PALE KINGS - Micah Yongo

 



Neythan is a young assassin who has been summoned to Súnam. He assumes that he will be asked to help find an enemy but he winds up confronting his past. An ancient scroll that he's long carried with him is somehow quite important to what is about to come.

The Five Lands have been at peace for some time but a new, nameless enemy is at the borders and they appear to have supernatural powers. These "Lost Gods" threaten the peace and Neythan may be the only one who holds the key to stopping them, but he has to learn about the powers he holds and there may not be time.

As with the first book in the series, I really like the African tone to the story and the use of a mythology that I'm otherwise unfamiliar with. For this alone I give good marks because I like being challenged with new ideas and concepts and mythologies.

But also like the first book, I felt that this moved too slowly for me. A story with powerful lost gods and an assassin with a heretofore lost ability should be a page-turning exciting read, but it's not. Neythan gets caught up in reflection which slows down the action, which has this reader saying, "Get on with it!"

The story and the action do pick up some just after half-way through, but for the most part, I was already checked out from really being involved. However, this is one of the rare books (pair of books, actually) that I'm putting in my re-read collection of books.  There is enough here that appeals to me that I can't help but wonder if I read this again I'll enjoy it more as I'll already have the familiarity with the setting and culture and can focus more on the story.  The balance here is hard to maintain on one reading.

But for now, based on one reading, this only strikes me as an average read.

Looking for a good book? Pale Kings by Micah Yongo has some interesting concepts but the story moves too slowly to be truly engaging.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars

* * * * * *

Pale Kings

author: Micah Yongo

series: Lost Gods #2

publisher: Angry Robot

ISBN: 0857667858

paperback, 368 pages

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