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After a beginning I wasn't too sure about, Falling Kingdoms surprisingly became an extremely enjoyable - if somewhat unoriginal - story. Rhodes' world was a fascinating and exciting place that I am eager to explore more of in the sequel, her characters were complex individuals often torn between political and moral duty, and the tensions between the lands of this world (Limeros, Paelsia and Auranos) were highly convincing. My final opinion of this novel is such a turnaround from my first impressions that varied from indifference to a little disgust at Magnus' not-so-brotherly love for his younger sister (but more about that in a bit).



Rhodes puts her characters through several levels of hell in this story and she doesn't shy away from unpleasant events. One of the best things that she does is pulls you inside the lives and minds of those within each kingdom - people who are enemies and wish one another dead - and gets you to sympathise with each and understand every point of view, even those that contradict one another. For example, she introduces you to Cleo's world and her desire to escape her forced engagement to a man she does not care for, she is flawed but still thoroughly likeable - that is, until you see her through the eyes of Jonas whose brother was murdered while she stood idly by and let it happen. There is more than one side to every character in this story and it makes for a very interesting book.

At the end of the day, the plot of this novel is really nothing different from the vast majority of high fantasy novels out there already. It features the usual political battles for the throne, a touch of romance, a fair bit of magic, throw in an ancient prophecy for good luck and you have the perfect mixture to create a fantasy novel like all the others. But... the difference is in the details here, the way Rhodes builds up such a complex set of characters and the relationships between them, and it is this which has made it so I have to pick up the next book. There's such a fine line between good and evil in Falling Kingdoms that you find yourself reevaluating your opinions of certain characters and their actions all the time. I cannot wait for more.

But, yeah, I can't put a status update about incest and then not address the issue properly. Technically, biologically, the feelings that Magnus has for Lucia are not incestuous because she isn't his real sister by birth but I have two things to say about that. For one, he isn't aware of this fact and he believes her to be his sister by blood. For another, whether you agree with me or not, one of the weirdest things for me about incest is the fact that these people have grown up with one another, maybe ran around naked together as toddlers, been brought up to love one another as siblings... I've read those news stories where siblings separated at birth have by some weird chance ended up meeting in later life and becoming lovers, only to then discover the horrible truth, but this seems less weird to me than two youngsters who do not share the same genes being brought up together and then getting it on. This is why I prefer to view Wuthering Heights as a kind of gothic tragedy, rather than a romance, even though Cathy and Heathcliff are not blood relations. Though, I will say for those of you who are put off by incest in books, so far Magnus' feelings for Lucia have been viewed as disgusting by Lucia and the other characters - hopefully, nothing will come of it.

However, let's not get carried away with the negative! This is pure fast-paced entertainment with characters who you can't help but care about. Definitely worth reading if you're a fan of fantasy books filled with Kings, Queens and magic.