Legacy of Kings by Eleanor Herman

Title: Legacy of Kings
Author: Eleanor Herman
Genre: Historical Fantasy, Young Adult
Series: Blood of Gods and Royals #1

Hardcover, 384 pages
Publication: August 18, 2015 by Harlequin Teen

Source: I received a review copy from the publisher in exchange for a honest review. 

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Imagine a time when the gods turn a blind eye to the agony of men, when the last of the hellions roam the plains and evil stirs beyond the edges of the map. A time when cities burn, and in their ashes, empires rise.

Alexander, Macedonia’s sixteen-year-old heir, is on the brink of discovering his fated role in conquering the known world but finds himself drawn to a newcomer…

Katerina, must navigate the dark secrets of court life while hiding her own mission: kill the Queen. But she doesn’t account for her first love…

Jacob, will go to unthinkable lengths to win Katerina, even if it means having to compete for her heart with Hephaestion, a murderer sheltered by the prince.

And far across the sea,Zofia, a Persian princess and Alexander’s unmet betrothed, wants to alter her destiny by seeking the famed and deadly Spirit Eaters.

Legacy of Kings was probably one of the most anticipated novels of 2015; I couldn’t stop hearing about it in the book blogosphere. After hearing about the wonderful buzz surrounding Legacy of Kings and reading the synopsis I knew I had to read it! I mean come on; it’s about Alexander the great, the most famous military genius of all time…who wouldn’t be intrigued? And lucky me, the lovely people at Harlequin Teen sent me a finished copy for review! Yes, the cover is as beautiful in person as it is shown online and the inside cover is purple as well!

I’m a sucker for historical fantasy, but it’s usually either a hit or miss. But in Herman’s case, it was definitely the former. I’m going to be honest, I only know the bare minimum when it comes to Alexander the Great and his time, but while reading Legacy of Kings it was plain to see how much time and research went into the world building and characterization. Herman did an incredible job accurately depicting the people, the attire, scenery and mannerism of 350 BC. In addition to being well researched and written, Herman also incorporated Greek mythology and magical elements to the story which rounded out the book nicely. The magical elements were very minimal. For example two of our main characters have an affinity with animals and the other, intuition. It was the right amount to this multifaceted world and didn’t take away from the main plots of the story.

Legacy of Kings has five main POVs that the readers’ follow; Prince Alexander, Alexander’s best friend Hephaestion, mysterious newcomer Katerina, Kat’s best friend Jacob and Persian Princess Zofia. There were also some POVs of Alexander’s mother and step-sister but very few compared to the aforementioned characters. Going into this book, I didn’t recall it having multiple POVs. I don’t normally do multiple POVs or third person narrations but again, Herman made everything work perfectly. It did take a bit of getting used to, but after the first 2-3 chapters, I was breezing through the book without a problem. I ended up really liking the multiple POVs. All of the characters and their personalities are so diverse; I appreciated being able to see inside their head on what they were thinking. Also another big plus, Legacy of Kings is the second book I’ve read where all the female characters were strong, intelligent and kick-butt. In my opinion, that’s a pretty rare thing in the YA genre. I love that the female characters rivaled the male characters, from handmaidens, princesses to an Evil Queen everyone was a headstrong fighter.

All in all, Legacy of Kings was an excellent start to the Blood of Gods and Royals series. I’m already looking forward to the next book in the series, and am desperately on pins and needles to see what will happen to the gang. Legacy of Kings is harmonious blend of history and fantasy, and I highly recommend it to all readers.