🩸🖤 Blood of the Old Kings Review 🖤🩸

Thank you so much to Sung-il Kim, translator Anton Hur and Tor publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book

Blood of the Old Kings is a fantasy novel and the first book of a trilogy. The empire uses the powers of dead sorcerers to fuel the kingdom and those born with magic are destined to die for the greater good. When three strangers all find themselves with a greater purpose, will they start a war that could topple empires?

This was an interesting read. This book followed three characters - Loran, Cain and Arienne - as they all endure trials that set them on different paths in the empire. Overall I enjoyed their stories and am curious how they’ll intertwine more in future books. While this book had some complex world building, it didn’t feel overwhelming or confusing which I really liked

Overall this was a four star read. I enjoyed this world and am curious to see where it goes in the future. This book did have some triggers, so please check if you’re sensitive. This book did not have any romantic subplots, so no rating for spice will be given

If you’re a fan of fantasy novels with interesting world building, unique magic and a smidge of necromancy, then absolutely pick this one up.

I think this was one of those cases where I saw the artistry, I appreciated the skill it took, and in theory I like all the elements, but this particular book was not for me. I don't have any specific complaints, no part of it was BAD, but it didn't really leave an impact on me.
However, I can see how this will absolutely be IT for a lot of other people.
Translation was good, never felt clunky or lost with it, so shoutout to the translator/translating team.

I hope this book finds it's audience, because I really think it does deserve attention. I just wasn't the right person for it.
Books are like wands. The wand chooses the wizard. Just because we don't match up, doesn't mean either of us is bad, it's just waiting for someone else to love it the way it deserves <3

I was so excited for a standalone dragon fantasy book. However, there was barely any world building, and almost no backstory for anything (people/events/kingdoms/etc). The characters are very 2 dimensional and don’t have much personality. I thought this was going to be a group of 3 fighting together for atleast a portion of this book, but the main characters never all meet up together. and when two are in the same scenes, it’s for about 5 pages and doesn’t add too much to the story.

Cain is probably the most interesting of the three. He’s on a mission to find out how his best friend was murdered. He had balls, took risks, stood up and fought for what he believed in, and I did enjoy his chapters. I was confused when he was said to be a silent King? not sure if that was setting up for another book, but that sense of general confusion was pretty on par for the entire book.

Arienne is a sorcerer who frees some bad guy that lives in her head, and she has all of these powers that she’s not supposed to have. I wish we learned more about the school, what type of things the students learn and can do, and overall what sorcerers provide to their society. She’s somehow this extremely powerful sorcerer who has barely any training, just suddenly knows spells, and can do what no one else can. Like this is mentioned multiple times in the book with no explanation.

Loran is my least favorite character. She makes a deal with a dragon, an eye for a sword as long as she become King. For someone who brought back the dragon, I found her to be the most boring. She didn’t really fight for anything. She didn’t make a difference to society or her “people”. and her followers just magically appeared whenever it was convenient for her. I wish we saw more of her back story, how she came to the decision to be King, how she learned what to do with the dragon, any sort of training involved, etc.

This is an extremely short fantasy book, but I’ve read novellas with explanations that make more sense. The acknowledgements page says this is based of TTRPG and yes, I can 100% see that. There’s a lot of “here’s how it is, wait no here’s how it is, except this person can do this. oh and now this is happening”. It felt like 3 underdeveloped stories in one, which did it a huge disservice. The ending was also super rushed, and I found myself skimming the last 3 chapters.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Dang. I was excited about this book, but I was not expecting to love it so much. Because it’s a fantasy import, I knew it would be different from the typical fare on the B5 market. I’m always desperate for fantasy stories that don’t fit in the mold, and Blood of the Old Kings hit the spot for me. Originally published in 2016 as 메르시아의 별, or Star of Mercia, Kim brings a world to life full of dragons, magic, and devious political intrigue. I really hope this series gets a full run because I can’t wait to read what’s next. I’ll be incredibly disappointed if the rest of these stories don’t make their way into readers’ hands.

The art of fantastic storytelling, for me, boils down to characters and story. The better the characters and more intricately (and cleverly) plotted a fantasy tale, the more I will like it. Blood of the Old Kings follows three separate characters--Cain, Adrienne, and Loran—as they navigate their lives under the tyranny of the Empire, a brutal regime that uses the sorcerers it trains as power generators for the magical machines it uses to dominate the world. Somehow, these three characters find themselves involved in the same conflict, and the artful way Kim weaves their lives together really made the book stand out for me.

Loran really provided the hinge for the book, as all the characters really connect through her efforts to resist the Empire. An atypical main character for a dragon novel, as she’s neither romantically involved with anyone in the book nor barely in her 20’s, she’s desperate to throw the yoke of the Empire off her and her country’s back—and get some justice/vengeance in the process. What I love most is that she does not compromise her basic human integrity and morals in order to do so. The people of her country are just as important to her as anything—and she’ll protect them to the detriment of her own goals.

Arienne, a sorcerer, and Cain, a street-smart investigator of sorts, come from the Capital of the Empire, though their origins are provincial. I love the way Kim writes these two—they each possess an intelligence and empathy I love seeing in fantasy characters. Cain searches for the murderer of his friend, and Arienne seeks to escape the Academy because she does not want to end up wrapped in magical chains as a prisoner for her afterlife. The nuances of these characters and the roles they play in the rebellion impressed me immensely. Kim shows through them that resisting a powerful tyrant requires equal power and destruction, and the cost may not be something they wish to pay.

As I journey through the fantasy bookverse, I have noticed narrative techniques in stories I love, and Kim’s fantasy really has all of them in it. It’s not a simple cookie-cutter copy-and-paste offering. I first saw this book in March, and I’ve been stoked for it—my expectations were met and exceeded. If you’re looking for a fantasy that’s not like the others, definitely pick this one up. I highly recommend it. If you can swing it, buy a copy. If you can’t, please be sure to request your local library get a copy for circulation. Fantasy lovers won’t want to miss this one.

Whatever beautiful ARC mailing overlord at Tor sent me this print galley—you’re awesome. Thanks very much; I will treasure this beauty. Also, thanks to NetGalley for the eARC. I’m very glad to willingly offer my honest review. Also, I’m pretty sure I’m buying at least two copies of this book. Maybe three.

I really wanted to love this one, but it fell short for me. The first chapter was so captivating, the dragon magic was so cool, but then…the story progression was so choppy. I felt that the character arcs moved forward way too fast, with too little opportunities for growth and development. The lack of a great “main villain” (other than the all-encompassing empire) and great side characters made it feel empty to me. This could be my own preference for character driven stories. But anytime characters did something cool or an interesting magical thing was introduced, it was hastily just skipped over. The story needed to be much longer in my opinion, to fully develop all the compelling components to lead to a satisfying end.

Really good world building. Interesting 3 main point of view characters. I admit I read the description and didn’t pay much attention to the cover. I thought the writing was just slightly stilted but good. Then after reading it I saw the translated by in the cover. That totally explained the very slightly stilted writing still. It’s a good choice if you like the big story evil empire type of fantasy novels!

Blood of the Old Kings by Sung-il Kim is an epic fantasy that blends adventure, magic, and political intrigue across a vividly built world. The story revolves around three main characters: Loran, a fierce warrior fueled by revenge for her family’s murder; Arienne, a sorcerer trapped in a terrifying fate as a necromantic power source; and Cain, a street-savvy investigator searching for his friend’s killer. Their stories unfold in different parts of the world, offering a multi-POV experience that feels like piecing together a puzzle, with dragons, magic-fueled tech, and rich lore throughout.

The narration, delivered by Eunice Wong, Major Curda, and Suzy Jackson, enhances the experience, with each voice perfectly capturing the essence of their respective character. The multiple narrators help make the distinct storylines feel more immersive and engaging, pulling you deeper into the plot. While the pacing picks up, especially in intense scenes, the emotional connection to the characters and the unfolding world keeps you hooked. If you're into intricate world-building, a unique magic system, and layered, unpredictable characters, this book won’t disappoint!

Blood of the Old Kings is an entertaining and innovative addition anti-imperialist epic fantasy. What I enjoyed most about this book was how different the perspectives were of the three main characters. Each has extremely different motives and end goals. Loran, a woman who swears to become king of her conquered nation and free the fire-dragon trapped in a volcano, wants vengeance as much as she wants freedom. Although occasionally melodramatic, her time with the common people, and with their hopes for her, leads her to a greater destiny. Arienne is a sorcerer student who only wants to be free of the doom the Empire has sentenced all sorcerers too - to be used as a power generator in death. She makes a deal with a strange voice in her head (a favorite trope of mine) that will lead her to darker deeds and better places than she could have imagined. And Cain, who has put so much distance between himself and his homeland in the imperial capitol, will discover what community means as he seeks justice for a friend. The interweaving of these three characters really kept me on my toes for the whole story. With a seamless translation by Anton Hur to boot, Blood of the Old Kings was an easy page-turner. And the ending was epic on the battle front - although Kim often took the final strokes off-page in a slightly strange move - but reserved in its outcomes. It was a change of pace I actually appreciated quite a bit. I'll be very excited to see where Sung-Il Kim takes this story next!

“Victory or defeat matters less than the fact that we fight.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you netgalley and tor books for the gifted arc!

I went into this book blind (my fav way to go into a book) and I was very pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed it! Between the action packed plot, the multi-pov development, and learning about this world, I was pretty invested.

World building is one of my favorite parts when reading a new book, and this epic fantasy was no exception. I really enjoyed learning about the different areas of this world and how they’re impacted by the Empire. The magic system was so unique with sorcerers only being useful upon their death so they can provide power to the Empire.

“Nobody conquers the world with insincere lies.”

We follow three people in this book: Loran, Cain, and Arienne. I really enjoyed the different perspectives this provided on the empire and different areas of this world.

Loran is a self proclaimed princess on a path of vengeance after the death of her daughter and husband. I really enjoyed watching her go from simply wanting revenge, to truly wanting to save her people. She becomes incredibly powerful and is willing to lay down her life for the greater good.

“I am a princess of Arland. And I shall become king.”

Arienne is a student sorcerer who refuses to be used by the Empire and flees the Academy. This girl is my fav character! She’s so badass and learns so much through sheer will. We learn so much about this world through her perspective!

Honestly, Cain was a little confusing to me. I think that he is like a hit man/unofficial detective for the people in the Capital. I really enjoyed seeing how selfless he was and the lengths he would go to in order help others, but I felt like he didn’t really contribute to the story. His journey just felt so separated from Arienne and Loran.

Overall, I think this is a great book for lovers of epic fantasy and unique worlds!

This book was such a fantastic surprise to me.
I hadn't seen this book around the online bookish community, but when I saw the cover and read the synopsis on Netgalley, I was immediately intrigued. It sounded like such a cool concept. And I was not disappointed.

There were so many elements to this plot and story that were unique and varied from other fantasy books that I have read. Sorcerers who have powers that are so different from the typical magic users. A woman who declares her destiny to a dragon, a dragon who aids her. And a seemingly ordinary person, with glasses (!!!) who finds his destiny while on a different path. Sure you might have read stories of similar characters, but when you add the plot, the magic, the worldbuilding, and the writing to these? It becomes something else.

I had been struggling to read, picking up other books and consistently putting them down. I couldn't put this one down.
While it's definitely more of a plot driven story, the characters are well done and you root for them throughout the story. But I imagine there is more that will delve into the characters in the sequels. The plot and writing are truly the focals for this book and they drive the story very well. There is also an air of sci fi, I think, with the way the magic is worked and these automotons that are part of the story.

I would definitely recommend this book to my friends who enjoy fantasy, curious to hear their thoughts as well.
Sung-Il Kim, and translator Anton Hur, have crafted the start of an epic tale and I cannot wait to see where it goes next.

A classic fantasy resistance tale, given a unique flavor by pacts with ancient dragons, somewhat necromantic sorcerer batteries, and magic that blurs the lines between physical and mental reality. I first picked this up just because of the cover, so learning it is a translated work was a fun surprise. With three lead characters and so many moving pieces thrown about, this first book gets right into the action yet in many ways remains just a taste of the trilogy to come. Is it possible to truly withstand the Imperials? What does it fully mean to be a sorcerer-engineer? Unfortunately for me, the straightforward writing is scarce on those lyrical turns of phrase which draw me in to reading, and it's up to the characters and events to bring color to the story.

The Blood of Old Kings sold me on the necropolis empire alone. A kingdom of sorcerers powered by even more dead sorcerers? The badass factor of that is just too strong. Additionally, I’ve read some of Anton Hur’s original work and I was very curious to see what his translated work was like. I certainly wasn’t disappointed.

The Blood of Old Kings is split across three POVs: Loran, a self-proclaimed princess looking to restore her country’s sovereignty from the colonizing empire. Cain, an immigrant living in the Empire’s capital, looking for details of his missing friend. And Arienne, a sorcerer-in-training, on the run from the Empire carrying an important package.

I loved Arienne‘s chapters. It’s through her that we get to learn the most about the magic of the world, the dead sorcerers (known as generators) that power this empire, and some of the history of the founding of this empire. Her character follows the arc of ‘naive girl plunged into a world of intrigue’ and I really enjoyed how she handled it. You can see her courage really grow over time and it was a delight cheering her on.

Loren’s chapters were easily the most anime, with all the badass fights attached. Her mission is to free her country from the rule of the Empire and the fights she takes against literal tanks with nothing but her sword and her dragon’s power was so so fun to read. Kim and Hur can really put together a fight scene, one that’s both easily followed and keeps the reader cheering for more. The actual politics side, when Loren has to deal with other parties and existing powers felt a little on the weaker side but the fight scenes and her sheer badassery (and dragon power!) more than made up for it.

The weakest POV in my mind was Cain’s chapters. Cain starts off as an interested party asking around for details to his friend’s disappearance. He quickly realizes he’s been asking the wrong (or right?) questions and finds himself pulled into a much larger conspiracy, used as a tool by higher governing powers. Frankly, I thought the intrigue was horribly written. There were so many scenes where Cain would be captured by an enemy group, ask them extremely detailed and pertinent questions, and they would answer!! Like, why are you telling him this?? Why are you telling him anything??? Just threaten him and send him off to do your bidding!!! Thankfully, the book had two other extremely fun POVs to follow.

Overall, I rate this book a 4/5. While the political intrigue isn’t amazing, the world-building is incredibly unique and the fight scenes alone make this book extremely fun to read!

Review will go live 4 October 2024

TL;DR Review: Compelling, colorful, and complex. Epic storytelling that sinks into your bones and keeps you turning pages.

Full Review:
Blood of the Old Kings had me intrigued from the very first page. Heck, the first paragraph.
A dragon with too many eyes locked away by magic in a volcano, a desperate woman willing to make a deal for the salvation of her people, and a promise of vengeance against an all-powerful conquering Empire.
For Loran, the deaths of her husband and daughter are the only thing driving her to take up the dragon’s sword against the Empire. She will cut her way through their armies, defeat their magic, and destroy their mightiest creations—and in so doing, become the Princess and ultimately the King her people need.
Her story is the most compelling of the POV characters, and the most dynamic. She begins fighting alone, but through her courage and resilience, winds up joining forces with a ragtag band of rebels that may have a chance at becoming an army. Spitting in the face of the Empire could cost her everything—but the price is worth paying to free her people.
Cain is an ordinary-seeming young man working for an oil vendor, but there’s so much more to him than meets the eye. Sort of a grifter/spy/smuggler combination, he finds himself drawn into a quest for revenge against the ones who murdered the woman who saved him and kept him alive during his earliest days on the streets of the Empire’s capital city.
His story feels smaller, but it gives us a fascinating look into the “Ministry of Intelligence”, the shadow arm of the Empire’s police force. He is drawn into their tangled web by the chance to unmask his friend’s killer. But what he discovers could lead to the death—or salvation—of the Empire he has good cause to hate as an outsider.
Arienne is a mage, gifted with the ability to control magic and trained in the Empire’s most prestigious school. Only that school doesn’t actually teach her anything except ways of keeping her body and mind in shape to be a “Power generator” after her death. Because of course the Empire runs on the corpses of their mages—that’s what powers everything from their lights to their most advanced weapons.
But a mysterious voice in her head leads her to break free of the mage school and sets her fleeing into the farthest corners of the Empire. She and her new companion are hunted by the “Order of Truth”, those tasked with keeping mages firmly in line, and have to cross desolate terrain, dense forests, and icy mountain passes in the desperate hope of finding somewhere safe from their clutches. Though she has no understanding of magic to begin with, every trial and test she endures will teach her more—and more about herself, too.
Blood of the Old Kings is a fascinating story of a fight for freedom–freedom from oppression, from control over magic, from being told how you have to live your life. I particularly loved the message inherent into Loran’s story: it doesn’t take blood to make a princess or King, only the courage to stand up and show the people what it means to lead.
The world is rich and colorful, with so many fascinating cultures and customs that shade each captured kingdom with wondrous nuance.
Fans of K.S. Villoso’s Chronicles of the Wolf Queen and R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy War will feel right at home in this story!

Blood of the Old Kings is an epic fantasy tale featuring a unique world. This tale is told through three different POVs - Loran, Cain, and Arienne who are each on a distinctly different path that happens to interweave with the others. As with many multi POV books, I found myself drawn to certain characters over others. In this case, I was most interested in Loran and Arienne and often found myself wanting to hurry along Cain to get back to the others. His POV isn’t boring by any means, I was just more invested in the others. I found the world building and magic systems in this book especially fascinating. The world building was richly detailed. The magic, though, is where this story really shines for me between using dead sorcerers as a power source and the nuances of it for the living, you can’t help but be drawn in. I also appreciated how seamlessly the story flowed which is a testament to both the author, Kim, and the translator, Hut. I felt the plot was well paced and had plenty of action and intrigue to keep my interest. By the end, there is still much that could be explored if the author chooses to do so. I combo read this via ebook and audiobook. The audiobook, though, is something special. I love the choice to use three different narrators to voice the different POVs. Eunice Wong, Major Curda, and Suzy Jackson did so well in their respective roles. I could feel the emotions and drivers behind each character in their narration. I would highly recommend the audiobook for this.

The premise of this story is great, but I had a hard time with the prose. It felt more suited to the younger side of YA, which majorly contrasted the storylines we were following. The characters felt flat and I had a genuinely difficult time trying to care.

DNF. I don’t think this is a bad book at all, but it’s just not gripping me. The opening was amazing, and there are one or two details that are really interesting – I love how each nation had completely different magics before the empire came! We don’t see that often at ALL – usually magic is magic, more or less the same for everyone, but here the sorcerers of each country had wildly different abilities; in one place they were shapeshifters, in another they had magic words… It’s the one thing about this world that I really wanted to know more about.

But it wasn’t the focus at all, and the rest of the book just…felt very okay? I think if you like High Fantasy, you’ll probably enjoy this, but I was hoping that Blood would be bringing influences I haven’t seen before – the author is South Korean and this was written in his native language before it was translated – but I wasn’t getting any of that. Blood just doesn’t strike me as substantially different from the American/British High Fantasy of the 90s, which was never my thing.

There are a few hints here and there that this book might eventually reveal itself to be more unique…but I wasn’t willing to keep reading to find out if that was actually the case. If I find other reviews saying that’s so, I might be willing to try this again, but the fact remains that I have zero interest in where most of the plotlines are going. Nothing about Cain’s story grabbed me; Loran, the woman on the cover, seemed to have the most promising arc but wow did I hate the allies she fell in with; and while Arienne’s plotline rapidly became the most interesting to me (she’s the runaway sorcerer) I didn’t care about what might happen to her. I didn’t care about any of the characters for their own sake, found them pretty dull and normal individuals. Nothing about any of them stood out after reading the first third of the book…so why keep going?

Like I said: if you do routinely enjoy High Fantasy, you have a much better chance of enjoying this than I did. It just doesn’t seem to be for me.

I love that Tor is publishing translated Korean fantasy, I don't know that I've ever heard of that happening before. It's so interesting to read such different worldbuilding. I enjoyed this story, even if the first chapter was a little brutal, it made me interested in what was to come!

I enjoyed the world building and characters. The book was had some info dumping that made some the beginning drag a bit. But I was invested in the plot and the MC, so I powered through it. But by the end I just felt like something was missing. It was good just not my favorite.

Really classic setup here, but the world was incredibly interesting and refreshing. So many cool reveals. The characters were very basic though. I struggled to care about them. I will read the next one!

Blood of the Old Kings is a translated fantasy about a world under the thumb of an all reaching empire. This follows three POV characters, each on their own separate journey toward contributing to the downfall of the empire. One is a 31 year-old mother who has lost her husband and child and his bent on revenge, one is a young woman being trained as a sorcerer, and the other is a shop worker in the empires main city.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for the opportunity to read and review this book in exchange from my honest review while this book did start out strong it lost a lot of momentum and I can only give it three stars. At times this book read like a fairytale in the way that it was “character runs away through the woods and sees a tower to run to. The character is inside the tower in the next paragraph.”
I did enjoy one of the POV characters, Cain, but ultimately this book was just ok. ⭐️⭐️⭐️