Book Review for The Shattered Kingby Charlie N. Holmberg
This book is filled with fantasy, adventure, romance, magic, Sestan dragons, and Noblewight phoenixes. It is the first book in a duology. It has a strong female protagonist and is filled with action and a collection of interesting gods. This story takes place in the fictional Kingdom of Cansere that is on the brink of war with Sesta—the kingdom across the strait.
The protagonist, Nym Tallowax, is a healer and beekeeper from Fount. She is blessed with the magic craftlock of healing. Nym is forced to leave her home and orphaned siblings and report to the capital to try to heal members of the royal family. She is appointed by Queen Winvrin Nobelwight as Prince Renn’s exclusive healer.
Nym leaves her home and walks the long distance to the castle. She plans to fail as a healer so that she will be able to return home and again take care of her struggling siblings. However, after arriving at the castle and getting to know her patient, Prince Renn, she comes to care for him and decides to put her best effort into healing the prince before she returns home. Eventually, she grows to love him.
Prince Renn Reshua Noblewight is the youngest son of King Grejor. He is chronically ill, has a rattle in his chest, coughs up blood, has malformed legs, and is confined to his bed. He survived an assassination attempt when he was just twelve years old. He feels uncomfortable in social situations and doesn’t care for crowds. It takes him a long time to open up to people. He has a passion for reading and secretly helps Prince Adrinn with planning strategy.
Nym makes much progress with healing Prince Renn, more so than any other healer ever has. However, the work she does on Renn does not last long term, so she is required to stay to provide him with repeated treatments. She dowses into his lumis to discover what is out of place and works to put things back in order. Although Nym is away from most of her family, she is not completely alone as her deceased twin sister Ursa’s spirit remains with her providing her with direction and strength.
Unbeknownst to Renn, Nym is not treated well at the castle. She is not provided with any payment for her work and is treated like a slave. Queen Winvrin deprives her of a place to bathe and complains about her stench. She deprives her of her sleep and expects her to work both day and night while providing her with little food or rest. Prince Adrinn is abusive towards her and King Grejor asks her if she is in “cahoots with devils.” Nym makes friends in the castle with a maid from the kitchen and with Princess Eden—Renn’s half-sister.
The Cansere castle is attacked in the middle of the night by soulbinders and dragons. The people of Cansere are forced to flee. Nym leaves the castle through a secret tunnel with the royal family but not everyone survives!
I loved this story. The author does an excellent job at combining fantasy with romance and adventure. I appreciated the worldbuilding and system of magic. I loved the way healing craftlock worked by dowsing an individual’s lumis. The idea of a lumis intrigued me. The story kept me engaged and wanting more. I’m looking forward to the second book in this series and recommend this to anyone who enjoys fairytales. I give this book my 4-star rating!