Imagine a time when the gods turn a blind eye to the agony of men, when the last of the hellions roam the plains and evil stirs beyond the edges of the map. A time when cities burn, and in their ashes, empires rise.
Alexander, Macedonia’s sixteen-year-old heir, is on the brink of discovering his fated role in conquering the known world but finds himself drawn to newcomer Katerina, who must navigate the dark secrets of court life while hiding her own mission: kill the Queen. But Kat’s first love, Jacob, will go to unthinkable lengths to win her, even if it means competing for her heart with Hephaestion, a murderer sheltered by the prince. And far across the sea, Zofia, a Persian princess and Alexander’s unmet fiancée, wants to alter her destiny by seeking the famed and deadly Spirit Eaters.
Weaving fantasy with the salacious and fascinating details of real history, New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Herman reimagines the greatest emperor the world has ever known: Alexander the Great, in the first book of the Blood of Gods and Royals series.
***
"Questions are answered not when you want an answer but when the time for answers is right."
I was beyond excited about this book. In the end, however, I couldn't help feeling disappointed. The thing about Legacy of Kings is that it has a lot of potential and it does have a decent background, but the chaotic plot and character development ruins it.
The potential lies in the complexity of this world. Set in an era of the ancient empires, magic hides in plain sight. Six teenagers are maneuvering their way to success. Secrets run deep in the book. If manipulated correctly, this book could be an epic masterpiece. Setting things in a brutal time of history does make things more interesting. You seriously can't complain about magic and cruelty blended into one. Despite my fondness towards these aspects, there's no way I can give this book a four or even a five out of five. There are just fundamental problems that cannot be mended.
Prioritizing characters is a big problem. The book actually reminds me of Falling Kingdoms in a messy way (because of the point of views). And Falling Kingdoms is nothing close to "messy" (It's definitely one of my favorite series of all time). Six plus narrators? In thirty-two chapters? There's practically no room to be familiar with one character! It's extremely hard to manage six "main" characters, and some of them have fallen out of my mind.
I have divided the six "main" characters into two groups. The first being Alex, Jacob and Zofia. These are the invisibles. I opened the book fully expecting Alex to be the main player of the story. But his chapters were so scattered that he barely even made an acquaintance in my opinion. Jacob is the same, except his perspective were even more scattered. Zofia shared more chapters. Except she's too impulsive for her own good, and nothing really intriguing happened to her. They barely made a bleep in my mind. Kat, Heph and Cyn are in the second group. They actually made an impact in my mind. But the only one I actually like is Heph. His loyalty and fierceness are certainly admirable. I really hate that there aren't enough chapters where he is at the center stage. Kat is the one I have no problem reading about. But I don't particularly like her either. Unlike the other five characters, she actually shows some traits of being the main girl in a YA novel. Cyn has made the biggest impact in my mind, but in a very bad way. I hate to say it, but she actually disgusts me. Her manipulative ways and heartlessness pisses me off. She also has a twisted sense of loyalty and a thirst of power that is just terrifying and repulsive. I understand her pain and her desire for revenge. But this is way too much. You see, there are characters that are left out of the story. Either create a story with characters having distinctive traits or just cut the numbers down. Don't create six "main" characters and neglect half of them.
But the one thing that truly angers me is how misleading the summary is. It focuses on things that aren't even important in the real book. Why was Jacob mentioned in the summary when he hardly made a presence in the book? And how is Cyn not there, when she actually shared more chapters than Alex did? What about the Spirit Eaters? They didn't even show up in the book! They were mentioned and that was it. It's like I'm reading a different book. If you want to write a detailed summary, put something at least marginally related, not something that gets out hopes up and diminishes it. Or write a general summary. Misleading synopsis is the true demise of the book.
I'm still going to read the second book because the ending is surprisingly not bad, after all the disappointment. I hope the second book will be better.
Rating: 5/10
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