The King's Fall

The King's Fall
By Patrick Rain
Published in 2017

Why I chose this book:
I enjoy epic fantasy, sword and sorcery fantasy, so when I learned that Patrick Rain's fantasy novel was being offered for review, I was interested. I received a copy of The King's Fall from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Review

When the Celestial King is close to death, a potential successor endeavors to earn the throne.

The King's Fall follows Kyle and his companions as they journey through Narilan. Kyle aims to be crowned and control everything; the Celestial King is both omniscient and omnipotent. This is accomplished through the use of mana, an energy found in everything that can be harnessed by those with a talent for doing so. (Think of the Force from Star Wars, but in a medieval setting, and you have the basic premise for the land of Narilan.) As Kyle journeys through the kingdom, he must perform different labors to be considered for the throne; he and his companions must also face various enemies.

Without spoiling anything, my favorite character for most of the story was Ellia, a supporter and companion of Kyle. Although she was timid at first, her confidence increased with each leg of their journey, concluding with a turn of events that surprised me, but was not unrealistic in the story's frame. Along with Ellia, Kyle's other companions have an air of mystery about them. The author does not overdo this mystery, however, and imparts information about them at a reasonable pace.

The pacing of the entire tale, not just character revelations, is well done - the storyline kept this reader interested and even wondering what happens to the characters after the story ends. In addition to the pacing and plot, I enjoyed the world created by Patrick Rain. While the concept of mana feels inspired by Star Wars' Force (I just saw the recent movie, so it's on my mind), my personal taste is fantasy, not sci-fi, so the setting appealed to me from the start.

Although I enjoyed the book, there were some detractors from that enjoyment. Typos interrupted the narrative flow for me, as did unexpected phrasing. For example, I think of cities crumbling, but Rain uses the phrase, "make the city crumple."  I acknowledge that typos and unfamiliar phrases can be minor; it was the frequency with which they occurred that detracted from my enjoyment of the book. The story is good, but I might say that the delivery needs a bit of polishing.