Review: The Harp of Kings by Juliet Marillier

The Harp of Kings by Juliet Marillier
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

To be honest, I'm surprised I enjoyed this one so much. At the beginning of the Kindle edition is a list of names and their pronunciations, which threw me (I have no idea why but it sort of made me feel a little overwhelmed with all the different names and I knew approximately how they were pronounced anyway but there were SO MANY), and the opening few lines did not grab me at all. But I came on Goodreads to check out other reviews, and there were so many positive ones (that actually had some good info) that I decided to keep going. Good choice on my part.

The story is interesting, although not one that we haven't seen before. The main characters start off on an island where they're training to be secretive fighters who apparently also do spy duties. There is a little tension set up in the beginning between Liobhan and Dau, and a bit of apprehension on the part of Brocc, but otherwise not much is gained through such a brief look at their training.

I appreciated beyond belief that this was NOT a love story! There were no real hook-ups (outside of the ending, which made sense and I'm not going to spoil it), there was a little bit of attraction here and there but nothing overt. Instead we got an actual story free from the angsty teenage pining that tends to take over a lot of the fantasy I've read lately.

The magic was subtle and explained well. I liked how some of it was a tad bit unpredictable (although I did guess at just about all of the "twists" and was not usually wrong). The relationships between the characters were done thoughtfully, with definite character evolution throughout. I think Brocc was the most wet-noodle character, though. He just sort of goes with the flow, although that can sort of be explained by his back story which is revealed as we go along.

My favorite character though was Dau. He goes through such an emotional transformation that I was left feeling happy for him while still sad at all he had to endure to get there. He is definitely someone that I would like to read more about, maybe in book 2.

Speaking of book 2, it's already on my TBR list even though it doesn't have a title or plot yet. So I definitely recommend this book for all lovers of fantasy. Like I said, it's nothing new or revolutionary, but it is a great tale and I enjoyed reading it a lot.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

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