Beautifully textured fantasy saga, meticulous worldbuilding, fantastic characters! Williamson has definitely come into her own with this series. I cannot wait to read the rest!

I read the prequel to the series and was disappointed with the content. Too much talk of gods, concubines, and sex. Won't be continuing the series.

This must have been the longest book I have read in a good while, and nearly 550 pages. Epic Fantasy is the word: as in long, so the division into three parts did help. So what was my impression? It was a good book, and I would read the next (though I expect that will take me a good few months as its even longer), but I don't count it among my favourite fantasy novels. The downside of having the Netgalley version was no interactive menu, so I could not switch back the character list to remind myself who was who: until I borrowed the Kindle edition.

There were a lot of characters, which interconnected stories, at it was hard to keep track of what was going on at times. Personally, I was not sure about the world building either: the eclectic mix of Medieval type culture with Castles, with elements of Biblical Hebrew (polygamy, lots of gods) ancient Middle Eastern/Egyptian and a few details that seemed decidedly modern did not really work for me.
Once I got into the story, that was not such a problem, but I never really felt totally immersed in in the invented world, so to speak.

I know some people have complained about certain content in these stories: the fact that many characters have mistresses, and that there is a female, Amazon-like culture whose sole purpose seems to be to seduce and enslave men using black magic. I did not find that to be much of an issue because of the way it was treated (not as a good thing). So, this book's not according to everyone's taste, but fantasy fans might like it.

I requested this book via NetGalley, and then borrowed a copy via Kindle Unlimited. I was not required to write a review and all opinions expressed are my own.

Award-winning author Jill Williamson kicks off a new epic fantasy series for adults, with political and spiritual intrigue, a dangerous quest by a hero.

In King’s Folly, the king of Armania is convinced the gods are angry. That’s why earthquakes are occurring and volcanoes are erupting. He sends his son, Prince Wilek, to investigate a report of a city being swallowed up. What Wilek discovers is even more disastrous than he thought. Can he save his people before everything crumbles beneath him?

Although lengthy (549 pages), Williamson manages to produce another well-written epic fantasy with interesting characters and plot twists. Inspired by the corrupt kings of Israel, Williamson’s Kinsman Chronicles features court politics, mysteries, sexuality (although it is not graphic) and more, making this a book more appropriate for adults and teens over sixteen.

The land is covered in spiritual darkness -- people are worshipping multiple gods, living in superstition, and making human and animal sacrifices. The king’s sons battle for the right to be named heir while disasters abound, which many believe are the fulfillment of the prophecies.

Williamson does an excellent job of world building in this new epic offering, with mostly believable characters. The book includes a list of the key players, a map, and a note from the author, in which Williamson indicates there are discussion questions on her website, as well as a larger version of the map, a genealogy and other supplemental materials for this series.