Riese: Kingdom Falling

by Greg Cox, Ryan Copple

A steampunk princess is torn between love and duty in this prequel to SyFy.com's wildly popular webisodes.

Riese has never been happy as a princess; she'd much rather be hunting or fighting than sitting through another lesson on court etiquette. When she meets Micah, a wandering artist with a mysterious past, she pretends to be a peasant—it's a chance to be just a normal girl with a normal boy for a while. But with war decimating her once-proud nation and the sinister clockwork Sect infiltrating her mother's court, Riese's moments with Micah are the only islands of sanity left in a world gone mad. As her kingdom falls and the Sect grows ever stronger, will Riese remain true to her duty as a princess...or risk everything on a boy she barely knows?    

SyFy's enormously popular Riese webisodes come to literary life in this prequel rife with steampunk technology and medieval mysticism.

Genres: Fantasy, Steampunk, Young Adult, Science Fiction, Teen, Romance, Young Adult Science Fiction

288 pages, Hardcover

First published June 12, 2012

Reviews

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Riese is a Princess and soon to be Queen of Asgard and Eleysia. When war comes knocking at her door, she must do what she can to save her family from the Nixian invaders while giving up her freedom in the process. Can she succeed and trust the steam clock-work cult known as the Sect who have allied themselves inside the Kingdom? Read on and find out for yourself.

I thought this book had an interesting premise story-wise and it was a good read I got for $3 at my local Hasting's entertainment book store going out of business sale. I loved the characters and it was action-packed. It was said to be Game of Thrones meet steam-punk which was different. The reason why I am giving this book 4 stars like I did Bound (A previous book I read that is the only other 4 star book in my reviews) is because this is not a finished story. The only way you can find out what happens to Riese is to watch the Syfy web series Riese Kingdom Falling which this book is the prequel for. Unfortunately, there is no way to view the web series online anymore as the Syfy website has the videos taken off and the only videos of it online are in german with no English subtitles so I would not understand what the characters are saying. Since I cannot watch the series, this book gets 4 stars. If, in the near future, the author of this decides to write another book of this to finish Riese's story, then I gladly check it out. Until then, this book is going to be a stand-alone and I recommend you read this at your own peril. It is good but without a finished story, it falls flat a star. You can find this book wherever books are sold.

[Rebecca L · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok first off this book's cover is SO awesome, I mean that was the reason I picked it up was because of the cover. I thought cool, a book about a strong female character. Well it stank, to say the least. The writing style was horrible I thought, short choppy sentences and dumb wording that left you thinking, what? The main character was boring and dull I thought although she did have a cool wolf 'friend' and I thought that by the sixth chapter (That's as far as I got) I should have known her character better, it was too shallow. The beginning of the book was extremely dark I thought and I almost considered putting it down after reading the first chapter but continued reading because I HATE putting a book down once I start it! So, two stars for a cool cover!

[Kcatty]

I tried, I really really did. But the writing was too standard, the characters too standard, the plot waaay too standard. You know me, I like some pzaz. This book didn't have it.

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one took a bit to really get going, but then it seemed to end so quickly! I'm definitely going to have to try to find the series to watch. Riese is a very interesting character. I'd like to follow more of her and Fenrir's adventures.

[Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is for my friendy’s eyes and my friendy’s eyes only

[Christina Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

A prequel to the Syfy web series, this novel serves as an origin story for Riese, an orphaned princess wandering her former kingdom, which has been overthrown by religious radicals who venerate machine technology. Cox writes for the newcomer to this multi-media narrative universe, but it is clear that in many places the story would be more meaningful for someone already acquainted with later events. The action occurs both in a frame story set in the present-day of the Reise universe, as well as in extended flashbacks to the protagonist’s youth at the time of the upheavals which lead to her change of fortune. Given the author’s background in television, it’s not surprising that the story reads like a long, possibly two-part, TV episode, with fairly predictable outcomes consistent with genre tropes. The world of the novel is liberally peppered with tellingly broad and sometimes oddly inconsistent references to familiar Earth culture, although Cox takes care not to specify a time frame or even the name of the world on which the action takes place, going so far as to set a scene in an orrery, but refer to the sphere representing the planet on which the characters stand simply as “the world.” The primary entities in play during the flashback narrative are Reise’s kingdom, Elysia, a hegemon with a level of technology and battle ethics on par with medieval Europe, but with vastly more progressive sexual politics; Nixie, a troubled and newly belligerent land to the north whose technology has recently advanced to that of the high Renaissance; and the Sect, a religious order offering Steam-era technological aide to Elysia in exchange for proselytization rights and influence at court. Elysia is described with a strange mix of Earthly references: its name harkens to the afterlife of Greek heroes, while its capital Asgard, Riese’s companion wolf Fenrir, and the games warden Tyr (among others) all take their names from Norse myth. Nixie could be named for either the water creatures of German lore, or the vacuum-tube display technology. The Sect awaits Ragnarok, the Norse end times, but worships a goddess called Sonne (based on the Germanic root from which sun is derived) and in an unusual twist on solunar gender convention, reviles her evil brother, Lune (from the Latin). As a whole, Cox can only be faulted for the familiar predictability of the action, while Ryan Copple and Kaleena Kiff — Riese’s creators — shoulder the blame for creating what amounts to a fantasy world with a thin veneer of steampunk menace.

[Lindsical · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really excellent and I enjoyed it immensely.

Riese is a princess of the kingdom of Asgard, forced into war by neighboring kingdoms and aided by the mysterious Sect, a religious organization that Riese doesn't fully trust.

Riese is a kick-butt heroin who takes charge as a warrior and future queen. I really liked her character as she was awesome but also had her flaws. I liked that she could take care of herself yet she wasn't so independent that she rejected help from others if need be. There was plenty of action, intrigue, mythology references, a dash of steampunk, and even some romance to keep me happy.

This book was actually written as a prologue to the SyFy webisodes of the same name and that's my only complaint. I don't want to watch the series, I really just want more book! Unfortunately, I'll have to watch the series in order to (hopefully) learn the conclusion to this story.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Much like the web series (which we watched on Netflix) this seemed kind of... immaturely written, and at times downright silly. It felt like there was a Steampunk Checklist being consulted - airship? Check. Goggles? Check. Ordinary objects with extra mechsanical devices in them? Check. Oh, and most importantly, random cogs and gears attached to things? Super check. That was the one that bothered me the most in the show - that the Sect members pretty much had gears glued to their outfits to make them seem more "steampunky." But the written description in the book made it sound the same - like they were gluing gears to themselves for the faith. I get that they were also replacing parts of their body with mechanical parts, which makes more sense, because... how do you replace bits of clothing with mechanical bits?

It's not SO bad, but it's still bad.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Greg Cox did such an amazing job creating the female character of Riese, that I honestly spent the whole book believing it had been written by a woman due to the female perspective featured throughout. Riese was a passionate, fiercely brave, sympathatic, interesting, and resourceful character. The only complants I had were that the author alternated between past and present throughout so that some "spoilers" to the past were revealed early on in the present perspective. Also that the book seem extremely unfinished and contained huge cliffhangers by the end. However it does say at the end that the Television site "Syfy.com" features continuing chronicles of Riese's adventures so I assume that those are answered, however I haven't had a chance to find out yet.

[pdarnold · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had so much potential! I wanted to love this, but alas, cannot. Steampunk - yes, characterization - good, story line - almost there, explanation - left lacking. So many things were left literally in the air, to be finished by watching the online series? What!?! I had already watched the series, that is how I discovered there was a book. Had I known the book was a lead into the web video I don't know as I would have searched out the book. I'm not sure the video even answered all the questions left hanging from the book. I really loved the concept, the character and the world. But it fell flat. It probably is more deserving of 2 stars, but the ride was enjoyable until the... nonexistent end.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a prequel to a series on syfy. Here we meet 15 year old Riese. She is a princess and heir to the throne of Eleysia but she is not all that interested in learning her royal duties. She would much rather ride and hunt than learn how to be a proper lady. While out one day, she meets a villager and she pretends to be a servant at the palace. She escapes her lessons whenever she can so that she can spend time with Micah. But when war breaks out, she must decide between her love of Micah and her duty as a royal princess.

[Kendra · Rating 2 out of 5]

It started off strong, but then it went downhill from there. I had to push myself to finish reading it. It had a good synopsis but the book didn't delivered really depressed about that, but hopefully this book don't put me in a reading slump! Happy Reading!

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's not that I didn't dislike it exactly, I just had no real desire to finish it.

[Alyssa (The Shady Glade)]

Sad to say this one just never caught my attention. Putting it down for now, maybe to pick back up later.

[Calli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had never heard of the webisodes, nor have I seen them since, but I enjoyed the book.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting, now I need to find the webisodes.