Category: Literary Criticism

The King of Blood continues to rule over the kingdom of Mytica with an iron fist. His son and heir, Magnus, is married to the former princess, Cleo, against both of their wills. Cleo and Magnus know that the King searches for the legendary Kindred  in hopes of gaining absolutely power through their magic.

The King plans on using Magnus’s sister, Lucia, a powerful sorceress, to find the Kindred but her magic threatens to consume her. The King looks for witches who can tutor her and teach her to temper her powers but so far, there have been none.

From across the sea comes two visiting royals, Ashur and Amara who also seek the Kindred. They propose an alliance with Princess Cleo but Cleo is hesitant to accept….there is something about them that she doesn’t trust.

The rebels continue to try and find a way to take down the King, but every potential plan ends in more death and destruction. Jonas, the leader of the rebels, begins to doubt if he has what it takes the beat the King and restore order in the kingdoms.

Continue reading “Review: Gathering Darkness (Falling Kingdoms #3) by Morgan Rhodes” →

After a bloody siege, Auranos has been defeated and the young queen, Cleo, is a captive in what was once her home and kingdom. The three kingdoms—Auranos, Limeros, and Paelsia—are now unwillingly united as one country called Mytica with the King of Blood as their ruler.

At the heart of this conflict though is the quest for magic. Four brave young people search for that magic and the power it promises.

For Cleo,  the magic would enable her to reclaim her royal seat. In Jonas’s hands, it frees his nation, and in Lucia’s, it fulfills the ancient prophecy of her destiny. And if the magic were Magnus’s, he would finally prove his worth in the eyes of his cruel and scheming father,the King of Blood.

If the King of Blood has his way though, he will use that magic for complete domination and absolute power over Mytica. All of them are frantically searching for magic but no one really knows where to start and they each only have a little piece of the puzzle.

When the King of Blood begins to build a road into the Forbidden Mountains to physically link all of Mytica, his cruelty sparks a revolt among the people that will change the course of the kingdoms and its people.

Continue reading “Review: Rebel Spring (Falling Kingdoms #2) by Morgan Rhodes” →

In the kingdom of Mytica, magic had been forgotten until three three very different rulers look for what was once lost.

In the north where Prince Magnus lives, the King of Blood rules and longs for power and unlimited magic. In the middle region, which is full of rebels lives Jonas…and there the people are ruled by a chief claiming to have magic but none have seen it, and in the south a prosperous region exists where Princess Cleo lives in a wonderfully naive world where magic is the stuff of myth and legend.

When a man is murdered in cold blood by Princess Cleo’s friend, his death sparks a revolution putting all three kingdoms against each other. The time is ripe for the King of Blood to seize all of the kingdoms for himself…and conquer he will…..by any means necessary. For him to rule, he must do so through magic and sacrifice.

There are four central POV characters, Cleo, Jonas, Magnus, and the sorceress, Lucia (also Magnus’s sister). All of these main characters are caught in a dizzying world of treacherous betrayals, shocking murders, secret alliances, and even unforeseen love.

Continue reading “Review: Falling Kingdoms (Falling Kingdoms #1) by Morgan Rhodes” →