Early Review: Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

Title: Falling Kingdoms
Author: Morgan Rhodes
Series: Falling Kingdoms #1
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Publisher: Razor Bill-Imprint of Penguin Publishing
Pub Date: December 11, 2012
Pages: 412 Pages
My Copy: ARC that I picked up at BEA

Book Synopsis:

In a land where magic has been forgotten but peace has reigned for centuries, a deadly unrest is simmering. Three kingdoms grapple for power-brutally transforming their subject’s lives in the process. Amidst betrayals, bargains, and battles, four young people find their fates forever intertwined:

Cleo: A princess raised in luxury must embark on a rough and treacherous journey into enemy territory in search of a magic long thought extinct.

Jonas: Enraged at injustice, a rebel lashes out against the forces of oppression that have kept his country impoverished-and finds himself the leader of a people’s revolution centuries in the making.

Lucia: A girl adopted at birth into a royal family discovers the truth about her past-and the supernatural legacy she is destined to wield.

Magnus: Bred for aggression and trained to conquer, a firstborn son begins to realize that the heart can be more lethal than the sword…

The only outcome that’s certain is that kingdoms will fall. Who will emerge triumphant when all they know has collapsed?

Book Review:

This book was pure fantasy gold. From the very moment I started this book I couldn’t put it down. This book was utterly amazing. Everything about it was compelling and fascinating. The world building was totally believable. Plus all the main characters are very interesting and make choices.

When we start the book, we are taken to the past, the intro scene was interesting and there was a murder right away. I was like okay I can get into this and there’s a reason for things that will play out later in the book. I found it fascinating how we are told that the act of murder was one of love. Love can drive people to do some crazy things. This book does get a little crazy later on.

The elements that I found were interesting is how all of our characters are living very separate lives, but they are going to be interwoven with actions that their parents and other leaders take that will have very severe consequences. All of our characters, Cleo, Magnus, Jonas, Lucia are all different, but each are being affected by events that get out of control and that people are suffering. 

Also what makes this interesting is that the Three Kingdoms are so different from one another.  There’s the rich kingdom, the second kingdom is the middle class, the third kingdom is the poor one. Yet the poor one is the one that makes the best wine. What happens in the present day is that there’s an argument and this propels a lot of the story.

Jonas feels enraged about what has happened and he vows revenge on those who have wronged his family. His rage and anger makes him not see things clearly. Yet you feel for him in a lot of different ways. As a reader you understand his grief. His grief is very believable. The book progresses for him in a very different way than the other characters, but his journey is about revenge and how he feels that the poor get ignored. I think that this is a very interesting motif that gets played. His anger is directed at the royals who have exploited things.

Magnus and Lucia are an interesting brother and sister as well. We learn that Lucia is not what she seems, but she is more powerful than even she knows yet. Magnus is always being pulled in two very different directions. These directions are always what he is wrestling with. I like that here’s a character that wants to be a good son, yet be a good person, but his father makes him do things that are morally questionable.  Lucia has magic or is suppose to and be so very special that she will be one of the most powerful sorceress. She struggles with her magic and how she feels.

Then Cleo which is short for Cleoina is a princess. She witnesses something horrible and feels guilty about what she sees. Her betrothed is a real jerk. I really don’t like him at all.  Yet when someone she loves gets sick she goes on a quest and nothing is going to stop her. On Cleo’s quest, she is joined by Nic, her friend. Things go horribly wrong and lots of things happen. Things that she don’t expect and she learns things are not always what they seem and puts herself in grave danger. Also her and Jonas come face to face. Jonas feels that he wants to punish her and make her lose someone she loves. Jonas really is someone who she needs to avoid. Then Cleo meets Prince Magnus and things happen that really play out quite stunningly.

There was so many things that happened here. I also love the descriptive language that she uses to describe the kingdoms and land of the Kindred. Also the fact that the Kindred, the ones who wield magic and live in a separate place from the Kingdoms have a vested interest in how things will play out. I also mean the action scenes were some of the best I’ve ever read in YA. I really found the chemistry between certain characters to be well written. You really do believe you are in this world.

I found myself loving this book. I was like WOW as I really was going through this book. The way this book evolved was amazing. This book was so remarkable. This book is destined to become a fantasy classic like Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings. Plus I really would like to see Prince Magnus and Princess Cleo to get together romantically. Make room on your shelves for this book. I plan on buying a hard cover when this comes out. 

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