Reviews with content warning for Religious bigotry - The Justice of Kings

"Vonvalt tended to deal with entirely alone, on account of my inexperience and relative youth. And as an impertinent young woman, I resented this."

The language used in this book carried the story telling so well. I will be reading the rest of the series and possibly more from this author for sure. The gore and violence is strong at times, as is expected in a story about justice, conflict and empires, but it fits the narrative.

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bannedfrombookclub's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

This was well done and an interesting fantasy for a few reasons. It's part police procedural, part political intrigue, part gore fest.

It's a book where the narrator is not the protagonist, though Hellena might grow into that role in the later books. The story is about Vonvalt, a kind of romano-germanic Judge Dredd with some low-magic whose authority and morality are tested by those who would remake the empire in their image.

Another interesting aspect is that this is a battle to maintain law and civilization that's under threat from religious fundamentalists, rather than the usual over throw of an evil emperor shtick. So it's very much in conversation with modern events in the West.

It's also a female narrator written by a man, and I'll give this an 7/8 out of 10 on that front. Don't know if I should add or remove points for the reverse fridging of her love interest, a romantic connection that felt flat and forced in any case.

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thecriticalreader's review against another edition

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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

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ta_jenks7's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

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_qwert's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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kingcrookback's review against another edition

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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.

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blacksphinx's review against another edition

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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

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andra_mihaela_s's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

4.25 stars!
Sooo..we have here a great epic fantasy debut like no other I have read before!
We follow Sir. Konrad Vonvalt- a Justice in the name of the Imperial Magistratum, his clerk, Helena Sedanka, and his faithful ally and taskman, Dubine Bressinger, as they travel the vast Sovan Empire with the sole purpose of delivering justice where and when is needed.

CW: murder, torture, religious bigotry, attempted assault, graphic description of battles, abuse, sexual violence, genocide, confinement, cultural appropriation

This book was a surprise for me, as it was completely different than what I expected! Instead of an action-packed fantasy with lots of politics, I was greeted by a slow, deliberate narrative where the central aspect was the law, the murder mystery that sparkled the whole chain of events that we are told lead to the fall/ the reorganisation of the whole Empire as Helena tells as in her account of her past.

We follow a first-person narrative focused on Vonvalt and what it entails to be a Justice in this world. We have lots of world-builing regarding the affairs of the state, law, religion and politics, coupled with mentions of the wars the Empire lead in the not so distant past for furthering his objectives.

As we are in Helena's memories, be prepared to follow a nineteen-year old girl who doesn't know what she wants and how to relate to her current feelings on what is happening around her.
She is grateful for the chance offered to her, but warry of actually doing what Vonvalt does in the future, she is very good at what she does, but she doesn't think this is what she wants for herself, and, obviously, as per age, she is easily distracted and uncertain about anything and everything.

As I mentioned before, we have a book centered around law, the state and religion, so if you want to read something addressing the importance of keeping separate these institutions with a little magic(really loved the particular way in which Justices uses magic ^^) and a fantasy setting...please read this book! ^^

This book won't be for everyone; you need a little patience and a desire to delve into the legalities of solving a murder mystery from the perspective of the law, not the usual protagonists that just forces it's way into the investigation.

After 150pages ( I know its a lot to ask from many :( ) I was completely hooked in both the religious aspect revolving about the village of Rill, as the mystery ongoing in the Galen's Vale. Helena's perspective felt refreshing and kept me very interested in what Vonvalt will do next!
I gave this book a little over 4 stars mainly due to its strong worldbuilding and unique (to me) themes; the character development, although not bad by any means, it was noticeably less in focus.

By the end of the book, we had great events, some tragic moments, while others where quite amazing (loved 2 particular scenes when Vonvalt used his status to enact what justice means to him) and even battles with high stakes to complete the amazing portrait of this world; Vonvalt evolved in a certain way and I cannot wait to read what comes next in the "Empire of the Wolf" trilogy!

Hope I stirred your interest!
Enjoy

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