Review
Whenever I pick up a title by Charlie N. Holmberg, I know it’s going to be a good one. And The Shattered King is no exception. The author always manages to develop creative magic systems and multidimensional characters with opportunities to grow. Nym’s healing abilities and details about how she enters the patient’s essence and finds the ailment was super interesting. Each person’s well-being is unique and I loved the imagery during those scenes.
Since I’ve only read about three other titles by Charlie, she seemingly incorporates darker themes in The Shattered King than her previous works. Potential triggers include sexual assault, poverty, death of multiple family members, torture, and other gruesome details regarding violence.
The inevitable romance between Nym and Renn was a true slow burn. But I loved that we get to know each of them before they acknowledge their growing feelings. Prince Renn is level-headed but has clearly lost any optimism about his condition. Nym has had to grow up quickly due to becoming an orphan with seven younger siblings. But besides the character backgrounds and their journeys, war is also looming and a continuous threat to the kingdom. The pace picks up towards the end of the book, leaving us with a cliffhanger that will have us counting down the days until the sequel.
Even so, the book did feel rushed at times. Charlie said she finished it in less than two months, and I could tell. Plus, the pacing is a bit slow in the beginning, but the ending makes everything worth it. Either way, I would definitely recommend this to fantasy lovers.
Charlie N. Holmberg returns to the Cantina Book Club Podcast to chat about her magic systems and plans for the sequel. Keep an ear out and preorder The Shattered King, available September 2.
Book
The kingdom of Cansere is on the brink of war. Young men are conscripted from their homes, and a royal decree from the queen has made healing the only legal form of craftlock. Nym, a healer and beekeeper, is the sole provider for her family of seven now that her younger brother has been sent to the war front. But when a letter comes from the queen, summoning Nym to the palace to heal Prince Renn, the kingdom’s ailing shut-in, Nym finds herself making the tumultuous journey from her family’s apiary to the capital city. Nym is determined to fail the queen’s mission and return to her younger siblings as soon as she can.
But escaping the castle’s hold isn’t as easy as failing a simple test. Prince Renn is cold and distant, and his illness is like nothing Nym has ever seen before, nothing she could ever imagine treating. In a moment of connection with Prince Renn, Nym manages to remedy the faintest symptom of his ailment—only to discover that no healer before has made such progress. Forced to become the prince’s official healer and a ward of the castle, and with her only hope of returning to her family hinging on the prince’s recovery, Nym must navigate the castle’s cruel and twisted court and uncover the haunting truth behind Prince Renn’s illness—even as she finds herself irrevocably drawn to him.
