#Review - Kingsbane by Claire Legrand #YALIT #Fantasy

Series: The Empirium Trilogy # 2
Format: Hardcover, 608 pages
Release Date: May 21, 2019
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss
Genre: Young Adult / Dark Fantasy

The #1 LibraryReads Pick author of Furyborn is back with the second book in the epic New York Times bestselling Empirium Trilogy!

Rielle Dardenne has been anointed Sun Queen, but her trials are far from over. The Gate keeping the angels at bay is falling. To repair it, Rielle must collect the seven hidden castings of the saints. Meanwhile, to help her prince and love Audric protect Celdaria, Rielle must spy on the angel Corien—but his promises of freedom and power may prove too tempting to resist.

Centuries later, Eliana Ferracora grapples with her new reality: She is the Sun Queen, humanity's long-awaited savior. But fear of corruption—fear of becoming another Rielle—keeps Eliana's power dangerous and unpredictable. Hunted by all, racing against time to save her dying friend Navi, Eliana must decide how to wear a crown she never wanted by embracing her mother's power or rejecting it forever.

 

 

Kingsbane is the second installment in author Claire Legrand's The Empirium Trilogy. The story picks up right where Furyborn left off. This is a series about two queens, separated by thousands of years, connected by secrets and lies, who must continue their fight amid deadly plots and unthinkable betrayals that will test their strength―and their hearts. In the past, Rielle Dardenne has been anointed Sun Queen, but her trials are far from over. The Gate keeping the angels at bay is falling. 

To repair it, Rielle must collect seven hidden castings of the seven saints who were responsible for sending the Angels to a dark desolate place. Meanwhile, to help her prince and love Audric protect Celdaria, Rielle must spy on the angel Corien—but his promises of freedom and power may prove too tempting to resist. While searching for the seven castings of the saints, it becomes clear that there are forces working hard to prevent Rielle from succeeding in collecting the castings. 

The fear is real. Rielle isn't just the most powerful human in this world, but she might also be leaning towards escaping her responsibilities by running away with Corien. One of the key issues with Rielle is that while she is powerful, she lacks control, and self esteem. She could easily find a way to stop Corien's intrusions into her dreams which cause her to question everything that she is supposed to stand for. Is she the Sun Queen, or the world destroyer known as Kingsbane?

Meanwhile, a century later, Eliana, the former Dread of Orline, has shown an amazing ability to defeat a large force sent by the Empire and the Undying Emperor who will do anything to get his hands on Eliana. Eliana must find a way to control her powers so that she can find a way to hopefully travel back in time and stop her mother from destroying the world. Yes, I did say mother as in Rielle is Eliana's mother. One could say that Eliana is living in the wrong time frame and therefore going back to her mothers time to stop her, might just be the key to defeating the Empire and Corien.

If someone were to ask me which story I preferred. I would definitely say Rielle's due to the fact that she has so much on her plate. She has a small group who loves her, she has many, many people who hate her and want to chain her to ensure she doesn't destroy the world. Then, she has the most powerful being whispering in her ears and in her dreams that she could easily walk away and have the whole world at her feet. How can Eliana top what Rielle has been through? Plus, we already know that she's racing towards a tragic ending that nobody can stop.

I think it is fair to say that there is a rather large difference between Rielle and Eliana. Rielle is so powerful, she doesn't care who she offends, or makes enemies of since nobody can reign in her powers. Eliana is kind of on the meek side considering she was once an assassin/bounty hunter who worked for the Empire. She doesn't want the responsibility of becoming the new Sun Queen. She doesn't even know which part of the prophecy she is. Is she the world saver, or the world destroyer? She also spends way too much time obsessing over Simon.

Once again, the author alternates POV every chapter starting with Rielle and ending on a heart breaking cliffhanger ending. She also uses several other characters to tell her story including Audric and Harken. Even though it is a large book, it has plenty of action, and the twists will shock you into disbelief. This isn't just the story of Rielle and Eliana. It is also the story of Simon, Remy, Audric, Ludivine, as well as an entire new group of characters. This book is not a filler, nor is a bridge between the first and final installment. This book could hold up to the first book easily.

The author has left a whole lot of unanswered questions on the table to be resolved. How she will do so in a manner that will make sense, will be interesting to discover. It is also fair for me to say that this book dragged on way too long. It could have easily been 200 pages shorter and I would have been happy. There was also too many sex scenes which really doesn't bring anything to the overall enjoyment of the story. It's like, yes, we are having sex and if you don't like it, you can go jump off the nearest cliff!

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