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chrisb913's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book was like Sherlock Holmes meets Law & Order set in medieval times with magic thrown in and make it grimdark. We follow the main pov, Helena, as she travels the world with Sir Vonvalt and Dubine, meeting out justice wherever they travel to.
The protagonists, setting, villains almost everything about this world is so well described and unique. The one exception is the magic system and the dieties, which I found made it incredibly more intriguing learning what little details the author is willing to slowly dispense.
I found the pacing to be slightly uneven throughout the book, but by the time I got to the last 100 pages I was so invested this instantly became a 5🌟 read for me.
The protagonists, setting, villains almost everything about this world is so well described and unique. The one exception is the magic system and the dieties, which I found made it incredibly more intriguing learning what little details the author is willing to slowly dispense.
I found the pacing to be slightly uneven throughout the book, but by the time I got to the last 100 pages I was so invested this instantly became a 5🌟 read for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, and Grief
Minor: Child death, Rape, and Sexual assault
thecriticalreader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Context:
I borrowed The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan from my library through the Libby App.
Review:
The Justice of Kings worked for me, due in large part to the refreshingly unique way Swan frames the novel. The obvious choice would have been to follow Vonvalt’s perspective, but instead, the book follows the retrospective POV of his clerk, nineteen-year-old Helena. This choice would have been disastrous if he had used Helena merely as a device through which to focus on Vonvalt; however, in my opinion, her character is well-written and adds considerable texture to the story. Helena is a realistic example of what would happen if you follow a nineteen-year-old clerk in a fantasy novel rather than the stereotypical protagonist with “main character syndrome.” She’s smart and eager to please, but also self-centered, moody, and occasionally rash. She makes a lot of mistakes due to her youth and inexperience. She’s limited by her gender, emotional vulnerability, and social position, but she also demonstrates agency and initiative. I also liked that she responded to situations of danger and violence with a realistic level of terror and horror; it's not often that we get to read about a protagonist who panics instead of automatically acting like a hero. While I can understand why some might consider her character to be sexist, Helena reminds me of myself when I was a nineteen-year-old girl—especially in how she confuses the overwhelming awe, affection, and dependency she feels toward the older male figures in her life for potential romantic feelings. Her whirlwind romance with the first attractive boy she befriends made sense to me in the context of her upbringing and situation.
Helena is a fascinating character in her own right, but her perspective allows us to gain a unique understanding of those around her, particularly Vonvalt. The depth of love and admiration she has for him—despite an intimate knowledge of his flaws—provides new layers to his character development as he faces a new world in which his nearly overwhelming power is suddenly threatened. Through her eyes, the themes of justice and power that this book explores gain added meaning.
Beyond the wonderfully crafted character development, Swan demonstrates competent worldbuilding and plot development in The Justice of Kings. The magic system is limited, and the world is not as expansive as some epic fantasy series, but Swan smartly focuses on building a strong story instead of throwing a large number of names, places, and exposition at the reader. As the plot gradually builds to a gripping crescendo, Swan opens the door for greater worldbuilding and plot development in future books. Overall, The Justice of Kings impressed me, and I plan on picking up the second book soon.
The Run-Down:
You will probably like The Justice of Kings if . . .
· You want to read a story with well-written characters and a gripping plot
· You like medieval-inspired fantasy
· You want to read a fantasy story through the lines of a non-traditional protagonist
You might not like The Justice of Kings if . . .
· You are not in the mood for a very dark and violent book
· You don’t want to read a book from the perspective of a moody teenage girl
· You want to read a fantasy story with epic, colorful worldbuilding
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Classism
fran's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Murder, and War
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Sexism, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent
kingcrookback's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
This took a bit to get into. It's is an interesting consideration of justice, morality, and power. As a lawyer, Swan is clearly invested in the exploration of these themes. The conceit of the story being told via the recollections of the protagonist in the distant future was an interesting choice in that it prompts curiosity as to what happens in this book that warrants keeping a record of it. But I found that sometimes that compulsion to keep reading was offset by wondering, "To what end?" Transcription and the recording of events is a running motif in the plot, but the fact that I kept getting distracted by what might be happening outside of the story - by what possible event, outside of the story we're actively following, prompted Helena to commit everything to paper - detracted from my engagement with the actual story. Even when I was engaged with the story, though, I found myself feeling somewhat detached from the main cast of characters, though that may just be an effect of the temporal distance of the older Helena's recollections.
I'll pick up the sequel because I'm curious as to where this all goes, but I'm not dying to find out.
I'll pick up the sequel because I'm curious as to where this all goes, but I'm not dying to find out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Grief, Religious bigotry, and War
Minor: Child death, Rape, Sexual violence, and Kidnapping
blacksphinx's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Moderate: Confinement, Fatphobia, Torture, Xenophobia, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, and Colonisation
Minor: Child death, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
wishbea's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Starts out as a murder mystery, which quickly becomes an empire ending threat. Justice Konrad is a very mysterious character and as the story is told from the POV of his apprentice/clerk Helena as an older woman we get to see his character shift and what seems to be the start of a moral decline from an outside POV. Helena herself is very dull and a victim of insta-love unfortunately, she has no idea what she wants in life, her streetrat orphan background is barely relevant to her character, and for some reason older Helena stands by her insta-love as her "first true love". Sir Radomir develops into a wonderfully charismatic character by the end of the book and the climax makes for a compelling start to this trilogy. I will be reading the sequel and hoping for better characterisation for Helena.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, and Fire/Fire injury
ohmage_resistance's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Medical content, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Rape, and Alcohol
pvbobrien's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Death, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Medical content, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury
misterwisp's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
(edit: For the completionists out there this trilogy is now fully published and finished, so if you've been waiting to start now is the time!) I think it actually lives up to the hype, which I was not expecting. It's everything. The characters feel like people, the world is subtly well established without info dumps, the plot pulls you in and feels like it matters, and the whole framing of one of the characters writing the story of her mentor in his strengths, failures, and changes he goes through due to story events they experience is surprisingly compelling. It was hard to put down and I'm left excited to read the next one. It's quite good and worth the time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Violence, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Medical content and Religious bigotry
Minor: Child death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Alcohol
dani_reis's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.25
I found the first 50% kind of boring. I had to reread the synopsis to see if I even knew what I picked up.
50-70% was where the plot really picked up.
The end was intense. I don't think I liked how the narrator is sometimes talking to the reader like a story is being given about the past, but then present tense for the majority of the book. It happened few enough that I can look past it. I am looking forward to the next book.
50-70% was where the plot really picked up.
The end was intense. I don't think I liked how the narrator is sometimes talking to the reader like a story is being given about the past, but then present tense for the majority of the book. It happened few enough that I can look past it. I am looking forward to the next book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Child death and Death of parent