Trial of Kings

The Godsblood Trilogy #2

by Phil Tucker

Against all odds, Jarek and Acharsis have succeeded in their mission, and now they reap the whirlwind. With countless assassins and guards on their heels, they have but one hope: make common cause with their ancient enemy, the empire of Magan, before Irella can launch her invasion.

But that hope lies hundreds upon hundreds of miles away, over the Great Chasm, across the eternal Golden Steppe, and past the Demon's Teeth. And even if they survive the journey, they'll then have to face their most lethal challenge yet: to convince the immortal lamassu gods of Magan to rise and face the greatest army of the dead ever marshaled.

Trial of Kings is a tale of revenge replete with demons, ancient magic and a high stakes heist.

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook

233 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 30, 2018

About the author

Thanks for visiting my page! I'm Phil Tucker, a Brazilian/Brit who currently resides in Asheville, NC, where I resist the siren call of the forests and mountains to sit inside and hammer away on my laptop.

Reviews

[Benedict Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to beta read this book. I love the concept behind the Godsblood series, and I also love that Phil didn't rest on the laurels of the world he created in Book 1 - this book expands the Godsblood world, basically creating a whole new playground, possibly to smash it all apart in Book 3.
I felt Book 1 was Jerek's story, whereas Archaesis really gets to shine here.
Very interested to see where this is all going...

[Phil Tucker]

Those who are familiar with me know I don't review my own books, but I do use this space as of a kind of a placeholder to let people keep up to date on it's status.

You can mark Trial of Kings as 'to read' here.

1/30/2018

Launch day!

At long last, TRIAL OF KINGS, Book 2 of the Godsblood trilogy is live. This book follows the ongoing adventures of Acharsis and Jarek, two fallen demigods in an ancient land riven by ruin and populated by the surging forces of the dead. Having achieved too great a success at the end of Book 1, we join them as they flee the River Cities, trying to outwit and outrace the pursuing forces of Irella, and cross the known world in an attempt to warn the sole remaining great power as to its impending doom: the lammasu ruled empire of Magan.

Chock full of harrowing escapades, chilling monsters, and more wisecracking and snark than you can shake a magical meteroric hammer at, I think you guys are going to love this latest installment of Godsblood, and I can't urge you enough to go grab your copy!

1/25/2018

I'm also excited to announce that Paul Guyet Jr. will be returning to narrate Book 2, and has done a fantastic job with the wide array of gods, monsters, bandits, ladies and gentlemen of pleasure and the night, rogues, undead oxen and everything else. The audiobook will be dropping on 1/30 as well, so be sure to grab it if you enjoy having your ears seduced by a purring artist without parallel!

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1/22/2018

Eight days till launch! Come Jan 30 I'll be publishing the ebook, paperback, and audiobook simultaneously across Amazon. I'm really excited to hear what you guys think about this one.

[Kells Next Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was one fantastical read. 💕 Everything I’ve grown to love and expect in Phil Tucker’s books. My only complaint is the wait for the third book. What will I do in the meantime 🤔 Mr. Tucker....any suggestions.

[Laura Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know everyone else raves about the Chronicles of the Black Gate, but personally I'm a HUGE fan of Godsblood and think it deserves way more love. The sequel to SPFBO semi-finalist EMPIRE OF THE DEAD, Phil Tucker's TRIAL OF KINGS is packed with compelling characters, fallen gods, lost mythology and necromancy. The Sumerian setting is fresh and original, while the action sequences are breathtakingly tense and will leave your head spinning as though you just shook hands with a dream rhino. Brilliant second instalment to the series.

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trial of Kings
By: Phil Tucker
Narrated by: Paul Guyet
This book takes up where the first book left off. This book has plenty of action, adventure, fantasy, and it's sprinkled with humor. Half the crew gets kidnapped and then later once rescued, something that happened after the rescue causes big trouble at the next town! But like everything they do, luck and fast talking gets them into either more trouble or out of trouble. This gets them into a contest and either they win or die! The creatures, people, the plot, ....everything is such great fun and exciting!
The narrator does a superb job! Great performance!

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full review is here, on my blog!

This book begins right where The Empire of the Dead left off. Right in the middle of the action, as it happens. This is both good (because action is awesome) and bad (for me – because it’s been a year since I read Empire and I forgot many of the details of the ending of it). So, I spent the first 3 or 4 chapters of this book frantically digging details of the end of the book previous from my long-term memory. Don’t worry though, ladies and gents, most of it ended up all coming back to me within the first few chapters just by being reacquainted with the characters.

Acharsis, Jarek, and the gang have escaped from Rekkidu with Elu, Anarra’s son who had been kidnapped in The Empire of the Dead, in tow. They flee across the Golden Steppe (cue shenanigans) to the country of Magan (which seems to me to be Egypt-ish, to Rekkidu’s Sumeria-ish), to warn them of an impending attack from a giant army of the risen dead. When they get there, there is a bit of a… kerfuffle. Turns out that a trophy that Elu picked up along the way is actually the property of the prince of Magan… the one who has been missing for 13 years. Ruh-roh. But, no worries! Where there is Acharsis, there are crazy-ass plans, and so crazy-ass plan he will! Hijinx of kingly trial proportions ensue!

Man, I love Acharsis. He’s such a good character to read about. He’s snarky, quite hilarious at times, and comes up with absolutely ridiculous plans that totally work because he is who he is. He’s one of those characters that’s awesome to read about because you have to see what he’s going to do next, but you’re pretty sure it’ll be funny. A wild planner who flies by the seat of his pants most of the time, and maybe shit just works out for him because he’s lucky. Maybe it’s because he’s charming. Maybe it’s because he’s a demigod, and one of the charming persuasion. The why doesn’t particularly matter to me. All I know is that I want him to win all the things by being drunk, charming, and/or ridiculous, because Acharsis for the win.

This book was so hard to put down once I picked it up, because it’s a great adventure from start to finish. There aren’t really any boring parts, there’s a bit of romance (which I liked a lot, as I generally tend to), there is action, there is intrigue, and there are gods and monsters. All things that I enjoy quite a lot! There is also quite some wicked vocabulary in this book and it is amazingly well used. When an author can sneak a word in that I legitimately have to look up in the dictionary, but uses it in a way that doesn’t seem at all out of place, that’s a win for me. I like to be challenged vocabularily. See? That’s a word that I just made up. BOOM! *mic drop*

*Ahem* Anyway, It’s not overly long, so it’s a quick and exciting read. It doesn’t focus on the boring parts of journeying, and instead goes from place to place or plot point to plot point without the boring ‘they journeyed for 4 days’ or ‘they journeyed, and then camped, and then journeyed, and then camped’ bits. There are times when I don’t love books that do this skipping along thing, as there are times where it just doesn’t work, but I think that it worked well here. We didn’t lose story or character building in the skipping. I liked this volume just as much as the first book in the series. Where I worried a bit in the beginning that I’d forgotten something important from the previous book, those fears were assuaged well before even the middle of this one. But, this is a series that I will absolutely re-read, and perhaps re-listen to in the future. I just love Phil Tucker’s characters. Between this series and the Chronicles of the Black Gate, my favorite characters list has skyrocketed over the last 2 or so years. Kish and Acharsis are awesome, but this volume left me really liking Jarek and Annara a lot more as well.

There is legitimately some stuff that happens in this one that left me wide-eyed (like ‘OH SHIT DID THAT JUST ACTUALLY HAPPEN YES IT DID OMG!’), and it is things like that that keep me reading well into the wee hours. It was a very satisfying story with a satisfying conclusion. I can’t wait to find out what happens next!

I received a free copy of this book from the author, and in exchange I have honestly reviewed it. :D

[Rosemary Standeven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another thrilling instalment in the Godsblood Trilogy, that I found almost impossible to put down.
Much of the book progresses at breakneck speed – then short breaks when both the characters, and the reader, get to rest, eat and ponder where to next. Jarek uses these brief time-outs from fighting to try and dissuade Kish’s romantic overtures, with varying success. Acharsis think about how his life with Annara could have been – and where his next beer is coming from. The petulant and ungrateful Elu hates everyone and everything, and cares little for the danger into which he seems to perpetually be dragging the others. Sisu, of a similar age, but worlds more mature and thoughtful, bemoans his dwindling god-powers. And then the fighting and running start again, so vividly portrayed that your heartbeat (and reading) struggles to keep up.
Sisu is a Lord of the Dead, so animated corpses and ghouls don’t frighten him – but it turns out that spiders do. The scene in the Spider Caverns is very fast-paced and exciting, bringing back memories of Shelob and her offspring, but the spiders here are much more active and (if possible) more dangerous than Shelob.
After the excitement of escape, the story plods along at the pace of the dead oxen, when suddenly there is the type of non-sequitur/surprise in which this series revels: Jarek “was confident that he’d raised impenetrable walls, but the sight of the dream rhino brought them crashing down”. The dream what?! Just when you think the author has thrown everything at you – this appears – and walks off. But, never let it be said that Phil Tucker wastes a good surprise – keep reading!
We have Acharsis cross-dressing when the opportunity (need) arises, and eternally optimistic – despite the increasingly dire situations in which the group find themselves. Like Baldric, he always comes up with a “cunning plan”, one that would seem to have the same probability of success as a Baldric special. The group crashes from one potential tragedy to the next, but somehow Acharsis manages to finagle an exit strategy – although not always leading to the exit he was hoping for.
The group’s main objective is to alert the Magan empire to Irella’s imminent invasion. First, they have to get to Magan (difficult), then get an audience with the Pharoah (impprobable), then convince him of the need to fight (not a chance). They may have godsbloods on their side, but their gods (except Sisu’s) are dead, and very far away. Instead of Alok, Ekillos, Nekuul and Scythia, Magan has the griffon-like lamassu to worship, and it is with the lamassu that the group must deal – but, of course, not in the manner they might have expected.
Nothing in this book is predictable. It is as though Douglas Adams’ Infinite Improbability Drive has just been switched on, and left to run for 250 pages. While not necessarily a laugh a minute, this book does have plenty of chuckles, smirks, cheers of bravos! – and gasps of awe. You will never, ever be bored with this gem of a fantasy adventure. I can hardly wait for the next book.
I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book at no cost from the author in exchange for an honest review

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exciting follow up to "Empire of the Dead," which took place almost entire within one city, "Trial of Kings" greatly expands the setting as our heroes are on the run from the last book's (quite literal!) cliffhanger ending.

There are some excellent set pieces in this book that help to enrich the world that Tucker had imagined, with architectural influences from Ancient Sumer, Middle Eastern merchant trade routes, and religious allegories galore. The band is racing an army of the dead to try and gain allies before this undead empire wipes out all opposing demigod bloodlines, ending any hope of overthrowing the evil that permeates the land.

Along the way, Jarek must come to terms with his fleeting power, and Acharsis will try to make amends with his former lover and newfound son. Their adventures bring them through an impressive oasis marketplace, battles with menacingly large creatures, treacherous roving bandits, hallucination-inducing pachyderms (!!), and a thrilling climax involving an elaborate and cinematic "Escape Room." As usual, Tucker keeps the pacing fast and furious while balancing interesting character development and navigating difficult relationships and circumstances.

This book packs an impressive amount of set pieces and plot threads into a story that falls just short of 300 pages. It's a worthy sequel to "Empire of the Dead" and sets up what should be an exciting and unpredictable finish to the trilogy.

4/5 stars

[THE BIBLIOPHILE (Rituranjan) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent sequel, but, it didn't quite impress me as the first book did. I was hoping for a more dense story, fraught with power, tension, and godly politics which didn't happen. The focus of the story was pretty one-sided and narrowed down to the journey and besting of odds by the demigods band.

The story starts right after the events of Book 1. Ekillos and his rag-tag band of demigods flee the dead-infested city, and, are now all wanted men. But, there was some good worldbuilding here. The Waystation setting was brilliant with its hanging bridge of spider-silk chains. And, the kingdom of Magan reminded me of Babylon and Egypt in its full glory. It was beautifuly described, along with the grandeur of the griffin-lion type supernatural beings who are worshipped as gods.

The problem I had in this book was lack of character development. Jarek remains the same fluctuating man with depressed emotions and anger. Ekillos maintains his usual trickster grace. However, the most frustrating character for me was Elu. Apart from sulking like a petulant child with daddy issues, he does very little to elevate the situation. Though, he understands the circumstances at the end. I was hoping for the antagonist Irella to make an appearance in this book. From the first book onwards we have only heard her name and the terrible deed she did of murdering the gods. Disappointed to say, she remains a name nonetheless.

There were few moments of action worth remembering. One is Jarek's encounter with the dream rhino, and his attempt to free his friends from the captivity of the Athites. The second is Jarek's fight with Harembhab, the bodyguard of princess Akhentana of Magan. It was one hell of a fight. The third was the trials held to determine who would be the Pharaoh of Magan. The ambience and setting was excellent. However, despite this good things... I'm of the opinion that Tucker will have to do a bit of heavy string-pulling if he is to conclude the story in book 3.

I'll definitely be waiting for what Tucker will deliver in the last book though. I'm not satisfied with this one, as it left out many important factors...such as the Purging, the dead gods, the conniving Irella's plans...I hope that the author manages to tie all the loose ends in his concluding book.

[kartik narayanan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trial of Kings starts where Empire of the Dead left off and takes everything to 11. I got the opportunity to beta read about a month back. Like most books by Phil Tucker, this one sucked me in and spat me out a few hours later.

I love Trial of Kings. Whatever is in the book is gold - fast paced, great character arcs, brilliant world building and memorable dialogues. There are quite a few things that stand out in terms of situation and plot points.

The only nitpick I have is the same as the one I had about Empire of the Dead - its size. Trial of Kings feels short in a few places - in the overall size of the book as well as in certain scenes. In a lot ways, Trial of Kings is a victim of its own success - it is so good that you don't want it to stop.

In conclusion, I had a blast reading it. This series is quite original in its setting and I am very interested in seeing where it goes.

If you liked this review, read more on my blog Digital Amrit

[Niklas Grundstrom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trial of Kings picks up straight after the events of The Empire of the Dead, with literally no break in the action. It's not long before Acharsis, Jarek and the rest of the group are again going from crisis to crisis with the occasional break in the action for the two main characters to reflect on their lives and the unity of the group, which is all very much the same as in the first book.

Not that this is a problem. Quite the opposite. These books remind me very much of Robert E Howard's works, both in setting and in that the stories are never allowed to sit still for too long. They go from one emergency via an audacious escape to the next emergency and eventually concluded by a master plan which will inevitably go awry. One can't really fault this though, it's how these stories work. If plans all came off as planned, then they'd be a lot shorter. As in the previous one there's no real nemesis present, although their influence is felt. Hopefully they will show up eventually as the heroes feel more like grit in the machinery than an actual threat to the plans of Irella and Nekuul (whose loyalties are somewhat ambiguous).

There's a bit more for the supporting cast to do this time, with the exception of Sisu who still seems to just tag along because he has no choice. Kish and Elu are bigger players with Annara somewhere in between.

Hopefully this isn't sounding too negative because these are good books, especially if you like pulpy swords and sandals stuff. The prose is simple and effective, apart from a few Americanisms, which is rather welcome when some writers seem more intent on showing off their vocabulary rather than write a good story. I definitely enjoyed reading this and I really recommend it.

[Ryan Mueller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another brilliant read from one of my favorite fantasy authors. Although this series has a very different feel from his Chronicles of the Black Gate series, it still has the hallmarks of Tucker's writing that make it so fun to read. His characters are flawed people, but you can't help but root for them, as they're usually trying to do the right thing. His action sequences are some of the best I've seen in the fantasy genre.

This book picked up where the first book left off, and there were some amazing action scenes through the first half of the book. Things took a bit of a strange turn for me in the second half of the book, and I didn't enjoy the climax of this one as much as the climax of the first book (or of any of his Chronicles of the Black Gate books).

That being said, this was a fun and exciting read all the way through, and I can't wait to read the last book.

Rating: 9/10

[Rob Towell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid follow up to Empire of the Dead the characters continue to on their journey. This time heading into the desert trying to find aid in the form of the divines of other realms.
Unfortunately while being hunted is hardly a bother. The politics of Magan are not something they are able to maneuver easily.
Mr. Tucker does a good job of maneuvering the fantasy tropes in this book. This book fits solidly in the action fantasy genre and is a fun fast read.
The small amount of political dealing they have tend to be polarized and their issues are all resolved quickly at the end of the book.
This is the second book in the series and I would rate it as 3 stars for “I like it” and the general lack of political depth, but I just find that I really like it more than that. The story line fits so perfectly with the kind of adventures we ran when playing Hero System RPG and I love it for it.
He maintains the values of all the characters and the feeling of the characters in a way that I really enjoyed.

[Brett Boughton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb writing with a good pace

I was truggling to remember the story so far, having read the last novel so long ago. Three chapters in and Phil put me right back into the comfortable reading mode I'm used to. A cracking story, with a nice balance of believable characters.
I can't wait for the next book.

[Yvette Bostic · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the new character developments and was surprised by the new twist at the end. I look forward to the next book.

[Vaelin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent 2nd installment to this series. The story in this one pumped along nicely and had a great a travel aspect to it as opposed to being stuck in the one city (despite that fact that the first book needed to be based in 1 location)

Another big tick for Phil Tucker! Keep writing them and I'll keep reading them........and I a sure many other Goodreads folks will agree there :)

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: I found two versions of this book on Goodreads with reviews on both links, so I'm posting this review on each page just in case one gets deleted.

---

An exciting follow up to "Empire of the Dead," which took place almost entire within one city, "Trial of Kings" greatly expands the setting as our heroes are on the run from the last book's (quite literal!) cliffhanger ending.

There are some excellent set pieces in this book that help to enrich the world that Tucker had imagined, with architectural influences from Ancient Sumer, Middle Eastern merchant trade routes, and religious allegories galore. The band is racing against an army of the dead to try and gain allies before this undead empire wipes out all opposing demigod bloodlines, ending any hope of overthrowing this evil that permeates the land.

Along the way, Jarek must come to terms with his fleeting power, and Acharsis will try to make amends with his former lover and newfound son. Their adventures bring them through an impressive oasis marketplace, battles with menacingly large creatures, treacherous roving bandits, hallucination-inducing pachyderms (!!), and a thrilling climax involving an elaborate and cinematic "Escape Room." As usual, Tucker keeps the pacing fast and furious while balancing interesting character development and navigating difficult relationships and circumstances.

This book packs an impressive amount of set pieces and plot threads into a story that falls just short of 300 pages. It's a worthy sequel to "Empire of the Dead" and sets up what should be an exciting and unpredictable finish to the trilogy.

4/5 stars

[Rusty · Rating 4 out of 5]

The group that we were introduced to in The Empire of the Dead were back, only now they had to escape from their enemies. The strength of this book is in the relationships between characters: the son who never knew his father and is bitter while his father wants to make amends; the young woman who has feelings for a man who is twice her age while he is trying to protect her from future hurt, and so on.

As is often the case in fantasy books, even in the most intense scenes, I wasn't really afraid that our main characters would be killed. Nevertheless, action scenes were exciting and well done.

It is also annoying in so many books when the most dire circumstances just ... work out, often quickly. Either the situation wasn't as grim, or the way the characters got out of it seems implausible. In other words, it feels like the author pulls a bait and switch with the readers. There's some of that her, but not the worst. It helps that one character is known for being clever and an ability to influence others, or it would have felt much more far-fetched.

Overall, a quick read that was entertaining.

*I was given a free copy of this book for a fair and honest review.*

[Bonnie Dale Keck · Rating 4 out of 5]

kindle unlimited, saw he had out #2 so wanted to read #1 first, liked the black chronicles ones better but that's just me

Against all odds, Jarek and Acharsis have succeeded in their mission, and now they reap the whirlwind. With countless assassins and guards on their heels, they have but one hope: make common cause with their ancient enemy, the empire of Magan, before Irella can launch her invasion.

But that hope lies hundreds upon hundreds of miles away, over the Great Chasm, across the eternal Golden Steppe, and past the Demon's Teeth. And even if they survive the journey, they'll then have to face their most lethal challenge yet: to convince the immortal lamassu gods of Magan to rise and face the greatest army of the dead ever marshaled.

Unpredictable, fast paced, and packed with memorable characters, Trial of Kings is a gripping tale of revenge replete with demons, ancient magic and a high stakes heist.

[Nate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to The Empire of the Dead after winning a free audiobook from Phil on r/fantasy. I’d never listened to an audiobook before but the story was immensely fun. I knew that I would have to read the next installment.

Trial of Kings starts off exactly where things ended with The Empire of the Dead. Our band of Acharsis’ 6 is fleeing Rekkidu in hopes of warning Magan of a looming attack from Irella’s hoard of dead. Will they get there in time and if they do how will they accomplish their mission?

As my grandfather would say, “by golly, what a fun ride!” I loved almost everything about this book. The characters, the plot, the world building, the dialogue, the subtle foreshadowing. All around an excellent book. If I had to really criticize anything it would be only with some very minor plot holes here and there.

Nonetheless, I highly recommend this book. Just watch out for giant spiders. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

[Sharkie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. I had a ton of time to read this weekend (though not much light) because of a 42 hour power outage, so blasted through this book at breakneck speed. And I'm so glad I did, because it was great!

I loved seeing more of Acharsis and his ways of dealing with things. Not with pure strength, but with words and plans. Very glad to see this portrayed!

The ending wasn't what I expected, and when it started I wasn't sure what I'd think of it. But then *things* happened and those *things* were great.

And... well yeah. Was good. Recommend.

[Luke · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started this series because I really liked the other series that phil put out "The Chronicles of the Black Gate." I just can't seem to get into this one though. I read the first book and I cant remember what I rated it but I kinda enjoyed it. I wasn't able to get into this one as well as the first. Still a great author and I fully intend to continue reading his novels I just did not enjoy this one.

[Joe Dorrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read, a really fast paced novel where the action moves forward with every turn of the page. I felt this was a step forward from the first book, the characters and world were allowed to develop but not at the price of the story.

[Ron J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

Well done. I could hardly put the book down. This is a must read. I am looking forward to reading book 3!!

[Jean ~ Kindle Queen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Adeline · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Shane]

4.50/5 Stars

[Ryan R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book!

[Rex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the second book of the series much more fast paced and more of my liking. I can easily recommend this book and the first one of the series.

[Netta Pressman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even better then the firat one !!