Review Detail

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.