reviews

Kings or Pawns: The Kings (Book I) by J.J. Sherwood

Kings or PawnsKings or Pawns: The Kings (Book I) by J.J. Sherwood

J.J. Sherwood’s debut novel KINGS OR PAWNS: THE KINGS, BOOK 1 is the first in a high fantasy epic series sure to please fans of both the science fiction and fantasy genres.

The year is 8994 P.E., and the city of Elvorium is corrupted—rotted to the core by the machinations of depraved politicians. With his father dead and the country facing a rebellion, Price Hairem becomes the king of the elven world of Sevrigel in one of its most turbulent points in history.

Young and daring, Hairem is determined to eradicate the corruption festering in Elvorium’s self-serving and all-powerful council, which thwarts his best intentions at every turn. But Hairem’s problems are far more sinister¬—and deadly—than merely political. The loyal members of the council are being savagely murdered by an assassin loosed within the city—an assassin whose brutality knows no bounds. Outside of the city, the Lord Saebellus wages a vicious rebellion against the capital. He has been thwarted thus far by the brilliant General Jikun, and Hairem is certain that the general can crush Saebellus.

But instead of continuing the campaign against the warlord, the council orders Jikun’s army to be split, sending him on a mission that furthers only their own wealth and power. Jikun knows that the council’s demands will leave Elvorium vulnerable to an attack from the formidable warlord. Although Saebellus has been recently defeated, he is far from vanquished. As corruption and death threaten to tear the city apart from within, the rebel Saebellus seizes the opportunity to lay siege to Sevrigel’s eastern capital and unleash his most powerful weapon yet: a demonic beast that neither weapon nor magic can kill. With the elven world crumbling around him, Hairem is grasping for his own power to fight against the forces that threaten Sevrigel.

Will Hairem overcome the council’s scheming and duplicity? Can General Jikun defeat the warlord Saebellus? Will this be the war that finally brings Sevrigel to its knees? KINGS OR PAWNS offers action, intrigue, mystery, and suspense—a thrilling story that will leave readers hungry for the sequel, Heroes or Thieves, to be published in February 2016.

At first, I was little confused with this world, who is who and what’s going on but after I got those cleared, I really enjoyed the story.

This focuses on elven world, which was a nice change for me because usually elves team up to fight the bad guys or whatever but here we see elves fight against other elves.

There’s lot of court politics and back stabbings going on and I felt bad for the new king Hairem. He is little too naïve and idealistic for this world and doesn’t have much experience about dealing with the elven council. He’s nice and fair to the servants and I loved the great relationship with his servant Alvena, who is also mute. Hopefully we will see more of her in the next book.

This was a great debut and I’m looking forward to the next book.

4/5

Published: Silver Helm Publishing (October 2015)
Format: ebook
Pages: 373
Source: iRead Book Tours

About the Author

J.J. SherwoodJ.J. Sherwood lives in Ohio with her husband and four near-identical cats. KINGS OR PAWNS is J.J.’s widely anticipated debut novel, and is the first book of The Kings quartet. The series is set in the high fantasy world of Aersadore, home to hundreds of characters who all clamor for J.J.’s attention. To learn more about the trials and tribulations of General Jikun and King Hairem, visit StepsofPower.com. J.J. Sherwood will be at the tenth Fandom Fest Comic Con in Louisville, Kentucky this coming August 7th-9th.

Connect with the author:  Website   Twitter   Facebook

 

 

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2 Comments

  • Reply
    blodeuedd
    January 26, 2016 at 23:49

    It sounds pretty interesting

    • Reply
      Elysium
      January 27, 2016 at 23:36

      It was. And it has elves so I was happy ;)

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