The Fiery Crown by Jeffe KennedyMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Fiery Crown is second in the Forgotten Empires series and can not be read as a standalone as it continues the story of Queen Euthalia and the Slave King, Conri. The first introduced readers to this fantasy world, a world that was ravaged twenty years ago and ruled ever since by the self-proclaimed emperor Anure. Conri was the prince of a kingdom called Oriel that was the first to fall. He was sent to the mines where his thirst for revenge grew until he was old enough to do something about it. He has a friend named Sondra from Oriel with him, a former General named Kara, and wizard named Ambrose, who claims Conri is part of a prophecy that will topple the kingdom. The first ends with Conri completing another part of Ambrose's prophecy, claiming the hand, marrying, the Queen Euthalia of Calanthe.
All my promises to protect her were as empty as my blackened soul. She’d called me a caged wolf, and she was more right than she knew. A trapped animal can never be trusted.
Euthalia was an aloof solitary figure in the first book as she is the only independent ruler left in the land and only because her father betrothed her to Anure. In this second installment, we get to see her open up more as her and Conri become closer through dealing with how to defeat Anure. Again, there was time dedicated to Euthalia's clothing and make-up choices but those were kept more brief as the focus started to turn to why she has such an elaborate get-up. Euthalia is an elemental, she would grow flowers and vines instead of hair if she didn't shave it and can share thoughts and feelings with her land Calanthe. This along, with brief appearances by Ambrose and some other wizards is really the only fantasy elements we get. There really isn't any new worldbuilding as this stagnates on Conri and Euthalia pushing and pulling at each other as Conri works to get his revenge and Euthalia tries to protect her land.
A final joke from the gods who’d abandoned me. It changed nothing that my heart had come to life. It only meant I’d bleed more when I died.
I really felt the first seventy percent of this could have been condensed down to 10-20 percent as I was, quite frankly, bored for the vast majority. The last 30% finally gives us a glimpse of the major villain Anure and has some action and heartbreak that moved the story along. There were times that I felt the vernacular felt a bit modern or off for the time and place this world is set in; it just didn't jive with the medieval feel. With some secrets revealed but more still unexplained and Anure not defeated, this ends with somewhat of a cliffhanger. I don't feel there was enough story here to drag out to three books but if everything is going to be wrapped up in the third, that should be full of revelations and action.
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