The ideas in this book were amazing, but I am not convinced on the execution.
I don't feel the characters were fleshed out and I didn't fully realise why they were doing the things they were doing.
This book could have been longer and I feel this would have benefited it greatly.

This novel grabs the reader's attention from the very first page. Kim does a fantastic job of worldbuilding without detracting from the core story. Blood of the Old Kings has captivating characters, fierce female main characters and a seven-eyed dragon that will captivate you until the very end. Another noteworthy aspect of this book is that it is a translation, having been initially written in Korean. I really believe that not nearly enough novels are being translated into English from other languages.

Thank you NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for the ARC.

The good: three interesting, distinct POV characters & the concept of sorcerers' corpses as power generators which is rife with potential. The bad: it's all so... meh. Simple, even. From the wishy washy sorcery (we don't even know what the incantations are!) to the laughably incompetent intelligence group that serves the tyrannical Empire. It's not terrible; I do find the plot engaging enough. But it reads like a first draft with not enough complexity and depth in terms of worldbuilding, and I'm not even typically a stickler for that.

3.75 stars.

I really enjoyed this opening entry into a new epic fantasy! Each of the three perspectives brought something different to the story and wove together well throughout.

Loran - the commoner princess who makes a deal with a dragon to get vengeance for her murdered family. As a swordswoman, her perspective brought most of the epic battles and action of classic fantasy, which were great. I enjoyed watching her come into her own from making her initial declaration to become King to rising up with her people.
Arienne - a young girl born with magic attempting to escape her fate under the Empire, to become a glorified battery in death! The way her magic worked was sometimes a little too convenient or hand-wavy for my taste, but the world-building that her perspective brought with the power generators and sorcerers was wonderfully dark and the most interesting aspect of the story.
Cain - a bit of a loner, he simply wants to find out who murdered his best friend. Of the three perspectives I think I enjoyed Cain’s the most. I clicked the easiest with his personality as he investigated his friend’s death and using his wits to get himself into and out of trouble. Cain is the character I am most eager to see in future.


Overall, this was fast-paced and action packed with fresh takes on necromancy and dragon lore and I eagerly await the next book.

This was so good! I'm thrilled, because Blood of the Old Kings is one of my most anticipated books of the year. The cover is stunning and the premise sounds so unique. So many of my favourite tropes are included in the book, as well - necromancy, dragons, female warriors, political intrigue, I could go on and on!

Even though this book is translated, I never felt like the pace was dragging or the writing was stilted. I was engaged with each of the three POVs, and I was always dying to know what would happen next. The translator, Anton Hur, is a fantastic writer and it shows through their translation. I think this is going to be a series and if so, I will definitely be reading the next installment!

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for granting me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed this one!

It was very easy to read and to follow. I read it in two sittings.

I enjoyed diving into this new world with a female heroine at the front of this adventure. Even though the characters were quite flat for me, this didn't spoil my enjoyment of this book (usually that is the case with other books like this one).

When I was done, I wanted more so now I have to wait until it is published in English, translated amazingly once again by Anton Hur.

I loved this book. What an exciting read!! The world building and 3 person POV storytelling were amazing. I can't wait for the other books in this trilogy.

*Blood of the Old Kings* by Sung-il Kim is a solid 4/5 for me! This book brings together some epic fantasy elements—necromancy-powered empires, a dragon under a volcano, and a swordswoman wielding a fang-sword. The worldbuilding is fantastic, with dead sorcerers literally fueling the Empire's power, which makes for a fascinating and dark backdrop.

The three POVs—Arienne, a rebellious sorcerer; Loran, a warrior on a vengeance mission; and Cain, an investigator—add variety to the story, though Loran's arc definitely stole the show for me. She has the most depth and the most exciting plot, especially with the whole dragon partnership. Arienne’s story is also engaging, but Cain’s felt a bit isolated and not as impactful.

What really works is the pacing—it’s fast, which kept things exciting, but sometimes it felt like the story was rushing from scene to scene. I would’ve loved more time to dig into the characters. They’re interesting but not super fleshed out beyond their roles in the plot. That said, the magic system and the way necromancy is used are super creative and definitely a highlight.

Overall, this is a fun, fast-paced read with some really cool ideas. If you're into epic fantasy with dragons, necromancy, and a dash of rebellion, this is worth checking out!

I was really excited to read Sung-Il Kim's <i>Blood of the Old Kings</i>, mostly because I admittedly don't think I've read much Korean fantasy if at all. Anton Hur is an excellent translator, and it shows in this work as well.
Still, in the end this wasn't a book for me. The story ideas were intriguing and the characters seemed interesting at first. Sadly, I found the world-building a bit lacking, the plot rather convoluted and the characters incredibly one-dimensional. I didn't care for any of the three big ones and couldn't tell you much about them, either. I loved the idea of sorcerers as power generators and Arienne as a fugitive sorcerer fleeing from an academy that would habe killed her to become such a power generator was SUCH a good character concept, and Loran, our warrior "princess", making a deal with a dragon and fighting the Imperium with a huge ass dragon sword is just as amazing a concept. But there was just no meat to them. Add to that a rather quick pacing and I never felt like I actually got to know them.
So in the end, that's what made me feel more or less indifferent towards the book. It didn't manage to make me care about anything - the characters, the plot, the world. The concepts are great, the execution less so.

"Blood of the Old Kings" will grab yours attention and not let go, any time I wasn't reading, I was thinking about what would happen next.

From page one, I was hooked. Blood of the Old Kings is incredible in its world-building and characters and its unique magic system. Beginning as a tale of revenge against the Empire who have conquered the world, and murdered thousands we meet one of our main POV's, a revenge driven mother who throws herself in a volcano and makes an life altering pact with a dragon . (We love a sword wielding mother out for revenge for her murdered husband and child). We also follow a sorcerer, disillusioned in the Empire, I mean what sorcerer wouldn't be then the Empire only keeps you around so they can use your corpse as a power device and Cain, who came to the city after his homeland was invaded and conquered. who doesn't care about much, but his mentor who's body showed up in the river.

Expect political intrigue, rebellion plots and more.
I NEED MORE

Absolutely loved this. A fascinating world encompassed with brilliant writing. I need more from Kim!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me an advanced copy for an honest review.

I was really excited to read this as it had a lot of promise: great cover art, three POV characters - a princess leading a rebellion with a dragon sword, a murder mystery and an escaping sorceress. But the characters were pretty flat so I didn't connect with them, the plot was fairly linear and there was a lot more telling than showing, so a big disappointment overall. I won't be continuing with the series.

lood of the Old Kings has a lot of makings of an epic fantasy: a few POVs, people trying to overthrow an empire, battles, political intrigues, sorcerers, and, oh yeah, dragons.

We hit the ground running with each of the three main characters' introductory chapters. Cain is well-connected in the city and trying to use those connections to find out what caused the death of his mentor and closest friend. Arienne is disillusioned with the magical academy that she's grown up at, knowing that it's all to train her so that her corpse can continue to power the Empire, and is sneaking into the secret chambers of the academy and making a break for it. And Loran, well, Loran is waking a dragon and getting a magical sword, all in the name of vengeance for her family and taking back her homeland from the Empire. So, a lot going on from the first three chapters!

All three POVs were engaging and unique from one another - however, I'm not sure if the latter was because of unique voices or rather because each POV character had a distinct plot. This was, to me, a book focused more on plot than on characters, but I mean this in a kind of odd way. I don't feel like the characters were at all interchangeable and I feel like they did all drive their own plots - plot didn't just happen to them - but I don't feel that any of Cain, Arienne, or Loran really had personalities outside of their plotlines. They were distinct characters and had thought put into them, but I don't think they were particularly complex characters.

Another highlight for this book was the magic. Between Loran's use of her dragon-enchanted sword, Warmuth, and the Empire being powered by the corpses (!) of sorcerers (!!) as power generators, this was a very cool concept of magic.

I know this is the first book in a series, but I did like that it stands on its own - it doesn't end on a cliffhanger, you could read it as a standalone. It's great when books in a series have actual self-contained plots, although it's easy to see how this world can be further explored in sequels. So this is a plus for me! However, it did make Cain's plot feel a bit . . . pointless, compared to Loran and Arienne. It was very isolated, in its way, instead of the more grand plots of the other two POV characters.

Another part of the plot that didn't quite work for me was that I felt that it went from scene to scene so quickly, without any time to breathe. You could have definitely stretched Loran's plot over a couple of books with more development for her. Maybe I wouldn't feel that way if I saw what her plot in later books was going to be, but as it is, while I'm not against reading other books in this series, I also don't feel a huge draw to do so, since this was wrapped up pretty nicely.

If you're looking for a fast-paced high fantasy book with motivated characters, strong worldbuilding, a unique magic system, and a dragon, then look no further, and you'll probably have a fun time with this one!

3.5 stars.

Thank you to the publisher, Orbit, and to NetGalley for the ARC.

From the get-go the world of this book really stuck out to me, the body’s of dead sorcerers being Power Generators for the Empire was so fascinating and really sums up how the fantasy and sci-fi elements of this book are pulled together.

The three different POVs in this book, are so different that they could be their own books but together the interwovenness of them really works and is seen the beginning in really subtle ways that make a lot of sense. Although I will say I was the most invested in Loran’s story, for me hers was the most interesting and she herself is the most interesting character in the book. Arienne’s was second for me, and I did kind of like the youthfulness that she brings to the story. Cain’s was the weakest, and I could tell from his first chapter that I wasn’t going to be as invested in him or his story as the others.

From the beginning I didn’t jell when with the writing style of this book, and honestly I don’t really like it – but I will give it some grace because this book is translated and I’m sure that reading this book in the language it was originally written would bring much more to the experience.

This book is pretty fast paced, which I do tend to like as it helps keep the momentum of reading it going and the use of time jumps can work really well. But sometimes the time jumps here could really disrupt the flow of the book, which I think is a shame.

Overall, I did enjoy myself and I think the world that has been crafted is really interested. But I’m not sure if I would pick up the sequels as I know this is the first in a series just because of the writing style.

This book was just fantastic. Not a single think I can fault. Great characters, well written, interesting plot, the world building was one so well.
Just an overall very epic book!
would love to read more by this author!

Here we have a strong candidate for my favourite book of 2024! It’s been a while since I’ve been hooked on a new fantasy series to this extent - Blood of the Old Kings completely captured my attention and its world-building is absolutely top-notch. This is a strong recommendation for anyone looking to delve into a new fantasy world, whether you’re widely read or new to the genre.

More important than any technical or writing prowess, this world created here is simply awesome! A repressive empire, a novel approach to necromancy, mechanised war units, AND a seven-eyed dragon trapped under a volcano?! Yes please, sign me up! The necromancy elements in particular deserve a lot of praise for their ingenuity. Sorcerers find themselves in an unusual position in this world, since their bodies can be used as powerful power generators upon their death, with the strength of the generator being proportional to the power of the sorcerer; essentially, sorcerers are often worth more to the empire they serve dead than alive. The sense of scale and dread created when discussing the dragon and the mech units is fantastic too, and really adds weight to the story.

Blood of the Old Kings has three lead characters all with their own plotlines, and honestly the overall story is somehow better than the sum of its parts! The stories work together perfectly to help paint a picture of the world, subtly influencing each other without tangling in a mess. Breaking it down, we have the chosen one who’s forging her own destiny, the academic runaway and the sleuthing street rat. The MCs fall into categories we’ve seen a hundred times before, but they’re written with such vibrancy and energy that I completely overlooked the fact.
It feels like all the characters actually belong in the same world, with no chapters resorting to filler at any point.

Hats off to Sung-Il Kim and translator Anton Hur for your newly published lightning in a bottle! I can’t wait to read any future instalments in the world you’ve created.

Thank you to author and publisher for the arc!


Breathtakingly special this book was. The characters, the world, the prose, it was so greatly written and I cannot wait to read more books by this author!
I would recommend this to anyone in need for an epic journey

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. I enjoyed this multiple POV epic fantasy. Each of the characters felt very unique and I particularly liked how at times their stories briefly interconnect and how the other characters actions influenced events around them. The story was very well constructed in this way and so felt very immersive. The pacing on this is brisk, which is good in many ways as it is a nice easy read (the translator did a fantastic job) and we skip the more tedious parts of characters moving around however at times I also felt that the jumps broke some of the immersion. I also felt this during some the battle scenes. Overall, I highly recommend this to epic fantasy readers!