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Books of the Shaper #2
Seven Kings
In the jungles of Khyrei, an escaped slave seeks vengeance and finds the key to a savage revolution.
In the drought-stricken Stormlands, the Twin Kings argue the destiny of their kingdom: one walks the path of knowledge, the other treads the road to war.
Beyond the haunted mountains King Vireon confronts a plague of demons bent on destroying his family.
Iardu the Shaper weaves history like a grand tapestry, spinning sorceries into a vision of apocalypse.
Giants and Men march as one to shatter a wicked empire.
The fate of the known world rests on the swift blades of Seven Kings...
In the drought-stricken Stormlands, the Twin Kings argue the destiny of their kingdom: one walks the path of knowledge, the other treads the road to war.
Beyond the haunted mountains King Vireon confronts a plague of demons bent on destroying his family.
Iardu the Shaper weaves history like a grand tapestry, spinning sorceries into a vision of apocalypse.
Giants and Men march as one to shatter a wicked empire.
The fate of the known world rests on the swift blades of Seven Kings...
498 pages, Paperback
First published January 15, 2013
12 people are currently reading
253 people want to read
About the author
John R. Fultz
57 books70 followersJohn R. Fultz lives in the Bay Area, California, but is originally from Kentucky. His fiction has appeared in Weird Tales, Black Gate, and Space & Time, as well as the comic book anthologies Zombie Tales and Cthulhu Tales. His graphic novel of epic fantasy, Primordia, was published by Archaia Comics. John’s literary heroes include Tanith Lee, Thomas Ligotti, Clark Ashton Smith, Lord Dunsany, William Gibson, Robert Silverberg, and Darrell Schweitzer (not to mention Howard, Poe, and Shakespeare). When not writing stories, novels, or comics, John teaches English Literature at the middle/high school level and plays a mean guitar. In a previous life he made his living as a wandering storyteller on the lost continent of Atlantis.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 16, 2013
Read the Full Review: http://thefoundingfields.com/2013/03/....
“If you want proof that second novels are better than first outings, look no further than Seven Kings - Fultz has improved a lot from Seven Kings and although it may not be entirely perfect, Seven Kings shouldn’t be overlooked.” ~The Founding Fields
I read Seven Princes expecting something brilliant from John R. Fultz, but I came away dissapointed and it was only on a whim that I requested Seven Kings, the sequel – to review. And as it turns out, I was pleasantly surprised by what Fultz had to offer - Seven Kings manages to be everything that book one in the Books of the Shaper series should have been and more, keeping the reader enthralled and sticking around for volume three. I certainly enjoyed reading this book, but like I mentioned in the quote – it does have a few flaws which I’ll highlight on later in the review.
In the jungles of Khyrei, an escaped slave seeks vengeance and finds the key to a savage revolution.
In the drought-stricken Stormlands, the Twin Kings argue the destiny of their kingdom: one walks the path of knowledge, the other treads the road to war.
Beyond the haunted mountains King Vireon confronts a plague of demons bent on destroying his family.
With intrigue, sorcery, and war, Seven Kings continues the towering fantasy epic that began with Seven Princes.
Firstly, like Zachary Jernigan’s No Return that I reviewed earlier this week, Seven Kings (I still keep calling this book Seven Princes for some reason) is firmly in adult territory. It’s not for the squeamish, either – this book certainly delivers on the horror element of fantasy by managing to create, like the first book – a tale where nobody is safe and anyone can meet an unexpected end. It’s dark, action packed and very gory, with some twists and turns that are far from predictable. If you liked Princes then you should enjoy Kings even more than I did, because everything about this book is better than its predecessor.
Seven Princes is a book that could easily be read as a standalone and a reader would not have to worry about picking up the rest of the series, and Fultz has made sure with this volume to give people a greater incentive to read Book Three, Seven Sorcerers, by leaving the end of the novel as a way to set up the next act in this series. The characters are expanded upon, and we get to have multiple POVs from a variety of characters, the runaway slave Tong, King Vireon and his shape-shifting-sorceress wife Alua, Vireon’s troubled sister and her husband King D’zan are just a few of the large dramatis personae mentioned here, and at some point it can feel like you loose track of the characters and their adventures. The thing is with stories with such a cast, some stories can have problems getting the balance right between giving characters enough time to make them stick in the reader’s minds for long. The mains strength of A Song of Ice and Fire was that the characters are all so damn memorable, and I could list many characters from that series as opposed to Seven Kings where I can at most name five. That’s because they aren’t well developed enough to stand out and make the reader want to root for them, which is a real shame for the first book had this problem as well.
The action is well written however and the storyline is enthralling, as Fultz manages to expand on the world that he has created and although not in much depth of the recently read No Return by Zachary Jernigan, it is still an strong exploration of the world and the standard fantasy map that we see at the beginning only enhances the tale. Fultz has a strong prose and it’s clear that he has experience with it, and his use of language is good as well. Our Princes that we saw in the first book have also changed from the first outing of Fultz, and the author has made it so that nobody is perfect, and other characters don’t really know who to trust.
So with that said, will I be reading the next book in the series, Seven Sorcerers? Did Seven Kings manage to convince me to Fultz’s side completely? I still think that this book could have done with a few more tweaks in places, such as character development, the amount of characters included and a few more moments of originality added to the book. But aside from that, Seven Kings is stronger than its predecessor, and as a result, I will be seeing if Fultz can take the series one step further with Seven Sorcerers and build on where he went wrong.
VERDICT: 3.5/5
“If you want proof that second novels are better than first outings, look no further than Seven Kings - Fultz has improved a lot from Seven Kings and although it may not be entirely perfect, Seven Kings shouldn’t be overlooked.” ~The Founding Fields
I read Seven Princes expecting something brilliant from John R. Fultz, but I came away dissapointed and it was only on a whim that I requested Seven Kings, the sequel – to review. And as it turns out, I was pleasantly surprised by what Fultz had to offer - Seven Kings manages to be everything that book one in the Books of the Shaper series should have been and more, keeping the reader enthralled and sticking around for volume three. I certainly enjoyed reading this book, but like I mentioned in the quote – it does have a few flaws which I’ll highlight on later in the review.
In the jungles of Khyrei, an escaped slave seeks vengeance and finds the key to a savage revolution.
In the drought-stricken Stormlands, the Twin Kings argue the destiny of their kingdom: one walks the path of knowledge, the other treads the road to war.
Beyond the haunted mountains King Vireon confronts a plague of demons bent on destroying his family.
With intrigue, sorcery, and war, Seven Kings continues the towering fantasy epic that began with Seven Princes.
Firstly, like Zachary Jernigan’s No Return that I reviewed earlier this week, Seven Kings (I still keep calling this book Seven Princes for some reason) is firmly in adult territory. It’s not for the squeamish, either – this book certainly delivers on the horror element of fantasy by managing to create, like the first book – a tale where nobody is safe and anyone can meet an unexpected end. It’s dark, action packed and very gory, with some twists and turns that are far from predictable. If you liked Princes then you should enjoy Kings even more than I did, because everything about this book is better than its predecessor.
Seven Princes is a book that could easily be read as a standalone and a reader would not have to worry about picking up the rest of the series, and Fultz has made sure with this volume to give people a greater incentive to read Book Three, Seven Sorcerers, by leaving the end of the novel as a way to set up the next act in this series. The characters are expanded upon, and we get to have multiple POVs from a variety of characters, the runaway slave Tong, King Vireon and his shape-shifting-sorceress wife Alua, Vireon’s troubled sister and her husband King D’zan are just a few of the large dramatis personae mentioned here, and at some point it can feel like you loose track of the characters and their adventures. The thing is with stories with such a cast, some stories can have problems getting the balance right between giving characters enough time to make them stick in the reader’s minds for long. The mains strength of A Song of Ice and Fire was that the characters are all so damn memorable, and I could list many characters from that series as opposed to Seven Kings where I can at most name five. That’s because they aren’t well developed enough to stand out and make the reader want to root for them, which is a real shame for the first book had this problem as well.
The action is well written however and the storyline is enthralling, as Fultz manages to expand on the world that he has created and although not in much depth of the recently read No Return by Zachary Jernigan, it is still an strong exploration of the world and the standard fantasy map that we see at the beginning only enhances the tale. Fultz has a strong prose and it’s clear that he has experience with it, and his use of language is good as well. Our Princes that we saw in the first book have also changed from the first outing of Fultz, and the author has made it so that nobody is perfect, and other characters don’t really know who to trust.
So with that said, will I be reading the next book in the series, Seven Sorcerers? Did Seven Kings manage to convince me to Fultz’s side completely? I still think that this book could have done with a few more tweaks in places, such as character development, the amount of characters included and a few more moments of originality added to the book. But aside from that, Seven Kings is stronger than its predecessor, and as a result, I will be seeing if Fultz can take the series one step further with Seven Sorcerers and build on where he went wrong.
VERDICT: 3.5/5
December 13, 2013
In this second installment (following Seven Princes), the stakes are raised both for the characters (some old, some new) and the world at large. Armies clash and we get a glimpse (just a glimpse) of the true enemy to come. Epic fantasy, but its antecedents are much more Clark Ashton Smith and Robert E. Howard; a world of shining, many-towered cities and dark sorceries and unspeakable abominations.
April 27, 2019
Good stuff starts at 300+ pages in -- and is real good! -- lasts around 125 pages, then peters out again. That's a lot of pages of a lot of words. Yep.
September 2, 2021
After finishing the first one which I was ambivalent about,I just couldn't get into this one. Stopped reading after 100 pages or so. I just don't care enough about the characters to find out what happens to them.
February 7, 2013
Maybe I'm rating this higher then normal because the last fantasy novel I read (A Wheel of Time Novel) dragged several times during the story; but I don't think so. This was just a fast paced and action packed piece of Dark Fantasy that surpassed it's predecessor in many ways.
Seven Princes was an entertaining read that also had a lot of action and horror but it didn't really stand out above the rest so I rated it as an average read. Seven Kings however expanded on the universe and made the lore and characters a whole lot more three dimensional. You just cared about them more this time.
Seven Kings is not for the squeamish or anyone who can't stand a bit of primordial horror and gore with their fantasy. As with Princes no one is safe in Kings either and the cast has a lot more blood and carnage in store for them than beauty and magic.
While Seven Kings does not have the depth that The Demon Cycle or The King Killer Chronicles offers neither does it have 50 page lulls in the middle of the story that weigh down the adventure.
Seven Princes could have been read as a stand alone novel with no major qualms. Seven Kings was heading that way as well since they wrap up the majority of the plot nicely but the last 75 pages or so build up to the next book (I believe the last) in the series Seven Sorcerers. I for one can not wait.
My one qualm would be I did not like the cover. It was too Dark and you can't make out any of the cast. I'm hoping the next ones better.
Seven Princes was an entertaining read that also had a lot of action and horror but it didn't really stand out above the rest so I rated it as an average read. Seven Kings however expanded on the universe and made the lore and characters a whole lot more three dimensional. You just cared about them more this time.
Seven Kings is not for the squeamish or anyone who can't stand a bit of primordial horror and gore with their fantasy. As with Princes no one is safe in Kings either and the cast has a lot more blood and carnage in store for them than beauty and magic.
While Seven Kings does not have the depth that The Demon Cycle or The King Killer Chronicles offers neither does it have 50 page lulls in the middle of the story that weigh down the adventure.
Seven Princes could have been read as a stand alone novel with no major qualms. Seven Kings was heading that way as well since they wrap up the majority of the plot nicely but the last 75 pages or so build up to the next book (I believe the last) in the series Seven Sorcerers. I for one can not wait.
My one qualm would be I did not like the cover. It was too Dark and you can't make out any of the cast. I'm hoping the next ones better.
March 11, 2016
It had it's moments. Not too bad, I enjoyed the story, but I was definitely left wanting more. More in depth story telling, a richer set of characters.
I liked it, it was a decent read. But I think this could have benefited from a richer story line. Battles were extremely quick IMO. I wanted to be a few more pages and have more detail..
Compared to Martin and Sanderson, there is no comparison. They are the gold standard for me. I try not to go into a story with that in mind, but as I get deeper into the series. I see why these guys stand out so much and why they are so popular.
There is just enough back story and the current story is rich and colorful and while you are left wanting more of something, the other fillers are more than enough to keep you going.
Some may like this more than I did, try it and let us all know.
It was not a bad read, but i wanted more.........
I liked it, it was a decent read. But I think this could have benefited from a richer story line. Battles were extremely quick IMO. I wanted to be a few more pages and have more detail..
Compared to Martin and Sanderson, there is no comparison. They are the gold standard for me. I try not to go into a story with that in mind, but as I get deeper into the series. I see why these guys stand out so much and why they are so popular.
There is just enough back story and the current story is rich and colorful and while you are left wanting more of something, the other fillers are more than enough to keep you going.
Some may like this more than I did, try it and let us all know.
It was not a bad read, but i wanted more.........
February 22, 2013
Where the first book was an epic fantasy that asked more questions than it answered, this second installment in the Books of the Shaper series really hit the nail on the head in both developing a compelling larger arc and also providing page-turning personal drama that kept me reading all night. Our princes are now kings, and none of them is perfect ... one might even be perfectly awful, but they all made for an engaging read and I eagerly await the third installment in this series.
July 18, 2014
This book starts out well enough, with strong writing that proved to me that Fultz had grown as a writer since his debut. Unfortunately, the story doesn't move fast enough for me. It's not plodding, exactly, but it felt like it was building toward something, but it just kept building with little overall movement to the story. I have a copy of the third volume in the series, but after reading Seven Kings, I doubt I'll read it.
April 28, 2015
It was okay, not as great as Seven Princes, for those of you who don't like spoilers, I won't give anything away, but several parts in the beginning and the middle of the book made me angry at what the author did to the heroes of the story. I hope the third will be much better than the second, that is all I can say on the matter.
April 10, 2013
This starts off rather better than the first volume and then grinds to a halt with the heroes finally realising who they have to fight.
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March 5, 2013
I came across this series on accident and have been hooked since
July 1, 2015
I was disappointed with the book - didn't enjoy the direction he took some of the characters in at all
June 25, 2013
Entirely too depressing. I have not been able to finish it.
February 16, 2016
First book was silly fun. Sequel tediously grim and irritatingly sexist.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews