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Pale Kings (Emaneska Series Book 2) by [Ben Galley]

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Ben Galley

Pale Kings (Emaneska Series Book 2) Kindle Edition

by Ben Galley (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

140 ratings

Book 2 of 5: Emaneska Series

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Could you take a child's life to save a world?

"Galley's imagination is a truly beautiful thing. The plot here is rich and intricate, and the characters are a delight... I believe Mr Galley may well be one to watch.”
– Fantasy Bytes

The Pale Kings are rising. Emaneska's Long Winter remains as bitter as a blade between the ribs. War is fast approaching. Gods and demons are hovering on the horizon. Long-lost revelations arrive to haunt the lives of three men.

"Harry Potter meets Lord of the Rings."
– NottingHarp, Amazon Reviewer

While Farden the Written mage busies himself digging up his past in the strange deserts of Paraia, the storm-clouds begin to gather for Durnus, Elessi, Cheska, and Modren.

"There are certain twists that will surprise the reader by genuinely coming out of the left field.”
– Fantasy Book Critic

Together with Farfallen and his dragon-riders, they must fight to survive against the Long Winter, the vicious machinations of the new Arkmage, and the arrival of something much deadlier than both combined. War, deception, and murder are quickly becoming the only paths to salvation…

"Ben Galley is not yet as good an author as Gemmell but the thing that I find exciting is that I honestly think that he could be.”
– Fantasy Book Review

--------------------

Pale Kings, the explosive sequel to the bestselling epic fantasy The Written, has arrived. Packed with action, magic and mythology, Pale Kings is a sword and sorcery adventure that raises stakes to new heights. Get the sequels Dead Stars - Part One and Dead Stars - Part Two now in eBook and paperback.

You can follow Ben on Twitter and YouTube @BenGalley, on Facebook and Instagram at @BenGalleyAuthor.

Print length

488 pages
Language

English
Publication date

February 27, 2012
File size

4388 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"★★★★★ Ben Galley is one of the best voices in the dark fantasy genre."
- Fantasy Faction

"★★★★★ Galley's imagination is a truly beautiful thing. The plot here is rich and intricate, and the characters are a delight... I believe Mr Galley may well be one to watch."
- Fantasy Bytes

"★★★★ An exhilarating ride from start to finish."
- Rockstarlit Book Asylum

About the Author

Ben Galley is the author behind the gritty and dark Emaneska Series, the western fantasy Scarlet Star Trilogy, and the new standalone novel, The Heart of Stone, which was voted Best Self-Published Novel in the 2017 Booknest Fantasy Awards.

Aside from writing and dreaming up lies to tell his readers, Ben works as a self-publishing consultant and tutor, helping fellow authors from all over the world to publish and sell books. His website www.shelfhelp.info will tell you all you need to know about DIY self-publishing.

Ben can be found attempting to be witty on Twitter or vlogging on YouTube @BenGalley, or loitering on Facebook and Instagram @BenGalleyAuthor. You can also get a free eBook at www.bengalley.com

Product details

ASIN : B007EW03P4
Publisher : BenGalley.com; 1st edition (February 27, 2012)
Publication date : February 27, 2012
Language : English
File size : 4388 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 488 pages
Lending : Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #294,168 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #438 in Norse & Viking Myth & Legend
- #519 in Nordic Myth & Legend Fantasy eBooks
- #1,022 in New Adult & College Fantasy (Books)

Customer Reviews:
140 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		67%
4 star		18%
3 star		9%
2 star		4%
1 star		2%

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Kindle Customer

Highly recommend. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire series.

Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2019

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This series remains in the top tier of best books I have read!
After reading literally thousands of books since I retired early 14 years ago due to medical problems (little else to do), I have re-read this series 3 times over the years.
Witty, imaginative and enthralling, , I highly recommend to fans of futuristic and thrilling fantasy - adventure stories.
I don't write a lot of reviews (lazy?) - don't ask......, but, I do read a lot and this EMANESKA SERIES deserves this recognition from this grateful reader for such an immersive story.
Thank you Ben. Keep writing. This is really good stuff! I'm a FAN!

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Mitch

A lot of growth between books

Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2013

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So, if you read my review of Ben's first book, I mentioned that my rating was on potential, and though I commented on a few areas I thought could use improvements, I thoroughly enjoyed the book overall. Well, this book, the direct sequel to "The Written", really makes good on a lot of that potential. The magic system is expanded upon quite a bit, Farden's vambraces are elaborated upon, and the whole thing felt more confident and polished.

"The Written" finished with only the smallest amount of closure, with more questions and problems than answers. This book picks up as the characters struggle to deal with the aftermath. Farden searches for his exiled uncle while trying to come to grips with the finale of the first book, and the dragons and their riders prepare for the inevitable war. Galley's world building took a big step forward as we are introduced to additional regions and cultures. As I said, one of my biggest questions after the first book was about the magic system and the difference between sorcerers, mages and the Written. Well, Galley makes a conscientious effort to try and explain this a little bit, though it's still not completely clear. There is a lot of explanation about the gods and demons as sort of the underlying motives for all the conflict.

Again, the characters are great. Farden, in particular, is tremendous in all of his flaws and humanity. I really felt for him and the situation that he was put in. The other characters were also very fleshed out; none one was perfect, except for, maybe, the dragons, but the strength of the story was partially in the characters overcoming their flaws to try and work for the greater good.

I really enjoyed this book, and look forward to the finale of the series. I anticipate even more world building and fleshing out of the magic system and the pantheon of gods and demons to come.

3 people found this helpful

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James the Reader

Shows improvement from book 1 to book 2.

Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2013

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Much like "The Written", Ben Galley's second work is a passable and enjoyable story. I plan to read the third when it comes out. For an author Galley's age, this is a very good work. However, I think there is a lot of untapped potential here and I think some of his choices are sloppy. This is not meant to be cruel to Galley. After all, I read his first book when it was a free download on Amazon and it got me to buy his second. There are just a few writing choices that I think could be done differently and make his next work so much better.

I will name two examples in brief and then end on a positive note.

One, there are some bizarrely heavy-handed incidents of foreshadowing. Towards the end of the book, it shows a brief scene from a side character's point of view, and ends it with (paraphrasing and slightly exaggerating) "little did that person know their doom was soon at hand." Then it switches perspective to a main character who kills said side character. This was the worst offender by far. The rest were not bad, merely strange literary choices.

Two, there are a few too many scenes from the point of view of "throw away" side characters. Galley does a good job making his main characters sympathetic, and writes much better scenes when working from their point of view, but uses side characters as a crutch to get around his choice of using limited perspective instead of omniscient perspective. Limited perspective is an excellent and appropriate choice for the type of story Galley tells, but I think he's afraid of not showing certain things happening. If I were to make one recommendation for the third book, it would be try to write a first draft solely from the point of view of a single character and see what happens.

Perhaps I've been overly critical. I enjoyed reading this story and will look forward to the rest. For fans of standard fantasy fare, written with a stylistic flair and doing an excellent job avoiding the crutch of "my orcs and elves are just slightly different from Tolkien's", check out the Emaneska series. Galley is an author who shows a lot of promise and I am certain he will continue to improve as he progresses in his career.

One person found this helpful

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T. Smith-Pena

Couldn't put it down!

Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2013

Verified Purchase

I started reading "Pale Kings" immediately after finishing "The Written" and was not disappointed. It was definitely a page-turner which nicely fleshed out the world created in the first book. Characters were well-developed, and I appreciated that the battle sequences were not excruciatingly detailed and belabored like most fantasy books I have read. We are drawn further into the history and events leading up to the present day, learn the fate of Farden's uncle, the mystery of the Written, and explore the world of the Sirens and Dragons.

Unlike another review here, I enjoyed the descriptive passages which painted the background of the story. I was glad to see that Ben Galley did not fall back on the usual fantasy tropes in continuing to build the world of Emaneska, yet still touching on familiar myths and concepts of deity and magic -- with just a bit of a twist.

And while the ending wasn't a big surprise (the whole book inexorably marches to the expected conclusion), I found myself wondering whether Farden would do what was expected of him, or remain true to his character.

Now on to the final two books in the series...

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Top reviews from other countries

poisonfrog

Confused Mishmash

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 14, 2019

Verified Purchase

I love to give new writers a go because one day I hope to pull my finger out and get on Kindle myself - besides which, it's a great place to find new talent. But... in this case, though the ideas are sound, I found the whole world very confusing. The author delves too much into Norse mythology which made me wonder if this was an alternate universe or, just that he liked using those particular tropes as his worldbuilding foundation but couldn't be bothered to rewrite them so you couldn't tell (at first glance) where they came from?

The protagonist is a pain. My gods, he's a teen boy with a crush that won't take responsibility for his actions and passes all the blame onto others. I've found myself wanting to give him a good slap or two but, if that was the authors intent, then you achieved it with spades. All the female characters are dodgy - very simplistic - and it worries me that the portrayal of one of the female generals has much devoted to whether or not she's female enough? I don't see that that has any relevance at all to the plot and it could be dispensed with entirely, plus it comes over as somewhat phobic.
Then there's the editing... so many typos, so much bad exposition that does nothing to drive the story, and random mistakes that should have been picked up and deleted but weren't.

What did I like? The premise, though that has been done before, is nice enough and the magic system is okay but it's not Brian Sanderson stuff, for sure (and let's face it, if you want to write good fantasy then he's one you need to admire), and I also like the dragons, despite the absolute certainty the bond between rider and they is something snurched from Pern.

Having said all that, I'll prolly read the rest but I am thinking they could do with some serious work to bring them up to scratch.

3 people found this helpful

paul nelson

Pale Kings

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 2, 2013

Verified Purchase

Another excellent cover picture, this time a Gryphon, a legendary creature with the head, talons, and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion.
In the times when God's, Daemons & Elves ruled in Emaneska, humans were nothing more than slaves. The Daemons grew to powerful and a great threat to the world. Orion was the lord of the Daemons and coupled with a human slave, who bore him three human children with Daemon blood.
The gods were in hiding and the humans resigned to a life of slavery but the God's had one last card to play, to save the world and start anew, they sacrificed themselves and flung the Daemons and Elves into the stars never to return along with the God's.

The three children of Orion hid amongst men, shapeshifters and immortal with great power, thousands of years they have planned and plotted to bring the age of the Daemons back to earth. Gradually ascending to positions of power they move to fulfil the prophecy of the dust song.

And one more terrible than Three shall come
one to which the stars succumb
and bring the power of Ragnorak upon the earth.
and leave all to bask in inholy birth.

The three children of Orion are the Pale Kings, the Nefalim's and a Pale King can only be killed by a brother but one is dead and the remaining two work together.

Cheska is pregnant with Fardens child, the result of Fardens infatuation and a child of two Written mages, Farden believes that Cheska still loves him but she is also the daughter of a Pale king and this is the child of the prophecy. Farden faces some tough decisions, stubborn and torn in two, can he prevail and turn the tide.

The story starts with Farden hunting for his Uncle, who was banished by the Arkmage's after succumbing to the madness that can strike a written mage and committing murder. His uncle Tyrfing was tattooed with five key elements, powerful and capable of shapeshifting, he has been lost for over ten years and may hold the key in the battle against the Pale Kings.

Pale Kings is a big improvement on The Written in every aspect, bigger & bolder, well written action sequences interlaced in an excellent plot. Characters who were on the periphery of the story in the first book get much bigger parts, all key to the story.
Durnus the Vampyre, mentor and close friend to Farden has a pivotal role to play but first he must find a release from the curse of the Vampyre and reclaim the power of his birthright.
The story contains extracts from the past, the god's manifest as shadow and attempt to influence the fight, all contribute to excellent world building as the battle reaches epic proportions. Not all survive as the major characters face a battle they can't win and it all makes for a fast paced, action packed, emotional and enjoyable read.

The final book in the trilogy Dead Stars definitely becomes one of my top ten anticipated books of 2013.

One person found this helpful

Martin Belcher

A fantasy masterpiece - you have to read this book!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 4, 2013

Verified Purchase

Absolutely bloody amazing! I can't speak more highly of this masterpiece of a fantasy epic, I loved every minute of it and even rationed it as I didn't want to finish it too quickly. Damn! I'm finished and now I have to wait until the end of May for the last two books in the Emaneska series, Dead Stars parts one & two to come out. I can't wait!

There is so much going on in Pale Kings and so many important plots and answers that to write too much would spoil it for those of you that have not had the joy of reading this series yet. What I will say is this book builds strongly on the characters you meet in the first book "The Written", the world of Emaneska opens out and you get a feeling of what an epic world this is. So vivid in its portrayal, so masterfully planned and written with such intense description and wonderful characters that you can't help but be drawn in to this world and find it hard to come out again...

This is rapidly becoming one of my favourite fantasy series ever, a classic to stand up there in the bookshelf with the more well known classics. Mr Ben Galley is an incredibly talented author! You have to read this series!

One person found this helpful

Book Geek Says

Glorious!!!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 13, 2013

Verified Purchase

This is the second book in Mr G's series! Farden is back and things have gone somewhat to shit and guess who has to sort it out??? We pick up a few months after the last book......

I LOVE THESE BOOKS!! The story is action packed, twisty, turny and so so intriguing and compelling and gripping. The characters are also amazing. Farden is a total babe and there is another mage that crops up who is almost as babelicious (but I won't say who). The evil characters are evil personified, the good are gloriously good. Elessi is still a tit and I can't stand her still, but I've never been a fan of wet, weak and pathetic female characters, but then again, who is?

I still love Mr G's style of writing and the way he develops characters and plot lines. Smooth, involving and very intelligent. Glorious fantasy all round that gives you everything from vamps, to mages to dragons to wizards to Gods!!!

I really do recommend this series (and I'm only on book 2) to everyone who loves fantasy and I think people who aren't big fantasy fans should maybe give it a go as there as so may aspects of it and layers to love. A really enthralling series that has gripped me, just like Robin Hobb did when I discovered the Farseer Trilogy at the tender age of 17 (bloody hell that was 10 years ago now!!!!).

Please read these they are stonking! BRING ON THE NEXT ONE!

Michael Sterry

Dragons and a griffon!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 2, 2020

Verified Purchase

4.5-stars out of 5 for this story.

I liked this more than The Written. I think that's because the story developed a great deal more during this 2nd book in the series. I will happily read the next 2 books in the series.

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