Four Puppet Kings and a Fool: An Epic Fantasy Novel

The Sendyne Empire Series #2

by Seth Hobbs

A devastating plague; rampant inflation; propaganda for the masses; breakthroughs in innovative technology; rumors of civil war; racial and ethnic tensions; nefarious conspiracies; class struggles and street preachers yearning to overthrow the nobility. The Sendyne Empire is at the height of its power, but it has never been in a more precarious position…and it is about to reach a boiling point.


General Rotilla Voxinus and the teenage Emperor Kwisus continue their relentless campaign to destroy Bovir of the Woodlands, and lock down their colony in the Three Rivers. Amidst the mayhem, bold pirate fleets, lusty vixens, and rogue city-states assert their own power in the East. The crafty and beautiful Abzrielle must navigate her own path among deadly buccaneers and repulsive men in a foreign land. Xeno Von Oceanskimmer must return to the distant continent of An’Fazzor, to negotiate with a father and culture that he abandoned years ago.

Jethias Voxinus, son of the famous general, lands a dream job at Godhead Mountain, working for the eccentric technological genius, Udo the Originator. Duke Stolis Panthorrien of Bottom Knuckle works around the clock to prepare for a possible Sendyne incursion of his own lands, guided by the mysterious philosopher known only as Great Grandfather.

Delve deeper into the series in this sprawling epic, where nothing is quite what it seems– as religion, science, dark secrets, mythology, lust, love, political intrigue, exotic realms, and brutal warfare explode in style! In this highly-anticipated sequel to “A Sword of the Three Rivers”, worlds will collide, veils will be lifted, blood will flow in the streets, and the Sendyne Empire’s inner workings will finally be laid bare.

What readers are saying about Book 1 in the

“A well written Fantasy novel with an action line that races like a runaway train!”

“Hobbs has a way of transporting the readers into the adventure. This “epic journey” throws the readers into a fast paced fantasy that keeps hearts racing for the next twist and turn!”

“Hobbs’s imaginative, sweeping, humorous style easily drew me into the adventure, even when I found the prose at times somewhat windy. Readers who look for an escape into a richly adorned, rousing fantasy world will certainly not be disappointed.”

Genres: Fantasy

Audible Audio

First published November 19, 2022

Reviews

[Sotto Voce · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be honest, I am not really sure how to review this book, as this is as this is part of a series. It is laying down the foundation for more stories to come, introducing a lot of characters, promising conflicts, and interaction as their paths start to cross.

Although there are a plethora of characters, in the beginning, the book spends more time on General Voxinus, an honorable veteran warrior whose main goal is to serve the realm with tons of family devotion. It helps to set the base and gives readers some familiarity. As the story progresses, what seems to be straightforward tale branches into various plots. Readers are introduced to many more characters, places, and cultures, with one main recurring antagonist that makes me do a double take on the genre.

Warning: Some readers could find offensive materials. It is alright with me, although, at times, it feels excessive. Thankfully, they don't linger.

To me, there are many significant distractions, as one of the characters in the book put it—informational lecture— that is heavy, especially because the book keeps on introducing new characters and their lengthy backstories. To make it more difficult to keep track, the new characters and settings also come with tons of nicknames. Throwing in unusual fantasy names, and some of them similar enough to the others, it's not really an easy task for readers to follow.

But that is one of the challenges of the early book. Although there are many things to remember, this one has at least enough amount of connections with the base characters. For me, the reading experience is rough, as explained above, and there are times when it feels heavy on certain agendas. I do not doubt that there are a lot of creativities in the story, and the world is rich with a good combination of imagination and reality. With significant polishing, this has the potential to become a grand tale.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love that this picks up right from book one’s battle and General Voxinus gave me that love to hate vibes? I enjoyed this second book and ready for a strong FMC!

[Khira · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This is the second book in the fantasy series set in a medieval-like world, and it starts off with the last battle between the Three Rivers Rebellion and the Emperor's army. Following this, the narrative focuses on General Voxinus as the main character and it tracks political intrigue and machinations between the power players of this world, combined with plenty of action and mystical undertones. I enjoyed the supernatural aspects of the world building and the complexity of the plot. There is a tendency to over-explain and over-tell for most of the narrative (although at times I actually found this helpful in keeping track of all the characters and story lines). Content warning for language and graphic depictions of violence, torture and abuse which some readers may find difficult to deal with - this novel is aimed at adult audience only. The part I struggled with was the misogynistic nature of the society depicted in the novel. This is not uncommon in novels set in medieval-like societies and is perhaps intended to reflect the perceived social attitudes of that time. However it was difficult not to notice that all the female characters in the novel are depicted as objects of either desire, abuse or derision, so there's definitely scope here for a more balanced depiction of gender relations. Overall, plenty of action and a fast-moving plot.

[Syl Sabastian · Rating 5 out of 5]

An epic fantasy novel indeed. It has everything in it, wars and plots, villains a-plenty, heroes, conspiracy theories and nascent technology all in a potent brew of story where one never knows what's coming. As soon as you think you're guessing what's coming, there's a turn-up and something new and unexpected comes into play. It's a most cool story.
Also, it's not fancily written and despite the new elements added the story easy and fun to follow, which is great considering there's so much happening.
A cool fun exciting enjoyable read. :)

[Francis Nantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

After the major buildup and cliffhanger at which the previous book ended, this narrative skips forward a few months and quickly wraps up loose threads. Rather than an unsatisfying conclusion, this book opens up a whole new perspective of world-building that is both vast and horrifying in scope.

The reader engagement is far more cerebral than action, dragging in more gutter politics as the plot takes a deeply dark turn. Many of the main characters are replaced, new power players come to the fore with treachery.

All seems to be doom and gloom as the book reaches its end, with nary a promise of hope ahead. Can't wait to read the final book in this trilogy.

[David Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Rome (including the origins of Christianity) meets Game of Thrones meets Conspiracy Theory meets Outbreak.

Seth Hobbs has written a very good second installment to his Sendyne Series: Four Puppet Kings and a Fool: An Epic Fantasy Novel. It is a real page-turner and one of the more enjoyable fantasy books I have read in a while. His characters, especially General Voxinus, are, despite there being a case there are too many, well-developed and you care what is going to happen to them. The world-building is well constructed. The writing is well-paced. The prose and dialog are well-crafted.

Recognizing the book is the second in a series, my only quibble, outside of the number of characters, is that while the writer skillfully sets the reader up to want to read the next installment to see what happens to everyone, the climax was lacking in excitement.

Given that, lovers of fantasy stories should mostly enjoy reading this second installment of the Sendyne Empire Series.

[Tristen Kozinski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Four Puppet Kings and a Fool is either a book of intense right wing political allegory, or one the drew inspiration heavily from conspiracy theory, and I lean more towards the former. There manufactured pandemics where the main character rails against lockdowns, there's a secret cabal of satanic/alien worshippers intent on crashing the economy and using depopulation to usher in a new world order, and there's mentions of a one true god alongside the impending arrival of a messiah. I always find blatant allegory distracting in books, even when its well implemented, but can usually ignore it (or settle into it comfortably if is well, or subtly implemented enough) but it is too repeated and consistent in Four Puppet Kings, and too loud because the verbiage the author uses is too modern. The pandemic in particular just feel roughly shoe-horned in, which sucks because the concept of a manufactured pathogen/plague by ones own government to gain tyrannical power is great, full of natural horror and free acrimony.
The cabal is far better implemented and more elegantly woven into the narrative; the satanic worship imagery, and acts, are horrifying, and the true breadth and power of the cabal remains ambiguous while including almost every one of the most powerful political and economic individuals. It creates this wonderful sense of paranoia and isolation for our main protagonist alongside the knowledge of him being deeply out of his league in sense of knowledge and power both. The mysterious Vananuukye exacerbate this sense of overwhelming power; they are alien and lovecraftian cosmic and inter-dimensional travelers exchanging the secrets of early age gunpowder technology for worship and slavery from the cabal and its so wonderfully understated, they're buying the soul of a world for technological pennies.
Unfortunately, the book has other flaws as well. The prose is weak, reliant on telling to introduce readers to new characters artificially, and using 'cue lines' in dialogue, alongside just being generally weak. Our Primary POV character has almost no agency, transition from ignorance of the larger plot to being compromised and unable to defy the cabal. This is even more egregiously present in the female characters, which seem to exist exclusively as sexual objects. There is a singular scene where the female are not sexualized and its features a council of antagonist, matriarchal, slightly misandrist, crones.
A finally flaw is that the book ultimately felt like it had no purpose or direction, and ends up achieving nothing significant except killing off some legacy characters from the first book in the series, introducing the readers to the larger plot, setting up for the third book.

[Jeff Chapman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Four Puppet Kings and a Fool is an epic fantasy with a broad canvas and a long list of characters. The novel follows the fortunes of the Sendyne Empire as seen from within and without. The primary character is General Voxinus, an aging one-armed warrior who has noblely served the empire his entire life. Unfortunately, he has proven himself so valuable that no one will let him retire. And for good reason. The empire is in a sick state. There are serious revolts within the capital and on the empire's borders. There's a pandemic raging. There is rampant inflation. Pirates are plundering the shipping lanes. Intrigue is poisoning the government. And the ruling dynastic family has gone to seed.

Everything is in place for a great, sweeping epic story. I had high hopes. Unfortunately, Four Puppet Kings and a Fool suffers from serious faults. First, the author has woven modern political issues and conspiracies into the narrative. Hobbs uses modern terminology--lockdowns and masking, for instance--which draw attention to the parallels with modern issues. The incorporation is so blatant that I began to pay more attention to the parallels than the story and wondered if I was reading a right-wing propoganda allegory rather than a fantasy story. Some parts of the story are free from the modern conspiracy theories but not enough to save the whole novel from being dragged down. Second, Voxinus seems to be remarkably clueless about everything that's going on. We see much of the workings of the government through his eyes. I felt that he was as much an outsider as the reader. He has spent his entire life serving the empire, but the policies of the government appear to be surprising to him. This sort of viewpoint works if the character really is an outsider but Voxinus is an insider.

Four Puppet Kings and a Fool is an epic fantasy with much promise that is weighed down by references to modern conspiracies.

[Zita Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

The parallels in this epic novel to our society are unfortunately unmistakable. Racial strain, political scheming and conspiracies, covert societies trying to undermine the established order of things, even a so-called pandemic with people protesting lockdowns.

We start the novel with an impossibly immature, heartless, teenage emporer, Kwisus, and his general, Voxinus, fighting to conquer the rebel, Bovir. His inflated sense of self and complete disregard for anyone or anything else is also reminiscent of leaders we have had in our world throughout history.

The fantasy setting has a lot of similarities to ancient Rome, which was an exciting period. Voxinus ended up being the hero of the novel. He goes along with his child emporer but secretly shows heart, giving Bovir a more humane execution than Kwisus would have. As the story progresses, we see lots of action; more uprisings in rebel city-states, lust, pirates, and even pedophilia, all steeped in an undercurrent of mysticism. Lots of well-drawn unsavory characters as well as some very admirable ones, like Abzrielle, who shows a strength unusual in women in a time and society ruled by misogyny.

All the different storylines and amount of detail are mind-boggling, and I have to praise the author for his ambitious writing. I found it hard to follow, however, and think it would have been more enjoyable to be able to focus in more depth on fewer plots. As it is, it all became a blur for me very quickly. Sometimes the text felt overwritten, telling instead of showing. I found myself getting impatient and ended up skipping over details that I felt were long-winded and unnecessary. The author doesn’t hold back on violence and brutality either. Some of it was hard to read and I think the same could have been conveyed with less graphic detail.

[P.L. Tavormina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Our issues placed in an epic fantasy with lots of battle.

Like other reviewers, I found the sweep of this story impressive. A large cast, each with their own life story and goals makes for great conflict. It’s hard to miss the allusions to our present day strife with disease and political themes, and the author doesn’t shy away from getting into the nitty gritty as he perceives it.

But, there’s a certain treatment within the story that left me feeling like the themes aren’t well considered. Firstly, there are far more men in the story (and more in positions of power) than women. That never sits well with me although I’ve come to expect it in stories of this sort. But other little things were unexpected. EX: “Slavery was being phased out … as manufacturing had taken off.” That’s a rather bleak assessment of why a society would or would not (or *should* not) own people. One would hope a society abandons slavery because it is wrong, not because a machine can do the work more cheaply. One would hope a society would never contemplate slavery in the first place.

On a personal note, I’ve been watching my own rights, as a woman, being stripped away. So, this sort of callous attitude toward injustice (also, the sense that the author dismisses female characters in general; EX: “Either of the girls could stay in his bed, he was thinking”) made it hard for me to immerse into the book or consider its treatment of social ideas dispassionately.

With that said, it might be a "me" problem, and the author’s imagination is impressive, if not fully realized on an equity level. Take a look and see what you think.

[J.C. Gatlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four Puppet Kings and a Fool: An Epic Fantasy Novel is the second book in Seth Hobbs’ Sendyne Empire Series. I haven’t read the first book yet, but I didn’t have any trouble jumping in. The protagonist, General Voxinus, is a strong, heroic man in a dark, medieval-like fantasy world with several sci-fi elements. The author excels at world building, and the Rome-inspired societies have a lot of layers and description to delve into. The battles and people in charge are brutal—very brutal. The violence and cruelty is over the top at times, but it serves the story. If there’s one thing that would help round out the story, it would be to add a stronger female character. All the women in the book are in subservient roles, which creates the opportunity for a great character arc of someone rising up to become a formidable warrior in this world. There’s a little bit of The Lord of the Rings and King Arthur in it, but overall, the book reminded me of the 2010 Spartacus TV series and I could see this becoming a series for a streaming channel too.

[Balroop Singh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four Puppet Kings and a Fool is a dark fantasy with preposterous beliefs and ludicrous action. A tale of intrigue, treachery, conspiracies and manipulation, it is slow-paced and heavy with unnecessary descriptions. There are two parallel storylines, too many characters and their weird names are difficult to remember.

General Voxinus, a loyal officer of an insensitive and indifferent king Kwisus of Sendyne Empire, puts down the rebellion along the Three Rivers coastline but the challenges before him are incredibly bigger than this. Many shocking events unfold with the coronation of a new king and the story gets darker as it proceeds, with unreadable violence and profanities.

The narrative looks down upon women and I quote, “I never understood a man’s excitement to return to one boring wife, when he could be traveling the world and meeting a thousand women.” Disparaging language has been used to describe almost all women.
I feel this book needs a professional editor to eliminate superfluous details.

[David Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Rome (including the origins of Christianity) meets Game of Thrones meets Conspiracy Theory meets Outbreak.

Seth Hobbs has written a very good second installment to his Sendyne Series: Four Puppet Kings and a Fool: An Epic Fantasy Novel. It is a real page-turner and one of the more enjoyable fantasy books I have read in a while. His characters, especially General Voxinus, are, despite there being a case there are too many, well-developed and you care what is going to happen to them. The world-building is well constructed. The writing is well-paced. The prose and dialog are well-crafted.

Recognizing the book is the second in a series, my only quibble, outside of the number of characters, is that while the writer skillfully sets the reader up to want to read the next installment to see what happens to everyone, the climax was lacking in excitement.

Given that, lovers of fantasy stories should mostly enjoy reading this second installment of the Sendyne Empire Series.

[Ann Birdgenaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four Puppet Kings and a Fool is book 2 in the epic dark fantasy saga, Sendyne Series, by Seth Hobbs in the vein of G.O.T. Once again, this author impresses me with his commanding force as a dystopian world builder and interesting character paradigm manipulator. Main character, General Voxinus, the aging combatant and the teenaged Emperor Kwisus battle to save the Sendyne Empire, which is experiencing revolt on every side. It’s a political allegory in that the building tensions parallel our current world issues, such as ethnic, race and power struggles. Did I mention a possible pandemic?  The action is well-paced, but brutal and violent as they fight off the rebel Bovir, the clashing cities and fleets of pirates. to keep the reader engaged and entertained. There are some strong women characters, like Abzrielle, but I would have liked to see more. Trigger warnings for violence, torture and pedophilia.

[Juliette Godot · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just finished Four Puppet Kings and a Fool: An Epic Fantasy Novel. Without having read book one, I was able to jump right into the plot.

Within the first couple of chapters, the first POV was killed, which set the stage for things to come. I liked the tension, however, there were a lot of storylines that I found difficult to keep straight. From the inept emperor to the corrupt politicians to the dissatisfied general, the characters came across as genuine. The parallels between right-wing talking points were apparent: a fake plague, a cabal of corruption, and pedophile politicians.

Even though it could use a good editor, I was ready to give it 4 stars, but then the story just stopped without a satisfying ending. There is another volume to the series, but I would have liked some sort of conclusion to this one.

[Marco Santucci · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, since the two novels I have read were not in order of publication, it was tricky at times piecing parts of the story. However, this only means I have to read the other two since I am now completely drawn in by added characters. This is a genre I would never have gravitated towards, but now finding myself a bit hooked, as hard as an audience that I am.

This story mirrors actual political chaos in real time, many characters in different places for different reasons. Very much good versus evil in a very real way since power and greed have always been fought for since the beginning of time. The storylines are compelling, promising to keep the reader engaged even as vile as it becomes at times.
The character Barthuris was a pleasant surprise within the chaos. Well done Seth!

[Seth Hobbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full Disclosure: I am Seth Hobbs, author of this book. Book 1 of this series was good, but I think this sequel is incredible. I am very proud of this one, and it is absolutely sprawling and epic, taking us to new empires, nations, city-states, etc. It explores multiple conspiracies, the dark underbelly of many governments and organizations, and includes a lot of interesting characters and even more political intrigue and dark secrets! You don't want to miss this explosive entry in the Sendyne Empire Series!

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the middle story of a trilogy, but I was able to follow along with what was happening. The hero, Voxinus, is a decent man in an evil world. There are many echoes of ancient Rome in the society and politics, though the technology here is developing rapidly. As a fantasy with some sf elements, the story has much action, quite a bit of it violent, and a lot of characters. This is an adults-only book. I found the brutal nature of the violence and the misogyny difficult to read, but those who prefer stories touching on dark conspiracies might enjoy this tale.

[Miriam Schwellnus · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Four Puppet Kings & a Fool, we follow General Voxinus, a one-armed veteran who just wants to retire, as rebellions flare, a plague spreads, and shadowy cults scheme for power.

Every chapter either explodes into violence or uncovers a fresh conspiracy. However, the cast list is massive, with fantasy names that blur together, and the book sometimes pauses for long history lessons.

If you enjoy dense politics and don’t mind mature content, grab a character glossary and dive in.

[P.J. Ashton · Rating 4 out of 5]

The novel started well with a bold choice concerning the mc from the first book. From then on, it was political intrigue as a coup takes place. I really enjoyed Seth's writing and worldbuilding and the characters shine, particularly Voxinus, the one armed general and one of the few good men in a corrupt empire. It was nice to see the hero fighting against this, saving a broken empire. I dropped one star, as it's the middle one of a trilogy, so doesn't really have any conclusion as it's setting up book 3.