The Golden Dynasty (Fantasyland, #2)

by Kristen Ashley

Circe Quinn goes to sleep at home and wakes up in a corral filled with women wearing sacrificial virgin attire - and she is one of them. She soon finds out that she’s not having a wild dream, she’s living a frightening nightmare where she’s been transported to a barren land populated by a primitive people and in short order, she’s installed very unwillingly on her white throne of horns as their Queen.

Dax Lahn is the king of Suh Tunak, The Horde of the nation of Korwahk and with one look at Circe, he knows she will be his bride and together they will start The Golden Dynasty of legend.

Circe and Lahn are separated by language, culture and the small fact she’s from a parallel universe and has no idea how she got there or how to get home. But facing challenge after challenge, Circe finds her footing as Queen of the brutal Korwahk Horde and wife to its King, then she makes friends then she finds herself falling in love with this primitive land, its people and especially their savage leader.

• ISBN10: 0692619348
• ISBN13: 9780692619346
• Publish Date: 5 February 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Kristen Ashley
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 456
• Language: English

Reviews

[Caitiebelle]

Ok. Phew. I think...I'm going to be completely honest here and actually say that I did struggle with this book. And it had nothing to do with the non-con or the way of life that the nation of Korwahk has, this actually was really good.

So before you kill me, let me tell you why:

This was the first book that I read by this author and no, I didn't read book 1 because these are stand-alone and I was looking for something very specific so I got recommended this book. The Wife Hunt is one of those specific things I wanted as a trope.

Now let's talk about what my problem was throughout this book that seriously bothered me.
I'm not saying the Author has done anything wrong here - I'm just saying that sometimes when something has been written previously and become sort of a "national recognized thing" (or what to call it) that everyone knows about and will always associate with when reading something similar very quickly - that's not always a good thing, and I think it's good to try and stay away from that for your own sake when you write.

So what am I talking about? Well...the fact that there was just way too many similar characteristics to A Song of Ice and Fire here. I am then specifically thinking about Martin's Dothraki vs. Ashley's Suh Tunak.

As a reader, I felt that the book opened up extremely well, but once Circe started to look around, more and more of the world and people/warriors of Korwahk came into view, and I just kept getting flashbacks to Martin's Dothraki and even more so in the case of Dax Lahn whom I felt was the spitting image to Khal Drogo. Right down to the plated hair, the way it was worn AND body paint, even the custom of cutting it off (the braid).

And from that moment on...it kind of ruined the book a bit for me.

Because not only do I keep getting sidetracked over the fact that the similarities are just so in my face here, but the female heroine also shares a name from GOT AND there's even a 2nd char in the book who shares a name from GOT (even he looks very similar in description, though he's not a prince or a king.) Not that you can't use the names, but this just adds into it for me, since I was already constantly comparing the two.

We also have The Eunuch, whom at first I didn't react dramatically to, his story is sad, but once he explained in more detail what his job was for the Dax? Again that screamed far too much of GOT.

So yes, I'm going to be one of THOSE people, and I'm going to say that it might not be illegal, it might not even be "wrong", but I think you hurt yourself and your own writing, by not being more original.

And even though there are TONNES of tropes in a fantasy genre and we have the building blocks for a lot of it in this book (a lot of the book IS original and I enjoyed it a lot) - when you decide to include mannerisms, descriptions, people and so forth - that is so so similar to something so Iconic as A Game of Thrones, you do yourself a disservice.

But who knows Martin probably doesn't have a copywrite on how Drogo looks, maybe he took that from someone else and so forth - but the fact still stands that HIS version of his "barbarian people" made it to the big screen, and because of that - people will most likely instantly identify a lot of the Suh Tunak and Dax Lahn here, with that. And that's not fair to the author, because I think she did a good thing here - but it is how it works, and some might not have issues with this. *shrug*

I see lots of reviews that comment on this positively - but for me? It just doesn't work for me. It's just not something I enjoy. It's OK to have some similarities - but when I straight up feel like I'm looking at Khal Drogo and his band on Dothraki, that is too much for me.


So what DID I enjoy with this book?

I really do think that the book had a lot of elements that I liked. I love that the author created a language - even gave a dossier of said language, that is admirable!
And that said language was used in the book and Circi had to learn it, Lahn had to learn English etc.

I love this whole alternative universe thing we have here, we're delving into a bit of a Star Trek thing here with that alternate mirror image, but instead of your twin being evil - they are just...you but different.

I thought the world itself as a whole is great, and I really liked Korwahk and its customs.

I loved the dark elements of the book, I thought it fitted in very well. The book was emotional at parts and even though I had issues with the GOT similarities, I still fell in love with the characters, though I will say that I still don't quite know how old Circe is supposed to be because she states 35 at one point, but the way she's written just screamed the early 20s to me.

Sexy time was also hawt once we got to the consent development - but I still don't mind the non-consent parts because this is Fantasy and the whole way of life here worked very well into who these people are and their way of life.

I give this book a good 3.5

[leelu92]

Reread- 9/8/13- 9/10/13. Sigh. Love love love.


SERIOUSLY???!!!! This book is so frick fracking epic that I don't even know how to express myself.
I really truly thought I could not love Kristen Ashley more. I was WRONG....way wrong. I loved the 1st book and I knew there were aspects of this book that I would not like and yes it was hard to read at first. But I am here to say that this was an epic love story...for me. Just between being from different world, the language barrier and culture differences.... and they still were just the most fantastic thing ever for me. Circe and Lahn are just an incredible story- how she challenged him to change things in his kingdom, how he changed things within himself for her. How she worked to understand his world for him.
This book just killed me....crying before it ended- when the bottom fell out for Circe and then I cried tears of happiness at the end. I am so looking forward to more in this series.... so freaking much.

[Melanie]

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

This book is a revisit for me. I read it few years ago from the recommendation of Jessica at Rabid Reads. I really enjoyed it (read it without having read book one first). I always meant to go back and finish the series, but I never got around to it. Now that they are coming out on audio, I thought it was a perfect time to revisit. I started with the first books Wildest Dreams and now I’m finally getting to revisit the book that made me want to finish the entire series.

This is a series where you have a heroine who is from the world as we know it and changes places with an identical twin from a parallel universe. In the first book, the girl from our world knew she was making the move, but that is not the case in this book. Circe Quinn goes to sleep in her bed and wakes up in a corral of other women, most of which don’t speak her language. She doesn’t know what is going on. She eventually learns that she is to be part of the “Wife Hunt” that happens with the warriors of The Korwahk Horde. Many of the Korwahk volunteer to be part of the Wife Hunt, it is a great way to find a noble warrior husband, versus just finding a husband who doesn’t have that kind of rank. There are also women who are captured and forced into the wife hunt.

Dax Lahn is the king of Suh Tunak, The Horde of the nation of Korwahk. He has never participated in the wife hunts. That is until he sees Circe. She is completely different from the other women from his land. The Korwahk people are described as dark skinned and dark hair. Circe is pale with blonde hair, so she stood out amongst the other women.
Once the wife hunt starts, is it pretty traumatic for Circe. She is chased by several men and men are literally fighting to the death in front of her, just for the right to have her as their bride. The king, also known as the Dax, finally wins his bride and consummates the marriage (though the ceremony is later and nothing like what we think of as a wedding). He takes her back to their camp.

While Lahn speaks several languages, English isn’t one of them. So there is a large communication gap between them in the beginning. They do find another woman who does speak both languages and she acts as a translator (can you imagine how uncomfortable that could be at times). They both work to learn each other’s languages, not to mention cultures and personally. It is not an easy road, especially if she is to be queen.

This is a great story. I loved it just as much the second time around as I did the first. I will give you one word of caution about it. The wife hunt, it is what it is. That the culture of these people. It starts Lahn and Circe’s relationship off to bad. It isn’t pretty. I will say that it doesn’t stay that way for long. I would compare Korwahks to the Dothraki in Game of Thrones. It isn’t a lot different with how Khal Drogo and Daenerys Targaryen come together. That wasn’t a pretty beginning either, but it ends up as a wonderful relationship.

This is a really fun story. I loved watching how Crice learns this new culture. I love how she sees things that need to be changed and works to make things better. How she went from a small business office manager to queen of a group of fierce warriors. Now, she doesn’t have dragons like Daenerys, but she does have a really cool white tiger. She makes some pretty good friends along the way. If you think you can get through the beginning of the book and the wife hunt, then I highly recommend this book to you. I am aware that some of what goes on during the wife hunt is harsh. I know that not everyone will want to read it. I completely understand that. For me, this was a great romance. I really liked the characters. I liked watching Circe improve the lives of these women.

I was in love. Perhaps not with the man of my dreams, but with a man that was more man than any I’d ever encountered.

Then I whispered, “I love you, my Lahn,” and heard the swift hiss of his intake of breath.
Then he buried his face in my neck and whispered back, “Loot kay hansahnalay na, my Circe.” And I love you, my Circe.

Narration
Tillie Hooper continued to do an amazing job with this book. I just love her narration. I loved how she could put the embarrassment into the voices of some of the characters when the story called for it. There is a scene where a warrior is trying to be better to his wife and he’s trying to ask Circe about it. The man sounded so embarrassed to be asking these questions to a woman, his queen no less. I loved how she was able to make him sound so much like that. She also nailed the language of the Korwahk people, which is used a lot in this book. If you haven’t tried Tillie Hooper, I highly recommend her.

**I like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

[nitzan_schwarz]

YOU CAN ALSO FIND THIS REVIEW ON MY BLOG

Immediately upon finishing Wildest Dreams, I picked this one up. And I'm glad to say I enjoyed it as much as its predecessor, even if I still had the same qualms and issues. And a few new ones. It seems like this series is a true guilty pleasure for me.

One night, Circe goes to sleep in her bed on our modern world. She wakes up in a pen filled with woman on a different world. Soon, she finds out she's in the "wife hunt", a tradition of a warring nation in which the warrior's of The Horde hunt, fight for and "claim" a beautiful woman as their bride. This claiming, for someone who is not Korwahk, is rape.

So this is something you need to bare in mind going into this book. The main character is going to get raped in the first couple of chapters by her love interest. It's not graphic or scarring in any way (for you need to then fall in love with their love story, and you can hardly do that haunted by that scene), but it's there. And while the book definitely doesn't encourage rape, it does its best to explain this was not rape in their eyes, for the woman of their nation chosen for this hunt are happy and excited for this chance, and its "their way". It's an integral part of their culture. Still, rape is rape.

So in order to enjoy this love story, you'll need to set that aside. You will need to accept this part of the culture and shake it off along side Circe. I did so, even if occasionally I got very uncomfortable with it all, and I enjoyed the story. I enjoyed the romance.

It feels weird typing these words, though. "Shake off rape". But you kind of can't help it when Circe does it so readily, when the book spends its time showing you Lahn is not a bad guy but a loving guy and such is his people's way and it's not done out of malice (for most of them, anyway).

And Lahn is a good guy. He loves his wife, but more than that he is proud of his wife. Proud of who she is and the fight she has in her, proud to call her his and proud to be called hers. And you kind of have to love that, because there is nothing sexier than a man being proud of his wife's accomplishments. Also, he's hard core alpha-male cave-man brute. You ladies know you love one.

So, yes. Despite the shaky start, despite everything, I adored these two together. I loved how they were and I loved they were ready to make concessions for each other. It's an adjustment for them both, but adjust they do. And they do it scorching hot.

Not to mention, Ashley clearly worked a lot on this book, creating it's own language, with its own rules and grammar. Kudos to that, that takes a lot of effort.

But just like in the first book, Circe sounded a lot younger than her 35 years in her inner monologues and the excessive usage of "cool" and "awesome" and the likes. Not to mention the massive descriptions of clothing and jewelry were still very excessive and I skimmed them. In a way, she sounded a lot like Finnie in her slang and mannerism, which is not the best when you're trying to create two separate heroines, but I can't deny I loved her despite this

It's been a long while since I've binge read a series, but this is exactly what this series made me do. Something tells me it might have the same effect on you guys *wink*


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[Romance Schmomance]

Review to come!

[Eve1972]

This one is a bit difficult to rate. I liked it, but he has disturbing content that many will find hard to excuse..

[stacey_is_sassy]

***Re-read April 18, 2017 June 20, 2018***

I don't think it could EVER be a bad experience...

It's my yearly visit and I loved it AGAIN. I will be back.

***********

So, Goodreads is telling me that I’m re-reading The Golden Dynasty for the 21st time. Well, that might be a slight exaggeration…but it might also be pretty bloody accurate. I LOVE THIS STORY!!

I was having a think on why I love re-reading, or in a lot of cases listening to an audio for a re-read, so much. I think re-reading is like being a stunt person. You know the layout, study the highs and lows and know when the scary parts are coming up. You can brace all you like, but you will still feel the impact. Sometimes those impacts will leave marks and other times you are so sure you're going to get hurt, you skirt around it at the last moment.

Reading, or in my case, re-reading for the 21st time (still a little shocked at that), The Golden Dynasty is exactly like that. I know when all of the bad bits are coming up and I prepare for the impact as much as I can, but still, manage to come away bruised and battered.

There are a couple of scenes that REALLY affect me. I try to make sure that I’m in the right place at the right time when the impact happens but I’m not always successful. There is this one scene at the beginning of the book that I HAVE to be at home for. I need to give my full attention and make sure nothing can distract me or take away my attention from it. Today, I was on the train when King Butt-Head (Balder) visits Lahn and Circe. Now King Butt-Head’s visit isn’t really the problem but Lahn’s reaction to the visit had left me a little teary. Even after 21 reads I STILL CRY…EVERY…BLOODY…TIME!!! Obviously, I got my timing WRONG...really, really wrong.

This will not be the last time that I bring out The Golden Dynasty to cheer me up. For me, this is a book that will always take me to my happy place. An epic read that takes you from the lowest lows to the highest highs. I can brace all I like, prepare all I want, but the impacts will still move me, mark me and stay with me forever.

********
Another review -

I finished up the audio for The Golden Dynasty on a high. Today was a baking day for my son's birthday. He turned thirteen and put a request in for snickerdoodles and a chocolate cake. Luckily the boys were at school because it was a teary baking session and I needed to be alone to sniffle in private.

As I predicted the narrator was AWESOME! She does both male and female really well and I never hesitated in knowing when the characters changed. The emotional scenes were done really well and I could hear the anger, frustration, hesitation and passion for each character. The narrator deserves special mentioning for her interpretation of the Korwahk language. It was like Ms Hooper had been using it for years with no hesitation whatsoever.

I loved the audio and I'm pretty sure this will be on my regular re-listening schedule. I can't wait for more of this series to come out and I hope the narrator stays the same.

********

The below review is my first review of reading the book.

****

This is not an Epic review, this is just a tribute…

This review is a little spoilery so proceed with caution.

I have an incurable condition called OCKAD aka Obsessive Compulsive Kristen Ashley Disorder. It’s self-diagnosed, but I’m pretty sure I’ve got it. How I diagnosed my condition was by studying my feelings while reading Kristen Ashley books. I recognised an overwhelming desire to re-read every book Kristen Ashley has written over and over again. This is not a one off situation either. It happens EVERY TIME. How do I manage my condition…with a lot of perseverance and a one-click management program of buying more and more books to distract me from KA. Sometimes it works other times it’s a losing battle. I’m okay living with this condition on the proviso that Kristen Ashley keeps feeding my addiction with - alpha male, sexy, macho man, bossy heroes.

How to write a review for an epic tale like The Golden Dynasty? I have no bloody idea how to do it justice. This book brings out the most intense feelings in me about subjects that I would normally abhor. On the surface it’s about a bunch of blokes who seem to care only about their own needs and which woman or slave will serve it best. These guys are into fighting, raiding, drinking, partying and having sex. To find their wives and partners they make it a game… The Wife Hunt. Let’s find the prettiest chicks in the world, dress 'em up and tell them to run for their lives. The men then chase them down, fight off other contenders, which could end in their death, snap a chain around their neck and “claim” them. Sounds great doesn’t it? No?

Well, the first part of this story is a little hard to take, I’ll grant you that. The fact that the “claiming” doesn’t always get explained to the women makes it so much better…NOT! Once their “claimed”, the blokes then take them back to their cham (tent) and do a little more “claiming”. Some of these lucky ladies knew beforehand what was going to happen, but others don’t and have to deal with foreign words, actions and living arrangements.

So, initially you start this book thinking – How on earth am I going to fall for a hero who “claims” (if you haven’t cottoned on yet, I mean rape) his heroine and then keeps doing it over and over again? Well after awhile, his “claimings” takes a turn and becomes a little more, shall we say pleasant. The story comes to life as we get to know the characters and can’t help but fall in love with them.

Circe is from Seattle and wakes up in an alternate universe smack bang in the middle of the Wife Hunt. She has no idea how she got there but learns pretty damn quickly that she better get her head screwed on and run. We see through her eyes the horrors of the event and what she must survive. Circe soon realises she’s not returning home and must learn to live in this place and find happiness where she can. Luckily, she makes friends and learns their language which helps her settle into her new life.

Dax Lahn is king of his people. He has not joined the wife hunt before because he hasn’t felt an attraction to any of the women gathered. When Circe is paraded before him, he feels an instant connection. He chases her down, fights off his competitors and “claims” her as his own. Unfortunately, his queen does not know of his people and doesn’t jump for joy and accept him wholeheartedly like he’d hoped. Lahn must learn patience and compromise to gain affection from Kah Lahnahsahna (My Tigress).

This story is about struggling in a new world, learning to accept people for who they are and what they stand for and adjusting your expectations. We see a man who is also a king learn that the old ways are not always the best ways. We meet some wonderful characters in Diandra, Narinda, Bain and Zahnin. We also meet some truly awful characters. Dortak and King Baldur made my skin crawl with their evilness and greed that jumped right off the pages. How Dortak’s life was ended was gruesome and somewhat severe. I took extreme pleasure in reading his suffering. I’m not that type of person normally but the extreme hate I had for this character made me want to see him suffer.

The Golden Dynasty is part of a series. Each couple in the book before and books after are connected by the quest to bring peace and goodwill to their universe. Luckily the heroines have friends to help and husbands who at first can be brutal, but learn to be loving.

This is one of the most intense books I have ever read. My feelings were like a rollercoaster. I wanted to hate Lahn for his handling of things, but realised they were part of his culture and he didn’t know any different. I loved the friendships formed and the connections made between the people and their Golden Queen. The communication difficulties had me laughing at times and made me appreciate the difficulties Circe faced learning the Korwahk language. I was sad whenever Dortak’s bride made an appearance as I knew the abuse she faced would be unbearable. I became frustrated at the warriors for what they made their wives put up with, which contradicted the love and appreciation they show them. But overall I just felt awe that Kristen Ashley’s The Golden Dynasty let me escape for just awhile and live in Fantasyland.