Book Review: Lord and King by P.L. Stuart
Genre(s): Epic Fantasy
Book Synopsis:
Finally Lord and King of Eastrealm, Othrun aims to restore the glory of his drowned homeland, Atalantyx. But dangerous warlords are determined to stop Othrun from rising to further power.
Furthermore, Eastrealm’s ruler must confront internal forces that could tear his new kingdom apart. Embattled Othrun is also devastated by personal tragedy. His belief in his Single God, and his ambiguous guiding spirit, has never been more tenuous.
To fight his enemies, Othrun needs more than faith, or his formidable knights. He needs a mage on his side. Is the conniving Queen Lysi, with her divided loyalties, and her own designs for Othrun, the ally he needs? Or, are there other mages who can help the beleaguered young king, who he can trust?
And, Lysi is not the only formidable queen Othrun must contend with. An inexorable power, tied to ancient founders of Eltnish civilization, is coming. A legendary ruler, the likes of whom has not been seen for centuries, plans to reclaim what’s owed to her.
She is named, Undala.
Fear for Othrun, and anyone else who dares stand in her way.
Othrun is clever, bold, resourceful. Yet, kingship comes with many challenges, including facing the cunning, powerful, vengeful enemies surrounding him, marking him for death. Will Othrun’s reign end on the battlefield, in blood, before it’s barely begun?
Review:
Lord and King is book 3 in the Drowned Kingdom saga, and it starts out with an incredible prologue featuring a scene from book 1 shown through the eyes of Othrun’s older brother. (You learn in chapter 1 that Othrun dreamed the prologue, but what he sees comes into play later in the book.) I don’t often mention prologues in my reviews, but this one was pretty stellar.
While not as battle-intensive as the previous books, this one focuses more on the political side of Othrun’s kingdom and the larger world. But politics are sometimes just as deadly as open warfare. It was difficult to gauge which of the characters could be trusted, and which were out for Othrun’s demise. There were plenty of twists and turns in the story to keep it interesting.
Othrun also goes through some difficult trials in this book. He becomes angry at some of the events (and justifiably so), but for the first time in the series, I started to see him grow as both a person and a king. He started to finally realize he needed to change in order to adapt, that he needed to abandon his lifelong prejudices to ensure his kingdom—and people—thrived. It wasn’t an easy lesson, and he often questioned his own decisions, but I liked how his character began to develop.
This was a great continuation of the series, and I’ll be watching for book 4.
Author website: plstuart.com
Amazon link: Lord and King
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