I just don't think this book was for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance reading copy of this book. I originally choose it because the cover is so cool looking. Based on the title I was really hoping for a deep historical and political story but that's not what I got.

There were times the characters just came off so YA that it pulled me from the story. I also found it confusing at times which made it difficult to want to keep reading. Overall, I think someone else would enjoy this, I just don't think that I did.

Writing and characterization are both great. The author does an excellent job of creating a wide variety of characters with varying motivations/opinions/mannerisms/etc. Loses a point because it takes waaaaay too long to get into the main story.

I loved this book! The weaving of the characters and plots is very well done. I do feel like there was a lot of information in the last 10% of the book that just kind of left me hanging; however that just makes me more excited and inclined to read the second book! Definitely had the right ingredients to be a great series and part of the great fantasy authors!