The Ruin of Kings

By Jenn Lyons

Book Overview

A Kirkus Best of Science Fiction and Fantasy pick for 2019
A Library Journal Best Book of 2019
An NPR Favorite Book of 2019

"Everything epic fantasy should be: rich, cruel, gorgeous, brilliant, enthralling and deeply, deeply satisfying. I loved it."--Lev Grossman, author of The Magicians

When destiny calls, there's no fighting back.

Kihrin grew up in the slums of Quur, a thief and a minstrel's son raised on tales of long-lost princes and magnificent quests. When he is claimed against his will as the missing son of a treasonous prince, Kihrin finds himself at the mercy of his new family's ruthless power plays and political ambitions.

Practically a prisoner, Kihrin discovers that being a long-lost prince is nothing like what the storybooks promised. The storybooks have lied about a lot of other things, too: dragons, demons, gods, prophecies, and how the hero always wins.

Then again, maybe he isn't the hero after all. For Kihrin is not destined to save the world.

He's destined to destroy it.

Jenn Lyons begins the Chorus of Dragons series with The Ruin of Kings, an epic fantasy novel about a man who discovers his fate is tied to the future of an empire.

"It's impossible not to be impressed with the ambition of it all . . . a larger-than-life adventure story about thieves, wizards, assassins and kings to dwell in for a good long while."--The New York Times

A Chorus of Dragons
1: The Ruin of Kings
2: The Name of All Things
3: The Memory of Souls

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 125022571X
• ISBN13: 9781250225719
• Release Date: August 2020
• Publisher: Tor MM
• Length: 752 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.8" x 4.1" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

Loved It!

I love fantasy as a genre, but these days I find myself getting more and more picky about them. So I could nitpick a few things about this one, but overall I enjoyed it more than I've enjoyed a book in a while! The majority of the book is written from two perspectives at different points in the same timeline, and this makes for some really unique pacing that kept me hooked even when nothing was happening. The action is really interesting, the main character is deep enough that it's hard to either hate or love him, and there's a few things going on with the book's overall world that I haven't really seen before. I've already ordered the next two books in the series and I can't wait to get into them.

Kept me guessing

I really enjoyed the story as told by two vastly different characters. There were more twists and turns than I could count.

This book compares to Game of Throne and Harry Potter in terms of compelling & vividly imagined

I absolutely loved this book. Excellent start of the series & a world reimagined where the hero isn’t a clean cut solid guy & the antihero isn’t someone to hate on sight either. It’s a beautiful world described with good detail & the characters, even the small side ones, have back grounds and histories well thought out. I’m ecstatic to read the whole series.