A fun book that delivers classic gritty high fantasy with a twisting plot. 

 

The story starts with Kihrin imprisoned, being prompted to tell his story by his jailor. He starts telling the story of how he was sold as a slave at 16 and ended up on a tropical island with an assassin cult. His jailor soon interrupts him and says, no, you should start with your childhood as a thief and then a prince and starts telling Kihrin’s backstory. The two narrators trade off until the full picture is reveal. This was a reread as I prepare to read the rest of the series, and I will say that this book does benefit from a double reading. It is intentionally confusing due to complicated lineages, random immortals, shapeshifters, and body swapping. I found the overall chaos really fun, but your milage may vary. I thought this book did a good job of gritty high fantasy without reveling in the ugliness and an overall inclusive cast. This book does have a lot of characters and plot lines, but i will say that the cast doesn’t expand too much more for the rest of the series, so if you can get a handle on this book, the rest of the series is much more streamlined. 

 

Recommended if you want a fun, messy, complicated high fantasy. Also, I binged this series in a week, which I also recommend so all the characters and plots are fresh.