Review: The Starless Crown
Available at Bookshop.org
3.5/5
For fans of: long journeys, multiple POV, ragtag crew, steampunk, prophecies
The Big Questions:
What genre is this in? High fantasy/Steampunk
Are there any swoon-worthy characters? No.
Is it spicy? No.
Is it violent or gory? Action sequences, but nothing overly violent or gory.
Should I buy, borrow, or pass on this book? Borrow it.
Synopsis: A young woman with a mysterious past sees visions of a horrible future. Across the world, a prisoner takes off with a discovery that kingdoms will go to war over. In the capitol of one of those kingdoms, a prince decides to take fate into his own hands rather than be second to his shining brother. They don’t know it, but fate has them on a collision course to save what they can of their world as ancient prophecies come to fulfillment and their world comes to its end.
Review: As the first entry in the Moon Fall Saga, The Starless Crown is heavy on world-building and plot set up. If you are a reader of high fantasy, you know the drill. There are lots of crazy names, constantly referencing the provided map to get your bearings, establishing character backstories, so much detail of surroundings, just lots and lots of skippable info-dump. I have yet to find an author that can world-build and set up plot in a high fantasy without copious and confusing descriptions.
Told through several POVs, the story is not as evenly told as I would have liked. While I loved the plotlines of Nyx, the scholar, and Rhaif, the thief, I struggled with others. Prince Kanthe was just not a dynamic character until halfway through the book. I could not have cared any less for Graylin, the disgraced knight, if it weren’t for his canine companions. Getting characters a world apart on their journeys to meet is always difficult to juggle and this was definitely difficult to get through as a reader.
While the POVs are not evenly as dynamic, when they finally get together, the twists and turns are a master class in adventure. The characters and their motives clash and there is definitely a struggle to establish order, but they don’t have time to linger on power dynamics as the villains are on the chase. The villains of the story are crafty, but tend to be a bit one dimensional at times. The politics mixes war-hungry politicians with deranged, power-hungry religious sects. Hopefully in the next volume, we get more of their stories to make them more multi-dimensional.
My favourite part, and the thing keeping me interested in series, is the prophecy and ancient history woven throughout the story. The ancients of this world seemed to have foreseen the oncoming destruction and may have developed a plan to save the planet, but time and loss of knowledge may have destroyed all they have built. In addition, the powers of this world refuse to believe what is upon them and continue to fight amongst themselves over things that all kingdoms fight over. Politics, end-of-the-world prophecies, a ragtag team that is the best hope of the world, it’s all there in all its steampunk glory. I will be ready for the next installment when it comes out.