Eleanor Herman

Katerina, on a mission to kill the queen, falls in love with Alexander, Prince of Macedonia. Jacob will go to unthinkable lengths to win Katerina, even if it means having to compete with Hephaestion, a murderer sheltered by the prince. And far across the sea, Zofia, a Persian princess and Alexander's unmet betrothed, wants to alter her destiny by seeking the famed and deadly Spirit Eaters.

Legacy of Kings

Melissa Palmer

Book #108 Read in 2015
Legacy of Kings by Eleanor Herman (YA/adult)

This was a great historical fiction read with a touch of fantasy thrown into the mix. Set in 340 BC and having Alexander the Great as one of the main characters, this book has it all--action, romance, intrigue and humor. There are several strong female characters in this book, which I liked. The writing flowed and made the over 400 pages go at a quick pace. The second book comes out next fall and I will definitely read it. I read online recently that this book will be turned into a TV program and I could see that. I believe high school students and adults would enjoy this book. I received a copy of this book from the Amazon Vine program in exchange for a honest review.

http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com

jess

As a history geek, this was excellent. As a reader, this was mediocre. The writing was, for the most part, very nice and the history was great! But the characters were sort of weak (possibly because it focused on seven main characters) and the plot was so ... slow ...

Marissa Luzio 

For more reviews, check out Keep Calm and Love Books

This book follows Alexander the Great, yes the same one we learn about in high school, in his teenage years to becoming the king of Macedonia . It takes place in 360 BC, which is just crazy to read about in Herman's amazing descriptive text. This did take me a while to read and get into but that's only because of the amount of characters with crazy long ancient names. I needed time to remember the roles some of these people played in our protagonist's storylines. With that in mind, there were A LOT of different character arcs. I actually really liked Herman's writing and the distinguishing between the characters, it was really fun and different to read about this mysterious, unknown time period from a historian's (Eleanor Herman) mind. 

For everyone's storyline, we have 3 main plots: Alexander, Katerina and Zofia's. Among those we then have the minor plots with different P.O.V chapters: Jacob, Hephaestion, Cynane, and Olympia. It sounds really confusing but it wasn't! I liked how we heard from everyone's head and it gave us more perspective on the story and world we're set in. Speaking of the word, this takes place in, again, 360 BC, so the Gods and Goddesses from Greek mythology are pretty prominent in this. We always get references about how not long ago the Gods roamed the earth. I really liked the incorporation of mythology and how we frequently get references of Zeus, Ares, Oracle of Delphi, Athena etc. Again, Herman is a historian so it does not surprise me that she included history that's pretty accurate to today's knowledge. 
This is a quote from the Author's Note at the end of the book:

"Though this is a work of fantasy with some fictional main characters—Katerina, Jacob, and Zofia—I wanted to make their world of 340 BC as historically accurate as possible... While Alexander’s half sister, Cynane, might feel too modern, she really did model herself on the Amazons and was known for her military prowess....His father, the king, was distant and harsh; his manipulative, ambitious mother was devoted to her snakes and widely regarded as a witch; his older half sister, Cynane, was a jealous, competitive Amazon; his younger half brother, Arrhideus, was mentally handicapped; and his tutor, Leonidas, employed educational methods that would today land him in jail for child abuse."

I loved how accurate this was and it really does make me want to read more of her work. 

Now, for the actual characters and storylines, the only plot that really advanced in the beginning was Princess Zofia. Right away, her story just goes to the max with drama and she has to fight for what she wants and realize the dangers outside of her well protected and sheltered life in the palace. We left her story very open ended and I'm excited to see how her's will end in the sequel. I also just really want her to help with the war in Pella and meet everyone. We start the book off in Katerina's P.O.V and we can already tell she's not normal. She definitely has some strong magic coursing through her veins and I liked how the book ended with her owning her true self and I'm so excited to see her embrace herself fully. Heph, Alexander's best friend (even in history), was pretty dull, but I still liked hearing his thought. His one problem, which clearly states in the book, is his pride. I really found his pride annoying at times but towards the end, like everything, he was just getting better and I think he's going to be a great hero in the end. 

My favourite storyline had to be between Kats and Cynane, Alexander's sister. Something about her abrasive manner and how she'll do anything to prove she doesn't want to be just a lady (GoT's Arya basically) was amazing. From the start of her P.O.V chapter, I knew I'd like her. 

"As she slips through the crowd, she intentionally brushes against different men. She’s not sure why she does it—to remind herself of her power over them, perhaps? Or maybe because even through the coarse cloth of her dress, it feels kind of thrilling when they touch—as if anything could happen."

I just feel like there are so many great moments in this book that I need to quote them all for you guys. If you need convincing to read this book at all, just look at all of the glorious reviews it has. This book was amazing and I can say it is my favourite read in 2016 so far. I can't remember a book I read that just left me speechless and MAKE me want to search the web to find out more of the stuff that conspired in 360 BC. Guys, just read it. It's simply amazing and I am now going to read Eleanor Herman's other novels.

Here are some quotes to persuade you further: 

Alexander's P.O.V:

"Down on the street, a man driving an empty cart is cursing bitterly, trying to back up his donkey and cart to make way for another vehicle. That’s how it is, Alex thinks. Someone always has to give in. But not for long. He has other plans, plans his father doesn’t know about. And if he succeeds, he’ll be the greatest leader this world has ever known."

Cynane's P.O.V: 

"True loyalty—it’s almost unheard of. And it’s exactly what Cyn has been looking for all these years. Correction: it’s what she has been looking to destroy."

Katerina's P.O.V: 

"“There was, long ago, in the time before time, a great battle between gods and monsters,” Ada begins, looking straight ahead. “The gods won but lost much of their power and became almost mortal, mating with humans.”"

Hephaestion's P.O.V: 

"“Kat, you’re going to be all right,” he lies. She doesn’t answer. She’s looking in wonder at the sky, moving her pale lips. He turns to see what it is that so fascinates her. It’s the hellion, flying in wide lazy circles over the battlefield, howling as it rises higher and higher, and is gone."

I am so excited to read Herman's sequel to the Blood of Gods and Royals series, Empire of Dust.

Sheila

Now THIS is what it's supposed to look like when an historian turns around & writes historical fiction! It's not bogged down in the details (but has just the right amount to set a luscious atmosphere) & the dialogue is smooth. I liked the direction taken with the multi-POV, with characters from different socioeconomic & cultural backgrounds to show an expansive setting & a plot more grand than ~palace intrigue~~~ It's not uncommon for historical fiction to throw in magic use and, while it's super tacky when Philippa Gregory does it, the way it's presented here is far more interesting & directly relevant to the plot than as a petty device for exacting revenge by angry wives.

My only beef is that I didn't like Zofia or her POV. I'm hoping that she was set up to be unpleasant at the outset so that in later books she grows & gets some important character development, but for now I'm just gonna think "ugh".

laura

Legacy of Kings and Voice of Gods: Review I really enjoyed this book. i think that this was such a cool way to use real history and add some magic to this story. This book follows two several characters but mostly focuses on a young alexander the great and Kat. There lives wind up intertwine and connection i unique ways. This book was so so fast past and with both court life and war as a backdrop i was really engrossed in the novel and did not want to put it down. The book focused on three stories and since this was a first book only two of the stories Kat and Alex really intertwined during this novel. The story following Zo did not interconnect quite yet but I hope that in the future her story really connects with the other stories in this novel. I was not super surprised the Alex and Kat were actually twin but i am so ready for the next book in this series. 
 
 
Check out my non-spolier review
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETEK5...

Carla Aquino

* I received this book in a Goodreads Giveaway*

3.5 stars

This was a very interesting book and I liked the concept. However, it was slow and confusing at times. All the Egyptian and Roman names were hard to keep track of until halfway into the story for me. Once I got all the characters in order the book seemed to move faster and everything started to fall into place. All the characters once sorted out have interesting tales and agendas. I'm looking forward to hear more about Zo and Jacob in book 2. Hopefully Jacob can get away from the Aesarian lords and back to Kat. 

The book really ends with a lot of unanswered questions with every single character. I mean everyone's story is left open and leaves the reader to guesstimate about what will happen next. I guess that's the whole point; to reel you into the world and the series so that you have to go on if you want answers. At least the truth about Alex and Kat came out at the end of book 1. Hopefully book 2 is better since the character build up took up almost this entire first book. 

All in all it was a good book and I will most likely be reading book 2! 

Thank you Goodreads and Harlequin books!!!

Alyssia

It wasn't terrible and I certainly enjoyed it, but the story and characters were incredibly tropey and the writing wasn't that special either.

Kaylee Z

Haya

** spoiler alert **
           This book was slow paced for me until the last couple of chapters, I think it was supposed to be this way because it's a fantasy book and there's a lot of world building and details to help the reader visualize the setting. While reading this book I got lost a couple of times with the characters because this book follows 6 characters I think and it was hard for me to remember who's who but at the end I was able to do that because I finally got interested in the characters. Throughout most of the book I was like "i don't think that I'll be buying the rest of the series" but at the end of the book I was dying to know more and to get the second books, So I do recommend reading this book till the end because the best part of the story is at the end and things start connecting together and forming a beautiful storyline that will be exciting and far more interesting in the rest of the series ⚠️ Spoilers ⚠️ So let's start with Katerina, from the very beginning you kinda know that she has magic and she's connected to animals and the beginning scene with Jacob was cute but I was like "aw cute.. Okay I'm done with them. Who's next to ship her with?" I kinda thought she'll "be" with Alexander next from reading the back of the book but right after they met each other that kinda faded away specially with the author emphasizing that their connection isn't like "that" and that they feel a sense of "belonging" but that also sparked the idea of them being twins because if they're not connected in a romantic way then they gotta be connected in another way and it didn't seem like friendship to me as much as it seemed like family, what also sold the whole twin thing away is how Helena ran away on the day that Alex was born and I've read enough books to figure that out

nina 

Jade Warren

kaitlan

Samantha bolton

Stephanie Bredin

alanis

Amanda

Royalty. Magic. Love. Betrayal. It's in Their Blood. Alexander, Macedon's sixteen-year-old heir, is on the brink of discovering his fated role in conquering the known world. Katerina must navigate the dark secrets of court life while keeping hidden her own mission: kill the queen. Jacob will go to unthinkable lengths to win Katerina, even if it means having to compete with Hephaestion, a murderer sheltered by the prince. And far across the sea, Zofia, a Persian princess, seeks the deadly Spirit Eaters to alter her destiny.

Legacy of Kings

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