I have to admit this up front: I was burned out when I read this book. Burned out on fantasy, burned out on reading so much in a row, burned out from lack of sleep (and activity). So, that may have affected what I thought of it.
Because I thought it was dull, boring, poorly written, with uninteresting characters and plot. It didn’t get truly interesting until the last 100 pages, and even then, I was dissatisfied with the ending.
Set 60 years after Swordspoint, The Fall of Kings deals with a noble and a scholar who are lovers, but also a scholar who comes to think he’s a wizard from the ancient ages and his lover is the new King of the Land. It has shadows of Arthurian legend, but done somewhat clumsily. I was bored with the history, I was bored with the myth (told you I tended to skip those parts…), I was bored with the machinations of the main characters.
I think what I really missed was the sword fighting. And the chess game of the first novel. I was dissatisfied with the ending, but at least I enjoyed the journey. That’s much better than loathing the journey and being mildly interested in the ending.
I agree with you on this one. Actually, I didn’t really like any of the Ellen Kushner books set in this world, which was disappointing, because I’d heard so many people raving about them and they sounded right up my alley.
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