The Prince's Poisoned Vow

iam

May 1

I cannot tell you enough how excited I am about this book. It engaged me right from the start with it's ambitious and sprawling fantasy politics with a lot of intertwined characters.

Every country is built on revolution.

THE WARDEN. Soren is a nameless, stateless man, tasked with keeping watch over Maricol's borders. He isn't meant for politics, only dealing with the dead. His past was buried in the poison fields, but after a fateful encounter with a prince, Soren comes to realize he can't keep what magic burns inside him hidden forever.
THE PRINCE. Vanya Sa'Liandel was the spare who survived the Houses' murderous games to become the Imperial crown prince of Solaria. He has a duty to his country, but he'll owe his life to the wardens. Payment of any kind is costly, especially when he's at risk of losing his heart to the man who saved his life.
THE COG. Caris Dhemlan hears the siren song of clarion crystals better than anyone in Ashion. That skill for inventing has enriched her bloodline, but it's who she can become that will ultimately entangle her with the Clockwork Brigade.
THE PRINCESS. Eimarille Rourke should have been raised to be queen of one country; instead, she is prisoner of another. Guided by a star god, Eimarille bides her time in a gilded cage, spinning a political web to gain a throne and start a war the world isn't ready for.

I received an ARC and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

It started out with a curiously high amount of POV characters and an entire part of chapters playint decades before the majority of the book, showing the main event that changed the political and societal landscape of Maricol forever. It also sets up the six main characters from when they are small children.

There are quite a few time skips, which worked very well with the big-scale political things that happen over the course of the story. Most events are so tangible and impactful, but there's also plenty of smaller scale ones - it was a perfect setup and introduction for a trilogy both in characters, politics and plot.

The plotlines are varied and span almost the entire continent the book takes place on. There's lots of politics, and even the characters who initially aren't interested in it get involved, of course. I enjoyed all the royal shenanigans, both from the good and bad guys - because one of the protagonists (as well as several of the smaller scale POV characters seems to be clearly set up to be the antagonists - or at least they are firmly on the other side of the main conflict, with them working against each other.
There's also science and zombies, and a tiny but of romance, though that is very much not the focus of this series. There are a couple of rather short sex scenes.

Overall I greatly enjoyed this book!! I am deeply invested in the characters and I cannot wait for the sequel!

Check the book out on Goodreads and buy it here. It is available via Kindle Unlimited.

~iam

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