annieb123's Review of The Harp of Kings (Warrior Bards, #1)

by Juliet Marillier

A young woman is both a bard—and a warrior—in this thrilling historical fantasy from the author of the Sevenwaters novels.

Eighteen-year-old Liobhan is a powerful singer and an expert whistle player. Her brother has a voice to melt the hardest heart, and is a rare talent on the harp. But Liobhan's burning ambition is to join the elite warrior band on Swan Island. She and her brother train there to compete for places, and find themselves joining a mission while still candidates. Their unusual blend of skills makes them ideal for this particular job, which requires going undercover as traveling minstrels. For Swan Island trains both warriors and spies.

Their mission: to find and retrieve a precious harp, an ancient symbol of kingship, which has gone missing. If the instrument is not played at the upcoming coronation, the candidate will not be accepted and the kingdom will be thrown into disarray. Faced with plotting courtiers and tight-lipped druids, an insightful storyteller, and a boorish Crown Prince, Liobhan soon realizes an Otherworld power may be meddling in the affairs of the kingdom. When ambition clashes with conscience, Liobhan must make a bold decision—and the consequences may break her heart.

Originally published on my blog Nonstop Reader.

The Harp of Kings is the first book in a new series by Juliet Marillier. Released 3rd Sept 2019 by Penguin Random House on their Berkley Ace imprint, it's 464 pages and available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats.

This is a high fantasy epic quest spy-fi told in alternating 1st person PoV from the 3 main characters' viewpoints. The chapters are labeled with the characters' names to keep the narrative straight. I didn't find them altogether distinct from one another and confess that I had to look back at the beginning of the chapter to check, (but only occasionally).

This is a fairly long book (doorstop fantasy) and as such the plot arc developed very slowly. I enjoyed the author's voice, and she is undoubtedly a lyrical, technically adept writer. I liked the strong female lead character and how all three MCs have their own strengths and weaknesses. I was previously unfamiliar with her earlier books, but will go and search them out after this.

This would definitely appeal to fans of the genre. It is admittedly slow to develop (if I'm 100% honest, it was a bit of a slog for me a few places, and I'm not really sure why). The book includes a handy interactive table of contents. I've grown very fond of e-books with interactive content lately.

Four stars, probably higher for fans of her earlier series.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

The Harp of Kings (Warrior Bards, #1)

by Juliet Marillier

Reviewed by annieb123 on Nov 16, 2019

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