I absolutely adored this book. I wasn't sure I'd love the switching between points of view from chapter to chapter, because not all authors can do it well, but Sung-Il Kim did a stunning job of telling a story split between three main characters and making each of those characters feel unique and relatable. I felt like I truly understood the motivations and personalities of Loran, Cain, and Arienne, and more than that, I liked each of them as individuals. Every time a chapter ended I was sad to leave the character that chapter was focused on, only to be immediately thrust into the exciting drama and plot surrounding the focus character of this new chapter.

In this vein, I think the audiobook narrators did an amazing job. If you plan on reading this book definitely consider listening to the audiobook version of it because the audiobook production and the narrators' acting skills were fantastic. I really liked that each of the three main characters had individual narrators, and each of the three of them were amazing narrators in their own rights. I sometimes find that audiobook narrators are unable to do voices for characters of the opposite sex, but I was delighted to find that all three narrators were able to comfortably do realistic voices for every type of character they encountered in the plot. And it was fun being able to hear one narrator do the voice of a different main character as the three of them slowly met and then split away from each other. Eunice Wong, Major Curda, Suzy Jackson were truly masters of the audiobook narration of this book, and I think listening to their narrations adds a layer that made the plot even more vibrant.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I was unsure about this especially with it being multiple povs but I really enjoyed it. The story was solid and and the word building was great.
I did have a bit of a problem with the characters as it felt like some were neglected and thus their chapters feel flat. That wasn't super common though. Overall I really liked the story. I definitely interested to see where this story goes.

I loved this book, and need the next STAT. It is perfect, the complex main characters, the court intrigue, the world and magic system, the mental health rep. It was a great start of an epic fantasy. I need to grab a physical copy for my shelf.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Thank you for the arc!
This should’ve really worked for me! I love grand scale fantasy novels, and such a variety of perspectives should’ve been fascinating. I loved Loran’s chapters, but Cain and Arienne didn’t click with me at all. The characters were painfully flat, but the plot was much stronger. I just wasn’t itching to pick this back up whenever I stopped. The audiobook was excellent though!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan for the e-arc!
Multicast narration! This is my absolute favorite type of audiobook and I think it brought so much depth to this book. I would firmly say that if you were interested in the story to check out the audiobook as I did a bit of a tandem read, doing some parts audio and some parts e-book and the audiobook just really blew me away.
The world is really interesting and I ended up really enjoying some of the characters but my biggest struggle was I think there needed to be a bit more exploration and information given on the world. If you love a book like it's right into the plot without a ton of exposition or overdone worldbuilding, then you'll probably really enjoy this. From the first chapter of each character's journey, we immediately start the plot. I could've used a bit more exposition but I still really enjoyed the characters themselves. I think I ended up being most interested in Arienne's and Cain's plotlines but overall I really enjoyed the exploration of all three and cannot wait for the next book!

Great epic fantasy! Loved it!

I've been obsessed with this book ever since I first saw the cover. I am a fan of multiple POVs in stories, so the book started just right for me. Usually, with multiple POVs, I'd get invested in some more than in others, but here I was completely captivated by all three.

The narrators were also amazing, I love when an audiobook has multiple narrators for different POVs, it makes the story much more immersive. I recommend this for fans of epic fantasy who want to start with an easy read. I can't wait for the next books in the trilogy!

Edit; changing this to 4.5 stars because I been and to do thinking about it

This book might win the award for the best opening scene ever. The first chapter had my jaw on the floor! I loved the take on the Evil Empire trope; the multi-POV felt like a jigsaw puzzle in all the best ways.

We have Loren, fighting for vengeance and working with an ancient dragon to make herself a king; Arienne, a sorcerer doomed to be made into a necromantic power source (!) who accidentally gets possessed; and Cain, the street savvy man-of-all-trades trying to solve his friend's murder. All of these stories look so different and are even set in different places, so we're not just getting the same events from three different angles. I loved this style of unfolding the story.

Although I was super interested in the plotlines, the worldbuilding, and the magic system, I never really felt emotionally invested. I think it might be because of the prose -- it was quite textbook-y rather than emotive. The climax fizzled a bit for me for this reason. I honestly wish this book had been 2 or 3 books, so we could have had more time to wallow in backstories and build the conflict more organically. But I still highly recommend and will probably buy a hard copy to reread. There is so much gold in this story!

Big thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for letting me read this early! All opinions are my own.

I loved this book!! I half read the e-galley and half listened to the audiobook.

I loved that the story was told from three perspectives and that they three stories slowly came together. The magic system was unique and interesting. I would love to know more so I'm really hoping that this is a series!

The beautiful cover is what originally drew me into this novel. This story follows three different POVS: Loran, Arienne, and Cain. I think at times it was a bit hard to follow as it jumped back and forth so often.

My favorite character was Arienne, as I feel like her story was the most interesting and thought out. She is escaping from a school for magic users as she discovers they are secretly being held prisoners there so that when they die their magic can be used to turn them into generators. Along the way she does run into Cain, who helps her escape.

I think this novel was very well translated and it doesn't seem like anything was lost during translation. Thank you to Netgalley, McMillan Audio, and Sung-il Kim for an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

3.75⭐

I don't usually read a whole lot of epic fantasy but the cover of this book had me hooked before I even read the synopsis. It was a very interesting story. I think the translation was done well. I liked the characters, there are 3 different POV's aka 3 different main characters that all brought a unique aspect to the plot. Part of me wishes my Korean would be better so I could go out and read the original book and see if there were any differences.

Overall it's a really strong epic fantasy with dragons and a really cool magic system and some interesting characters!

The audiobook was good! I enjoyed most of the narrators.

Amazing fantasy, epic in many ways and utterly breathtaking cause I was om the edge of my seat the entire ride

Narration: The story benefited by having 3 different narrators for the 3 different pov storylines. And they all did a fantastic job!
Story: Started off with a bang and then went through an ebb and flow of excitement. There were many times I sat in my car to wait until the chapter finished because I had to know what was going to happen next! At first, I was also struggling to see how the 3 storylines were going to connect, and when they did finally connect, I was quite happy. There were a few times I became lost with the action and how a certain thing happened, and I do not know if it was me, the story, or the narration.

All in all, quite happy. The climax did feel a bit rushed, and not well explained; but judging by the cliffhanger, I am sure we will get a better explanation in book two!

Blood of the Old Kings was everything I expected from a classic epic fantasy. I was initially drawn in by the beautiful cover and the premise intrigued me as well, the world-building and magic are wonderful and unique. The characters are well-developed throughout the plot and the character growth is lovely. There are 3 main POV's throughout the book and they are all wonderfully written and draw you into each character's own struggles while they all fight for the same outcome for their kingdom. Freedom from the empire. I loved the dark aspects sprinkled throughout the book and some will pull on your heartstrings more than others but it adds a certain depth to the unforgettable story. The ending will have you screaming and wanting the next immediately.

This novel follows Loran, Cain and Arienne — three very different protagonists that unknowingly (but sometimes intentionally) dictate the future of their people. Loran seeks the power and strength of the sleeping dragon to gain freedom and a voice for her people. Cain wishes to learn the truth behind his generous friend’s death and how to avenge her. Arienne seeks a way to free herself of the academy and the ultimate sad end for sorcerers who become living batteries in death. As their stories unfold and knit together the fate of the entire Empire is at stake.

This audiobook’s cast of narrators did an excellent job. Each character had its unique voice, so it was very easy to follow along at 1.5x. The narration truly brought the novel to life with no distracting voices or overtones.

This was a very interesting novel following a few influential and dynamic characters that all serve a role in dictating the future of their people to give them a better life under the rule of the Empire but also the possibility of freedom. The greater world building is well done and adds that extra layer of epic-ness that draws the reader into the world and makes you hold on for the ride, wherever it takes us. Great character building. A just plain great novel. 5 stars.

Review based on an Advanced Audiobook provided by Macmillan Audio and NetGalley. Thank you!

I love this fantasy world! What an intriguing way of mixing magic and technology - using the bodies of sorcerers as generators to power cities, machines of war, machines of empire - and way of fleshing out a system of magic. I want to know so much more and I'm so glad there are more books.

I was grabbed from the first page and that fantastic meeting between Loren and the dragon, setting a legacy and quest for revenge that we get to see play out as Loren learns the difference between politics, diplomacy, and taking down an empire.

Arienne is my favorite for aforementioned system of magic, but I'm so intrigued to learn more about where she'll go from here.

I feel like we didn't get as much of a handle on Cain, who exists mostly in relation to other people, but it sounds like he's in a place to come much more into his own.

All three narrators did an absolutely fantastic job of bringing all the characters to life and setting the stakes for this epic.

I love that books written in other languages are being translated to give readers a chance to enjoy brand new fantastical worlds. And I will say doubly that for this story as I was immediately sucked in from the first chapter with Loren braving all to make a blood pact with the fire dragon in the volcano. It was such an interesting world where an empire as conquered many lands through magic, but not sorcerers casting spells. Instead they are more useful to the empire as dead generators powering war machines like chariots and powered centurion armor.

The book varies from three points of view, Loren, the woman fighting to become king of her homeland to get vengeance against the empire that killed her family, Cain, a refugee living in the capital and always finding himself in sticky situations trying to find out why his friend was killed, and Arienne, a runaway sorcerer with something the empire desperately wants back. Each of those viewpoints does an excellent job of introducing the reader to how magic works, how the empire is run, and what the different people are like from various nations under the rule of the empire. I loved all three characters, the earnest of Arienne as she tries to make the right choices and make her own way into being something other than a future generator, Cain balancing between helping the rebels and working with the ministry of truth, and Loren, learning about her awesome powers and how to lead an army to save her homeland.

This was so much fun to listen to, being on the edge of my seat especially with the final battle in the end! And it does end with some unanswered questions which made me happy to learn that there will be a couple more books in the series. The three narrators in this audiobook did a phenomenal job in bringing this world to life and I can't wait for the next book! And I am positive I will be listening to this audiobook again.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this audiobook to listen to and review.

3.5 ☆

kinda mixed on this one.. the magic and world building is somewhat unique but there’s something missing that kept me from fully getting invested in the story. the 3 main povs: Loran, Arianne and Caine are actually really interesting (especially Arianne) but i feel like there was a lack of attention given to their personalities individually and i needed more background on why each character was on the path that they were on. i know this book is translated from Korean so im wondering if some things got lost in translation with this new version of the story. the ending left in a place where i can’t tell if this is a standalone or the start of a series but either way, i would say i still had a good time but i expected more. also, i need to comment on how well produced the audiobook is, i always appreciate when there’s multiple narrators for the characters and the cover is beautiful!

Get ready to be plunged into a grim world where necromancy fuels imperial expansion, and the dead are never truly at rest. The lifeblood of the sorcerers is drained to feed the Empire's power. This unique magic system immediately captivates, creating an atmosphere where death is not an escape but another form of servitude. And everyone serves the Empire.

The story is told from three POVs. Arienne, a sorceress resigned to the fate that awaits all those with magic, to be a power source for the Empire. When she begins to hear the whispers of a long-dead sorcerer's voice, it empowers her to break the rules and question the destiny imposed upon her. Beneath a volcano, Loran, a widowed swordswoman, seeks out a seven-eyed dragon. This sacred guardian of her people can give her the power to fight the Empire's domination. Loran's journey of desperation and determination becomes her life of liberation and revenge. She awakens a long-forgotten power to unleash something truly spectacular. Lastly, Cain has a grounded perspective and is on a mission to uncover his mentor's murderer, which provides a murder mystery thread to the overarching political intrigue. He is pulled into a web of conspiracy threatening the Empire's foundations. These stories bridge the brutal magic that fuels the Empire and the human toll it exacts on those living within its borders.

The novel expertly intertwines these three characters' stories, all in a world on the brink of rebellion. The pacing is steady, with moments of explosive action. The plot consistently offers tension and intrigue. It also creates an atmosphere that is dark but laced with hope as each character seeks their form of freedom. Who does not love complex magic systems, morally gray heroes, and the slow burn of a rebellion? It explores grief, external struggles, and oppression, which is profoundly moving. I received an audiobook, and the narration was powerful and created characters I will not forget. It was an excellent read and is a must-read for any fantasy lover.

I received an ARC ebook for my honest review. Thank you, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio, Tor Books

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.

A fun epic fantasy romp in which a woman rebels against a steampunk(ish) empire, a student tries to escape her fate, and a young man tries to figure out who murdered his close friend. As one might expect, all three of these tales converge and in so doing the fates of everyone in the empire are put on the line. I may have been led a little astray by some of the marketing before jumping into this, but after getting over some of my confusion I was fully on board for what proved to be a great audiobook.