Falling Kingdoms (Falling Kingdoms, #1)

by Morgan Rhodes

War brought them together. Love will tear them apart.
 
Princess Cleo of Mytica confronts violence for the first time in her life when a shocking murder sets her kingdom on a path to collapse. Once a privileged royal, Cleo must now summon the strength to survive in this new world and fight for her rightful place as Queen.
 
The King of Limeros’s son, Magnus, must plan each footstep with shrewd, sharp guile if he is to earn his powerful father’s trust, while his sister, Lucia, discovers a terrifying secret about her heritage that will change everything.
 
Rebellious Jonas lashes out against the forces of oppression that have kept his country cruelly impoverished—and finds himself the leader of a people’s revolution centuries in the making.
 
Witches, if found, are put to death, and Watchers, immortal beings who take the shape of hawks to visit the human world, have been almost entirely forgotten. A vicious power struggle quickly escalates to war, and these four young people collide against each other and the rise of elementia, the magic that can topple kingdoms and crown a ruler in the same day.

• ISBN10: 1101590769
• ISBN13: 9781101590768
• Publish Date: 1 December 2012
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Razorbill
• Format: eBook
• Language: English

Reviews

[Kelsenator]

For more reviews make sure to visit my blog Kelsey's Cluttered Bookshelf!

Have you been looking for a good fantasy book, with some budding romance, politics, tragedy and a hint of magic? This book will definitely fit all of those. I was really wanting to read this book after hearing good things about it, especially since I love fantasy type books.

When I started reading this, the part about the magic leaving the land sounded familiar to other books I’ve read, so I wasn’t sure what I was going to think. But so much of this book focuses on the characters and how they are connected which I ended up loving, with the magic being about only one certain character for most of the book. This was a nice split, it wasn’t overpowering but it did have a prophecy and hints of more magic to come in future books, which I’m excited for! I also loved the kingdoms, how simple and not confusing they were, and of course the brief history of the place (there’s no long descriptive paragraphs, so bonus!)

The four main characters each have their own strengths and weaknesses, and some you will like more than others. Each of them have their own sad and tragic events too. At one point in the book everything seems to be going right for one person and their new love, them BAM next thing you know all that happy feeling-stuff is ripped away from them forever and they’re left in grief. I liked how this was done though, not all happy endings and rainbows, but real hardships that they have to work through. Cleo was probably my favourite for a good portion of the book, as well as her companions that help her along.

I really liked this book, and I’m excited for whenever the next one is due to come out! I want to see where this series goes and I hope you check it out!

[cornerfolds]

Read more of my reviews at Cornerfolds.com!

Here's the thing: epic fantasy kind of scares me. Falling Kingdoms has been on my TBR list for quite awhile, but I feel like I can only commit to one massive series at a time and The Wheel of Time has been occupying me for literally ever. But I finally decided to give this one a try when I found the audiobook. In fact, I tried it twice. The first time I couldn't get into the narrator's voice. The second time I couldn't understand why that was because he was amazing!

Falling Kingdoms is a story of several people and is split into multiple points of view. Usually I hate this, but it really worked here! Cleo is a princess who is in fear of losing her sister and sets off on a mission to save her life, against everyone's wishes. Lucia is a princess of a different kingdom who makes shocking discoveries about herself at every turn. Jonas lives in a country in the middle of two kingdoms and on the verge of destruction and finds himself in over his head when he tries to stop it. And then there's Magnus... Magnus, poor guy, just can't catch a break. He wants to please his father, he wants his sister to love him, and he makes some pretty big mistakes along the way that interfere with those wants. I love him.

Each of these characters have their strengths and weaknesses, but I'm really pleasantly surprised to come out of this reading experience not hating a single one of them! Considering two of them are princesses and there are multiple POVs in this book, I really expected to dislike at least some of them. Instead, I got strong, yet flawed characters with depth that you don't always find in YA. But as I've kind of implied, Magnus was my favorite of them all. I love a good tortured character and he fits the bill! There were also plenty of secondary characters that really made the story come to life.

The world building was one of the areas of this book that I'm conflicted about. While I really enjoyed the world and the mythology and I did feel like Morgan Rhodes did an incredible job of transporting me to Mytica, there were some serious issues. Primarily that characters seemed to jump from country to country in a matter of hours. I was continuously flipping back to the map trying to figure out how big the countries were. I've concluded that they must be a few miles across. Otherwise, I cannot figure out how everyone travels so fast. All of that to say I wish there had been a better sense of distance established.

While I ultimately did enjoy Falling Kingdoms, I can definitely say that this book dragged a little. There were times I wondered where it was going and if would ever get to the point. There were exciting parts every now and then, but it was mostly pretty slow. Since I've already read book two though, I can assure you it picks up! That's often the way with epic fantasy. Book one drags while it sets up the rest of the series, but it's usually worth it in the long run. Based on the hype for the rest of the series, I'm hoping it is!

Falling Kingdoms is a solid, if slow, first installment in this fantasy series. I was bored at times and I did have some issues understanding the (tiny) world, but I fell in love with the characters and was genuinely interested in their individual stories. Everyone told me that the first book might be just okay but that the rest of the series was incredible and that has been my limited experience. I definitely recommend this to fans of YA and adult fantasy alike!

[tweetybugshouse]

this was a great story i listened to it via audio book and i was thoroughly entertained.

[liz089]

Read more about his review and others on my blog Freyja Eats Books

REVIEW.
This is the first part in the Falling Kingdoms series, consisting of six books in total. The first four are already released and the fifth one will come at the end of the year. And.. that’s not all, there is even a spin-off series, Spirits and Thieves !

So, I’ve had this book on my shelves for a while now and every time it was time to grab something new I lingered on this one.. but choose something else instead ! Don’t know why exactly, but I felt like I wanted to save it for another time… So last weekend I decided that, that day it was time ! I was in the mood for something with lots of fantasy and well, I should have read this book ages ago.

And how stupid of me !! I really should have picked this one up a long time ago, because it was really great ! This story is so awesome and I had a lot of trouble putting it down. At the end I could not stop until I had finished it, and it was very late when I finally put it down. I itched to pick up the next one, but it was already past midnight and I had to work again in the morning.. So I started that one as soon as I got home the next day haha.

What I really liked about this book, is how fast-paced it is. It does not have long boring pieces in between were nothing happens, but shit keeps hitting the fan ! One scene after the next big things happen, people die and pacts are made. Just wow !

I really enjoyed this world as well, set in three very different counties. We see these countries through the eyes of its own citizens as well as from neighbouring countries, that gives a very thorough sight as how these countries are viewed.
I really liked how a different regime (king of chieftain) can have a very different impact on the welfare of a country and its citizens.
Because of this you do not only sympathize with one country, but it makes you care for all of them. Each of them has their own flaws of course, but they also have their redeeming factors that make you want to cheer for that country. And, this does not only count for the countries, but for the main characters too.

Mainly, the story is viewed through the eyes of Cleo, Jonas and Magnus and I liked each of them in their own way. Cleo was very wild, but honest for a princess and I felt very connected with her. I loved how much she cared for her sister and did everything in her power to help her. She is very brave and reckless and doesn’t take no for an answer.
I felt for Magnus and his home situation, how difficult and horrible his childhood was, and how hard it is to grow up a decent person.
Jonas was very passionate, but has a smart on his shoulders too. I’m very curious as how things will continue with him and Cleo !!

Because well.. what I kept thinking throughout this story is, will this become a love triangle ? It is still a bit too early to say at the moment.. but the way things are heading, who knows ?
Because the romance itself was not that spectacular to me, I did not feel much for Theon to be honest and am more team Jonas even though nothing has happened yet haha XD But time will tell.

The thing I did not like though, was that it was kind of predictive.. I knew what was going to happen before it happened most of the time and that kind of sucks. I like to be surprised and keep wandering what will happen instead of already knowing. Like halfway, with Theon, I knew THAT was going to happen. And of course was Jonas his feeling about the war correct as well, everybody saw that one coming from miles away…

One thing I do have to mention though, before I read this I noticed some other reviews commented on this one being a Game of Throne rip-off and stealing a lot of the plot from other books. But I didn’t feel it.. I had nowhere were I thought it sounded similar to other books and found this an original read. Yes people die easily just like GOT, but that is just life.

FAVORITE QUOTES.
“Even in the darkest and most cruel person, there is still a kernel of good. And within the most perfect champion, there is darkness. The question is, will one give in to the dark or the light? It's something we decide with every choice we make, every day that we exist. What might not be evil to you could be evil to someone else. Knowing this makes us powerful even without magic.”
.
“You're the same as you were yesterday and the day before. Nothing has changed. Not really. Forget what troubles you. Regret nothing, but learn from any mistakes you make. Tomorrow will be a brighter day, I promise.”
.
“...You need to think with your head, not only your heart."
He couldn't help but snort softly at that. "You think I'm using my heart right now?"
Brion rolled his eyes. "Yes. And in case there's any doubt, your heart is an idiot just like the rest of you...”
.

FINAL THOUGHTS.
So all in all, I really enjoyed this story and am very curious about what is going to happen next. That means that the writer did something right, because I really want to know how Rebel Spring and the others will go !! I have a lot of trouble continuing stories right away most of the time, so that is a big plus for me. So, apart from the predictability from this book, this book most definitely deserves a 4.5 Freyja’s ! And I really hope this story will be more surprising in the future books, and continue to capture my attention !

[layawaydragon]

I don't know who dubbed it "the YA Games of Thrones" but it works, I'd just add "dumbed down" to the description. It's more fantasy standard and didn't get me hooked. The magic isn't that interesting (from what we see in this installment anyways), the characters are bland and none grabbed me, and in the end, I just didn't care.

Sure, I don't want a tyrant to take over, but the alternative is a rich, dumbfuck elitist and the stupid, lying, asshole tribesman leader. I'd actually be okay with a mass character extinction in this book but of course it doesn't happen.

Rebels I feel for more in general but they're going about it stupidly. I definitely want the spoiled princess to get a clue and the sorceress to get a brain and a backbone but ehhh. It's too much effort without pay off to follow through.

[Chelsea]

Quick Thoughts:
1. The love I felt for this book could be easily squashed depending on the next books. We'll see.
2. Loving Cleo the most right now. She was the easiest to relate too even though she's young and impulsive.
3. I'm hoping the other characters get better because I didn't like them all that much.
4. The story could be pretty exciting if it goes the way I hope. There's lots of fantasy elements at play here.
5. I'm really excited to continue on. The only bad thing I've heard was that this book started out too slow but I thought it was nicely paced and I was interested the whole way through.

[mary]

In Morgan Rhodes’ Falling Kingdoms, three neighboring lands hold a tenuous peace that threatens to unravel. To the south is Auranos, a kingdom of wealth and prosperity, ruled by the even-handed King Bellos and his two beautiful daughters, the responsible, elder Emilia and impetuous younger sister Cleo. To the far north is the kingdom of Limeros, ruled by the cruel, power-hungry King Damora who schemes to seize Auranos through any means possible - even if it means manipulation of his powerful young daughter Lucia and her besotted brother, Magnus. Torn between Auranos and Limeros is Paelsia, an impoverished nation renown for its wineries but without resources or power and exploited routinely by Auranos to the south. When King Damora comes with his plans to invade Auranos, the Paelsians are more than happy to join their meager forces to the cause.

Caught in the middle of this political turmoil are four characters - Jonas of Paelsia, who vows revenge on the Auranos royals who swindled his winemaking father and murdered his brother; Princess Cleo of Auranos, who will do anything to save her older sister, even travel to Paelsia even though her life is at risk; Prince Magnus of Limeros, who harbors a forbidden love for his younger sister Lucia; and Princess Lucia, who is the heir to powerful magic, the likes of which could mean the end of everything in all the kingdoms.

I did enjoy reading this book, but when it comes to comparing this book to other fantasy novels it just doesn't come close. Falling Kingdoms may have the basic scaffolding upon which many winsome classic fantasy novels are built (yes, yes, including the obvious A Song of Ice and Fire similarities), but this particular book stumbles repeatedly in its execution. In other words, it is not even close to Game of Thrones.

Despite a few obvious downfalls with this book: the inherent simplicity of the three kingdoms and the flat simplistic characters for the most part I still gave this book a high rating. I'm trying to separate YA fiction from adult fiction when I review novels. Yes this was an entertaining, quick fantasy read. Does it compare with Games of Thrones? I don't think so. I still read it rather quickly and enjoyed the story for the most part. And I always love novels with different character perspectives. I just wish the characters were more developed and not as flat. Oh well, I plan on reading the next book in this series.

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

I might have given another star if I didn't feel characters were constantly being killed for shock value.

Full review to come.

[elysium]

3,5 stars


The story is about 3 kingdoms that were once united: Auranos, Limeros, and Paelsia. There’s been peace between the countries for centuries but then a wine-maker’s son was killed by Auranian noble from the princess’s entourage. The victim’s brother vows revenge and sets in motion a war that’s been long brewing.

Cleo is Auranian princess, spoiled, stubborn and childish. She was probably my least favourite character. She does grow as a person towards the end but unfortunately it comes after so much has happened. She’s also carrying this secret and let me tell you, that was the lamest secret. Ever.

I liked Magnus before he turned this bloodthirsty idiot and turns into his father who he despises. And he’s in love with his (adoptive) sister.

Jonas is a pheasant who harbors hatred for all things royal and when his brother is killed in princess Cleo’s presence he basically wants to start a war. And he seemed to blame Cleo more for the murder than Aron who actually killed him, just because she was royal.

I haven’t read much YA fantasy and this wasn’t in no way bad but I thought it lacked that something. Maybe things pick up in the next book.

[limabean74]

Review to come