Prophecy

Prophecy is the first book in the Fractured Kingdom Trilogy. The worldbuilding and political structure feel well-established. The old king was influenced by his advisor, Mordesius, to split with the Methusian people. The king died, and the queen followed soon after giving birth. Mordesius is the King’s Regent, but as the young king is approaching 18 now, Mordesius is moving on to plans to be named his heir. We do get chapters from his perspective, and he is all bad with no redeeming qualities, the perfect archetype of a sniveling, blackhearted, corrupt official.
We meet Persephone, who has been a mistreated slave her entire life. She is stubborn and brave. Azriel is a Methusian thief who hatches a plot to buy Persephone’s freedom because he recognizes her to be the prophesied person the Methusians have been trying to find for years. They believe she is the key to finding the Methusian King, who will set everything right and unite the kingdom. The banter between these two characters is enthralling and the best part of the book. In the early chapters, when they don’t trust each other and run into one mishap after another, it had me staying up late soaking up the enemies to more tropes.
The book has a mix of dark themes that prompt a trigger warning at the beginning of the book. Mordesius is fond of torture and mass slaughter. However, the tone is completely different from Persephone and Azriel’s chapters. They are comedic and witty, even when escaping danger.
I liked Persephone’s character, but I did question her attitude, given that her backstory is of an abused slave her whole life. The setting has many medieval characteristics, and she often feels like a strong modern heroine that strains believability.
As a reader, I suspected who the prophesied king would end up being, and I like that the author gave us exactly that revelation, only to change everything in the surprise ending guaranteed to make you launch right into the next book.
The style of this book is reminiscent of classic epic fantasies. If you like Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydian or David Edding’s The Mallorean series, then this is a great choice. Overall, this book is a solid start to the trilogy.

A slapdash romp about a slave girl caught up in the plights and plots of a persecuted people and the sinister warlords with low self-esteem looking to squash dissent for good. Persephone has always been a slave, and when a bizarre turn of events sees her riding off into the sunset in the company of an insistent chicken thief, she's not sure what to make of her purchaser (rescuer?), the enemies he is so desperate to avoid, or the refugees of which he is a part, who hang their hopes on a prophesied savior and true king who will overturn the current tyranny. In other words, it has all of the makings of a classic YA trilogy, complete with secret identities, animal companions to the rescue, and villains we love to hate.

I was reminded of Juliet Marillier's Shadowfell, but painted larger and louder, with a melodramatic audacity that had me laughing and also concerned for Persephone's sense of self-preservation (there might be none?). She and Azriel tend to make their plans on the fly. Bluffing and chaos ensue. Gotta admire the spunk, although in later scenes, I felt it lessened the sense of danger when all that stood between them and disaster was an easily disproven cover story.

From their first meeting, Persephone and Azriel have great banter, and the opening chapters nicely balance humor and tension as they have lots of time to sharpen their tongues. However, when their journey developed into more delicate situations, I had trouble understanding the comedic line. Bluster and sass risk coming across as blunders and stumbles when there's lives on the line. But, I'll admit that I often struggle with comedy, and readers who enjoy a larger-than-life, sometimes cheeky or irreverent approach to problem solving will enjoy the various scenarios and how our protagonists must extricate themselves.

So strap on your knives and hang on to your chickens. It's going to be a wild ride.