Customer Reviews

Kings and Assassins

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I wasn't sure I'd like this one. Janus Ixion as the protagonist? I hated Janus in Maledicte. I started reading Kings and Assassins with that loathing firmly in place, and in the early pages of the book, he didn't do much to make me like him any better. I didn't like the other characters either. I didn't care about Janus, I didn't care that he missed Maledicte, I didn't care about his wife or about their endless quarrels, and I couldn't have cared less who ended up regent for Prince Adiran after King Aris's assassination. What kept me going was Lane Robins' prose, which I enjoyed as much as ever.

Imagine my surprise when, halfway through the book, I found myself thinking that Antyre was in deep trouble if Janus lost his bid for the regency.

Oh, he didn't become a nice guy or anything, have no fear. But I did realize that neither Maledicte nor Gilly saw him clearly. Maledicte idealized him too much until the very end; Gilly vilified him too much. He's complicated. He's violent, ambitious, ruthless, but also intelligent and keenly interested in the welfare of Antyre, even when his concern is based on selfish motives. He's also the only noble in the kingdom who has any idea what life is like for Antyre's poor. He's a bit like a George R.R. Martin character in some ways. Every time I started hating him, he'd do something admirable, often for all the wrong reasons. Every time I started liking him, he'd do something so horribly unethical that I wondered what I'd been thinking.

Kings and Assassins follows Janus as he tries to scheme his way through the Antyrrian court and prevent the country from being taken over by neighboring Itarus in the aftermath of Aris's death. It's not easy; he is opposed at every turn by snobbish Antyrrian nobles, a grasping Itarusine prince, angry working-class mobs, and his own wife, Psyke, who is convinced Janus had Aris killed. Not to even mention the gods: Black-Winged Ani is still on the scene, and now Haith, the god of death, has awakened as well.

I didn't read this quite as compulsively as I read Maledicte, and I'm not sure if the fault lies with the book or with the fact that I was trying to fit it into a busier schedule. I do know that I enjoyed reading it once I got past the initial "I hate all the characters" stage. Recommended if you like political fantasies and don't mind gore and characters with skewed moral compasses!

WARNING : SPOILERS FOR MALEDICTE

Kings and Assassins is not a story that cuts an emotional swath as deep as Maledicte does, so I do not encourage any reader to see it as a direct sequel to it. Many people bemoan the fact that Mal doesn't actually appear in the book beyond Janus's memories but after finishing this, as much as I would have loved to hear more about him, I realized that it just wasn't a part of this book that was meant to be. Because, for now at least, his part of the story is over. K&As is Janus's story, and love him or hate him it's a very appropriate follow up in the Antyre novels and while it might be more story driven rather than character this new book really frees up a lot of room for Robins to play around with some things. And play around she does, and well.

Even reading it's predecessor I wasn't prepared for how dark this book was going to be. There are a lot of ugly questions that the book demands it's readers to grapple with if they want to continue with the story - what is the value of the mentally handicapped in society? How much are the lives of a nation as a whole when measured against the fruitfulness of it's soil, especially when those numbers can be re-multiplied? What is the role of gov in censuring of the press? Robin's its seems has decided to build her fantasy crafting in the tradition of Le Guin and others who knew that it was more than just a way for us to transport ourselves to another world, but rather to grapple with our own social issues head on in a new way.

There are no easy answers in this book, however after finishing this I do think that the ones the characters manage to find for themselves in the end are, if not squeaky clean, then at least *right*. And while this was not the direct sequel I was hoping for, it still makes for a very satisfying read and conclusion indeed. Five stars HIGHLY recommended.

The Kingdom of Antyre is in trouble. The heir to the king is young and feeble-minded. The King Aris is indecisive. Prince Ivor of the Itarusine Court is a visiting envoy of a powerful nation that is hovering at the borders, waiting for an opportunity to invade and conquer. The nobility is decadent and corrupt. The poor are more grindingly poor than ever and civil unrest is growing in the city. Janus Ixion, Earl of Last, in line for the throne after the feeble-minded prince, believes he can save Antyre. He's grown up amongst the poorest of the city, when he and his mother had been abandoned by his father, but the brought back to court. He believes in new ideas that can bring industry and prosperity back. Unfortunately, he is mistrusted by everyone... and not without cause. He has ambitions. He can be ruthless, a heartless killer, a soul-less degenerate. He has scandalized the Court by his liaison with the murderous courtier Maladicte, who is now supposedly dead. And when an assassin kills the King, Janus's own wife accuses him of being behind the deed.

This is a dark and deadly political fantasy of plots and intrigue and the interference of old gods and dark magics. Janus is a complex character, not at all sympathetic, and who truly will stop at nothing to gain power. He is pitted against enemies who are more powerful and ruthless, as well as enemies who are merely self-centered and uncaring. Seeing him have to battle against such odds is possibly the only point of sympathy in his favor. The trouble in Antyre and Janus's efforts to stay above the deadly machinations (by creating his own), has the curiosity of a nasty train-wreck. While I was never all that attached to Janus, he did seem to have at least some ideas of how to save the kingdom, so one did wish him to succeed. Watching him scrabble through all the deadly traps around him definitely had its fascination.

On the heels of Maledicte, I approached this book with a little bit of fear... Maledicte is so good that a sequel would seem to be an intruder.

But it's good. Not quite as good, but still good.

I was impressed with how much the book is capable of standing on its own, and I think that's really what made me like it. Maledicte's story is kept intact and discrete; this is a whole new tale set in the same setting with familiar characters.

I appreciated the political intrigue of this book a lot more than in Maledicte - the plots are well explained, suitably twisted, and incredibly emotionally impacting. As the noose tightens, you can feel the desperation. And there was a moment of "that's cool" at the end when everything came together that gave me the chills.

My only wish for this book, given the ending, was to have maybe a paragraph at the end about Maledicte. I wanted to know the impact there.

Thank you, again, Ms. Robins.

Note: Dionyses "Delight" DeGuerre rocks. He was my favorite character in the book despite his very minor roll.

While this book is the second in a series after Maledicte, it also works well as a standalone political fantasy. To the readers of the first book, it is quite interesting to see Janus from the inside as not someone who's blandly smiling but someone of passion who cares about the world around him (a trait that facilitates world-building, fortunately, and improves upon the often hazy setting of Maledicte).

The plot of the book is quite solid, but the book's memorability lies in characterization. While I found the villain a little silly and melodramatic, Janus is an extremely likeable character; the book's ending made me genuinely curious to see where he heads next.

I definitely recommend reading whatever Lane Robins writes (under her own name or penname Lyn Benedict) and hope she gets more fans!

Janus Ixion, once a street rat and now Earl of Last, is determined to revitalize stagnating Anytre by becoming its king. But when his wife is possessed by the god of death and his former tutor challenges him for the throne, Janus must use all his cunning to protect the nation which seeks to destroy him. Skillfully written, full of intrigue and violence, this is a rich, nuanced, and truly enjoyable book. However, it pales in comparison to its predecessor, Maledicte, because Janus is not nearly so fascinating a protagonist as the main character of that book. Nonetheless recommended, but this is not Robins's best.

Kings and Assassins invites comparison to Maledicte because it's that book's sequel--but also because Janus still mourns the loss of Maledicte and mentions him frequently. What made Maledicte a success was a foundation of strong writing, intelligent plot, riveting violence, and a magic-imbued fantasy world (so often missing in the fantasy of manners subgenre) capped by an exceptional protagonist: Maledicte's unique gender and his combination of ready wit and sword made him a fascinating antihero. Kings and Assassins is by the same author, and much of Robins's strong writing is in evidence here. Skillful plotting and visceral violence persist, and the setting and mythos are further developed. It's a rich and decadent and nuanced book, and a pleasure to read. But Kings and Assassins lacks an unforgettable protagonist, and so it pales in comparison to Maledicte. Janus is an interesting character, intelligent and cunning, but he is merely human where Maledicte is god-touched. Both characters are faulted, but Janus's faults are not set against a larger-than-life personality. Indeed, he's almost normal. That's not a bad thing, but within the vivid setting and when compared to the protagonist of the prequel, it's somewhat disappointing.

Taken on its own, Kings and Assassins is a good book. Robins is skilled; she writes a story to keep the reader guessing, action to keep him intrigued, and characters to keep him thinking. The book also stands alone, for the most part--if you don't read Maledicte you'll miss some of Janus's backstory, but this book's plot is self-contained. It's almost a pity that the book is a sequel. On its own, it's an impressive novel; it's only in comparison to its predecessor that it seems pale: not bad, just not quite as unforgettable as Maledicte, which I love so much. I recommend Kings and Assassins, but Maledicte remains Robins's best work so far.

Janus Ixion knows he has come a long way from an impoverished commoner wondering when his next meal would occur to being the Earl of Last. Though he no longer worries about eating, he knows his countrymen in Antyre remain indigent and starving. He dreams of bringing the industrial revolution to Antyre so no one would go to bed hungry.

Prince Ivor of Itarus plans to replace King Aris on the throne of Antyre and arranges for the monarch to be assassinated as he knows the young heir Prince Adiran is a moron. However, although Ivor achieves his royal killing, the late king's nephew from the wrong side of the sheets Janus is irate; not because his uncle died, but because the murder occurred to soon for him to make a bid for the throne. Meanwhile his wife Psyke, who believes he arranged his uncle's murder, acts mad as the demonic god of death and victory Haith possesses her. Even more enigmatic than Psyke's behavior, is King Adiran shows intelligence that makes everyone believe he must be possessed by an ancient god at a time when Itarus invades.

A few years have past since the events in MALEDICTE that focused on Janus' rise and other political backstabbing in a realm where gods intrude. Fascinatingly, no one is a pure hero with Janus the closest as he condones his lethal methods to seize power by claiming he is the best person to enable Antyre to prosper and to prevent its annexation by Itarus. Fans will enjoy the battle for power as anything goes, but with neighbors invading and traitors inside the court with personal agendas and sparking unrest while the gods possesses people for reasons known to them. KINGS AND ASSASSINS is an excellent political fantasy.

Harriet Klausner