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The Blood of Kings
Forged in the fires of conflict, the Iron Kingdoms is a fantastic realm where the combined power of magic and technology thunders across a landscape shaped by war. Dominating the field of battle are rare individuals who have mastered both arcane and martial combat and who boldly lead mighty armies in the ongoing struggle to claim victory over these ancient lands.
Three men who would be king threaten to sunder a kingdom, provoking a war that will drown its lands in blood. Amid the backdrop of a new Cygnaran civil war, the fate of the kingdom depends on the outcome of a covert struggle between two powerful warcasters—the gun mage Allister Caine and the mercenary warlord Asheth Magnus. Caine faces a moral quandary as he seeks to kill the bastard son of Cygnar's former king, knowing he must end an innocent life to preserve the peace. But Magnus is equally determined to see the bastard crowned as king—and is willing to kill anyone who gets in his way. Regardless of who emerges the victor, the blood of kings must be spilled to end an otherwise interminable war.
Three men who would be king threaten to sunder a kingdom, provoking a war that will drown its lands in blood. Amid the backdrop of a new Cygnaran civil war, the fate of the kingdom depends on the outcome of a covert struggle between two powerful warcasters—the gun mage Allister Caine and the mercenary warlord Asheth Magnus. Caine faces a moral quandary as he seeks to kill the bastard son of Cygnar's former king, knowing he must end an innocent life to preserve the peace. But Magnus is equally determined to see the bastard crowned as king—and is willing to kill anyone who gets in his way. Regardless of who emerges the victor, the blood of kings must be spilled to end an otherwise interminable war.
546 pages, Paperback
First published May 25, 2016
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February 6, 2017War machine is one of my favorite games and stories set in the world of said game , I generally like . Unfortunately this book is not good . The story is about the recent civil war in Cygnar and the quest for the throne . On the one side is King Leto , his evil brother Vinter , the former King of Cygnar and his bastard son Julius . This kind of story should have been a fun read but Douglas Seacat just couldn't seem to get it altogether . The first half of the book seems like a selection of short stories that were thrown together to fill space . It was disappointing to say the least , because Cygnar is my favorite faction to play , so this normally would have given him a lot of slack . What should have been a story filled with court intrigue was instead a bunch of baffling episodes that finally lead to mass battle . A battle that seemed to be thrown together at the last minute with very little regard for tactics . Honestly the fluff in the rulebooks for the game are better written and had this been a collection of passages in the book rulebook , would not have surprised me . I don't know if Douglas Seacat has written any other books , if he hasn't then hopefully his next attempt will be better . While this book was horrible , it certainly was not very good . Which is a shame considering how important an event this was in the game world .
December 1, 2016
Disclaimer: I have no ties to the extended universe in which this book takes place. I'm naive. I'm fresh. And I think for primarily those reasons, this book didn't work for me.
High fantasy comes in all shapes in sizes, but I think you can boil the genre down to two different takes: one where characters and lore exist to tell a story, and one where characters and story exist to tell lore. It's the difference between Lord of the Rings and the Simarilion. THE BLOOD OF KINGS is certainly well-written, but the author has much more interest in the lore of the universe than the characters that inhabit it.
High fantasy comes in all shapes in sizes, but I think you can boil the genre down to two different takes: one where characters and lore exist to tell a story, and one where characters and story exist to tell lore. It's the difference between Lord of the Rings and the Simarilion. THE BLOOD OF KINGS is certainly well-written, but the author has much more interest in the lore of the universe than the characters that inhabit it.
September 30, 2016
I felt this was a high three stars book. I enjoyed the appearance of the various named characters in the in Warmachine universe and liked the progression of the storyline to what was taken place in the MKIII version of the game, but like many other "epic" novels with all the fighting, bloodshed and dire straits of a seemingly impossible situation to win, a victory is pulled off and none of the "good guys die." Not that I want the good guys to die (and I'm sure Privateer Press wants to keep them around for their game), but epic battles usually incur great loss on both sides.
The highlight of the book I felt was King Vinter. He was definitely a formidable opponent and I'm interested in reading more about him and his past conquests. Overall I still enjoyed reading the book.
The highlight of the book I felt was King Vinter. He was definitely a formidable opponent and I'm interested in reading more about him and his past conquests. Overall I still enjoyed reading the book.
December 10, 2017
Not bad for a RPG/Tabletop Novel. They usually suck way more.
March 4, 2020
I have low expectations for my wargame fiction, but this was really not good.
Vinter is a villain sue with LITERAL Plot Armor. about 60% of the book is just Vinter rampaging around the setting as an unstoppable juggernaut of destruction, destroying established characters he has no business beating in one on one combat because of said plot armor. This goes on until the plot says he needs to lose, so his plot armor gets Macguffined away and he dies.
A villain being strong is good. A villain being threatening is good. A villain being an unstoppable force of improbable destruction until he is brought down, not by the agency of any major character, but by the unforeshadowed actions of a character who has spent most of the book offscreen is bad writing. If the protagonists have no actual agency to advance the plot, there is 0 point to the story being told, beyond 'lore'. Which isn't sufficient justification for an actual novel.
Yes, Magnus' betrayal makes perfect sense in the greater lore. Yes, it's thematically appropriate for him to bring down his former master. But in the context of this novel, as a standalone work...no. And the method he uses to do it...also no. Not adequately foreshadowed at all.
The Caine C-plot was kind of fun I guess?
Vinter is a villain sue with LITERAL Plot Armor. about 60% of the book is just Vinter rampaging around the setting as an unstoppable juggernaut of destruction, destroying established characters he has no business beating in one on one combat because of said plot armor. This goes on until the plot says he needs to lose, so his plot armor gets Macguffined away and he dies.
A villain being strong is good. A villain being threatening is good. A villain being an unstoppable force of improbable destruction until he is brought down, not by the agency of any major character, but by the unforeshadowed actions of a character who has spent most of the book offscreen is bad writing. If the protagonists have no actual agency to advance the plot, there is 0 point to the story being told, beyond 'lore'. Which isn't sufficient justification for an actual novel.
Yes, Magnus' betrayal makes perfect sense in the greater lore. Yes, it's thematically appropriate for him to bring down his former master. But in the context of this novel, as a standalone work...no. And the method he uses to do it...also no. Not adequately foreshadowed at all.
The Caine C-plot was kind of fun I guess?
January 6, 2022
Slightly confusiong if you arent heavily into warmachine, and as someone who doesnt play but are interested in the universe the different classifications of warjacks flew right over my head.
But seeing as i had a hard time get myself to put the book down, i feel safe in saying that if you are into fantasy and/or steampunk spiced with political drama, this might very well be for you :)
But seeing as i had a hard time get myself to put the book down, i feel safe in saying that if you are into fantasy and/or steampunk spiced with political drama, this might very well be for you :)
November 8, 2022
I had no idea before hand that this was an established world and lore. I saw it on the plus catalog on audible and gave it a go. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters; the bastard prince, Allister, Magnus, all of them felt well written and I found myself sympathizing with all of them. The world is also super fun, I can see how its a successful tabletop game.
July 7, 2022
12. It must be very difficult to expand a novel from a story book for a video game. This book has to make swords work with steam punk AIs with magic and runes thrown in for good measure. It’s chaotic, frankly and some very clunky phrasing and dialogue. Unable to recommend to the normal crew.
January 20, 2018
Very good
Very good story, somewhat like the prisoner of zenda and in the kings name by Andre norten. I will read more steampunk.
Very good story, somewhat like the prisoner of zenda and in the kings name by Andre norten. I will read more steampunk.
July 12, 2018
This was a nice long book to get back into the Iron Kingdoms storyline. Overall it was a good read with only a few weak spots. I may or may not write a longer review later.
March 21, 2017
A good book of you're a fan of the setting
A good book of you enjoy the cheesy goodness that is the iron kingdoms. Not sure if it is worth it without the background knowledge and interest.
The opening chapters are a bit slow and clunky.
A good book of you enjoy the cheesy goodness that is the iron kingdoms. Not sure if it is worth it without the background knowledge and interest.
The opening chapters are a bit slow and clunky.
December 11, 2018
Not a terrible battle report; not a great novel.
This book tries to include all eleventy-million characters from the Warmachine universe in one book, so they all get strange little cameos that don't really serve any purpose to the story. And - perhaps as a consequence - the overall plot doesn't really make a lot of sense. The action is told well, and it's an easy read, but it doesn't hang together as well as some of the others that Privateer has put out about their game.
This book tries to include all eleventy-million characters from the Warmachine universe in one book, so they all get strange little cameos that don't really serve any purpose to the story. And - perhaps as a consequence - the overall plot doesn't really make a lot of sense. The action is told well, and it's an easy read, but it doesn't hang together as well as some of the others that Privateer has put out about their game.
Want to read
August 8, 2016fun fast moving story good character development and was interested in what was happening to them an enjoyable read
Want to read
June 14, 2016I won a copy in a Goodreads first reads giveaways. Will update when received and read.
June 20, 2016
This Science Fiction book was keeps the readers interest. It has combat and villeins that will keep the reader going.
August 29, 2016
A must read for Warmachine fans.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews