Blood of the Old Kings

June 1, 2024

Loran's quest for vengeance and liberation leads her to a seven-eyed dragon's volcano. Cain's investigation into his friend's death ensnares him in deadly conspiracies involving spies and assassins. Arienne escapes her sorcery school, armed only with a sleep spell, knowledge gleaned from adventure novels, and a menacing voice in her head. Kim masterfully weaves together their stories, which each embody a different style of fantasy, creating an immersive, thorough world that's sparking towards war. The characters are unwilling subjects of a conquering empire that excuses its violence by claiming it offers the gifts of peace and civilization. Though the empire's technology, which draws its energy from the corpses of sorcerers, seems far too strong for the last vestiges of hidden magic, Loran, Cain, and Arienne are caught in the momentum of destiny. The trio do come into contact, but each arc remains its own and comes to a satisfying conclusion. VERDICT Readers will crave further works from Kim after reading his English-language debut, the first in a trilogy. While waiting for the next installment, suggest Robert Jackson Bennett's The Tainted Cup, Shannon Chakraborty's The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, and Naomi Novik's A Deadly Education for a similar experience.--Matthew Galloway

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September 1, 2024
The Empire prevailed over the Old Kings and their dragons and sorcerers. For 20 years, a fire dragon lay chained in a chamber within a volcano. Loran, whose husband and children were executed by Empire soldiers, breaks into the chamber and the dragon gives her a tooth as a token of trust. The tooth becomes a sword that almost transforms her into a human-sized dragon. Cain is a young man whose benefactor Fienna has been killed and, in exchange for taking him in, he looks for ways to help his fellow Arlanders, even if it sometimes involves second-story capers. In trying to find Fienna's killer, he comes across Arienne, a sixth-year sorcery student, escaping from her academy. The voice of Eldred, a powerful sorcerer, has led her to steal his corpse from a generator coffin. Each of them is a king and has staked a claim in the larger story of a rebellion that is only just beginning. Award-winning Korean author Sung-il Kim launches a high epic fantasy mixing necromancy, dragons, and sorcery-powered automatons with fast-paced action and solid characters.

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August 19, 2024
Kim debuts with an epic underdog fantasy in which choice outweighs destiny. Running up against a world-spanning Empire that draws its powers from dead sorcerers, three outsiders become embroiled in rebellions and plots to free prisoners. Swordmaster Loran bargains with a captive dragon to fulfill its promise to preserve a kingdom conquered by the Empire. Sorcerer-in-training Arienne, tutored by an unliving mage, flees before the Empire can render her into a source of magic energy. Cain, an orphan in the capital, is haunted by the specter of a slain friend and strives to thwart the coup planned by her killers. The question that bedevils all three protagonists is how much their choices are driven by their own free will or forced by external powers. Kim avoids saddling his characters with the well-worn “chosen one” narrative, finding ways to make their destinies more a product of actions taken than of inheritance. Readers seeking an exciting new fantasy world to sink into will find this hits the spot. Agent: Toni Kim, Greenbook.