Review: A March of Kings by Morgan Rice

A March of Kings by Morgan Rice

Recommended: sure
For people who liked the first one, for an adventurous escalation of the story now that the world and premise are set

Summary

After he escapes from the dungeon, Thor is horrified to learn of another assassination attempt on King MacGil. When MacGil dies, the kingdom is set into turmoil. As everyone vies for the throne, King’s Court is more rife than ever with its family dramas, power struggles, ambitions, jealousy, violence and betrayal. An heir must be chosen from among the children, and the ancient Dynasty Sword, the source of all their power, will have a chance to be wielded by someone new. But all this might be upended: the murder weapon is recovered, and the noose tightens on finding the assassin. Simultaneously, the MacGils face a new threat by the McClouds, who are set to attack again from within the Ring.

Thor fights to win back Gwendolyn’s love, but there may not be time: he is told to pack up, to prepare with his brothers in arms for The Hundred, a hundred grueling days of hell that all Legion members must survive. The Legion will have to cross the Canyon, beyond the protection of the Ring, into the Wilds, and set sail across the Tartuvian Sea for the Isle of Mist, said to be patrolled by a dragon, for their initiation into manhood.

Will they make it back? Will the Ring survive in their absence? And will Thor finally learn the secret of his destiny?

Thoughts

I liked the first book, but this one was maybe more exciting! Now that all the characters and various dangers of the world are in place, it was easier to move forward into the depths of the story and really get into the drama.

The classic style is still in effect, where things have a bit of a trope-y path they follow, but still in a surprisingly wonderful way. It’s like reading a modern classic, if that makes sense? Even though the vibe is very traditional knight’s adventure, I can’t predict what’s going to happen and I’m SO excited for it. The ending of this one by the way? Be sure to have book 3 ready to go when you finish. xD

Unexpectedly, a few additional characters pop up with a focused chapter or two. Sometimes this can be jarring, but I didn’t get that here. I genuinely was interested in all of them which is quite a feat, and they felt like they added to the overall world and story. I’m a little unsure how Erec’s ties in yet, but I didn’t care because it was sweet and I liked briefly seeing what he was up to.

One small thing to keep in mind is that there are still some little incorrect moments, like Godfrey being briefly referred to as Gareth for a sentence and confusing the heck out of me when I thought Gareth had arrived out of nowhere. Typos, incorrect words, that kind of thing. I am totally able to look past them because with that one exception above, none of them really impacted the reading experience. Plus it’s all so easy to sink in to that I’m willing to overlook that.