Legacy of Kings (Blood of Gods and Royals, #1)

by Eleanor Herman

[jeannamichel]

Before Alexander was great, he was just Alexander. His best friend, a former street rat, Hephaestion, competes in a tournament in order to win the gold reward and journey with Alex to the Fountain of Youth. Instead, Jacob ventures from his small town with his love, Katrina (who refuses him) to compete as well. Katrina has her own agenda and decides to follow her past, rather than fall into the arms of the man she loves. Zofia, betrothed to Alex, seeks to change her fate and does everything in her power to alter the path. Legacy of Kings depicts the time where the gods have turned away and let all the cards fall as they may.

A lot of people have described this as Game of Thrones for a younger crowd. I have not yet read the Games of Thrones series and cannot contest to that—I will read it soon, I promise you. If you enjoy fantasy, read this book. If you enjoy historical fiction, read this book. If you enjoy reading, read this book. This book is fantastic, clever, and gorgeously written.

At first, the names were confusing. I still don’t know how to pronounce Hephaestion—not even in my head. Eleanor Herman created a plot where every chapter transitioned to another character. I would have loved to see a map of where each chapter led. Like with the names, the transitions were overwhelming at first but I quickly caught on when I got more into the story.

I don’t read the fantasy genre often because I love them too much. As soon as I finish, I don’t want to read anything else and I want to reread the book over and over again. The same goes for Legacy of Kings. Since I left for vacation right after finishing, I couldn’t reread it but I probably would, given the chance. Legacy of Kings by Eleanor Herman deserves a reread and another and another, at least until the sequel comes out (this series is meant to be a quartet).

Eleanor Herman is a genius. Also, she is a historian so besides the fantasy aspect of her plot, most of what you are reading may even be historically accurate which is incredible.

Each character has their own story but they all connect, making it tremendously difficult to choose a favorite. The only qualm I have about the characters is that I wish Herman would have given her readers more of the relationship with Alex and Katrina (which I totally figured out faster than any of the characters had). I would have loved to see what sort of conversations they had when there were no prying eyes or nothing immediate was at hand.

Legacy of Kings is a page-turner like no other. It will have you glued to the page in a matter of seconds, on the edge of your seat, itching for more.