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King's Assassin #1
The King's Assassin
The highly trained assassins of Evendell have a single, unyielding mission: defend the monarch of Bacovia, at any cost. Aislynn has been assigned to protect the heir apparent, Eryk. Yet Eryk's independent streak offers stiff resistance to what anyone else has planned for him, especially an untested and unfamiliar sentinel.
- GenresFantasy
292 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 9, 2009
7 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 4, 2013
Warning: Small spoiler alert.
I found this to be a very very quick read with a very very simple world. That's not always a bad thing, and I was happy not to be bogged down with too much history. I didn't have to think at all while I read this book, which is both good and bad. If you want something to pass the time by, this would be a good book for that.
My main problem is that the woman (Aislynn), who was protecting the prince/king (Eryk), seemed to be hurt a lot or was not always by the prince/king's side. For a person sent to protect him, she seemed content to spar with another dude and leave Eryk by himself. I think her link to him did little to ease my concerns. The attacks seemed a little too planned for me, too convenient, and too easily thwarted. Maybe because of the lack of a crazy world and deep history, I was lulled into a content mindlessness and missed more of the deeper details that could explain this. Even as I say it, I'm not sure my mindlessness was a bad thing. I was content while reading. So, if you've just read a crazy complicated book and need a mind break, this would be an enjoyable read, light and quick.
I found this to be a very very quick read with a very very simple world. That's not always a bad thing, and I was happy not to be bogged down with too much history. I didn't have to think at all while I read this book, which is both good and bad. If you want something to pass the time by, this would be a good book for that.
My main problem is that the woman (Aislynn), who was protecting the prince/king (Eryk), seemed to be hurt a lot or was not always by the prince/king's side. For a person sent to protect him, she seemed content to spar with another dude and leave Eryk by himself. I think her link to him did little to ease my concerns. The attacks seemed a little too planned for me, too convenient, and too easily thwarted. Maybe because of the lack of a crazy world and deep history, I was lulled into a content mindlessness and missed more of the deeper details that could explain this. Even as I say it, I'm not sure my mindlessness was a bad thing. I was content while reading. So, if you've just read a crazy complicated book and need a mind break, this would be an enjoyable read, light and quick.
June 28, 2012
As the crowned King in Bacovia, it is up to Tarren to ensure that his son and heir, Eryk, be married and with his own heir before to much longer. As Eryk is already 25, it is long past time he settle down and start taking an interest in the kingdom. Erik has no interest in running the kingdom, at least not yet, and even less interest in finding a bride. He enjoys his hunting, games and a different lady to dance with every night. He and his father have been arguing for a week now and while it is good to have his friend Branden by his side, he is constantly suggesting his sister Alexius be the perfect queen for Eryk. While Eryk likes Alexius, he has grown up with her and is not very interested in having her by his side. However if things keep going on as they have been, she may do to get his father off his back.
After a double assassination attempt on both Tarren and Eryk, which results in Rupert, Turren's bodyguard from Evendell, to be stabbed with a poison tipped dagger. As he lies in a comma near death, Tarren knows it is time to send a letter to the Jakob, king of Evendell to inform him of Rupert's imminent demise and to request a replacement bodyguard.
Very few people know of Evendell's pact with Bacovia, started many, many centuries ago. Evendell has trained assassins, born to the job and trained all their lives so that one day they will hopefully be sent into battle. In their pact with Bacovia, they provide bodyguard/assassins for the royal family and in return, Bacovia provides their army in any conflicts with other kingdoms along their borders. It is a pact that is unbreakable, being forged by magic long ago.
Princess Aislynn is sent to Bacovia from Evendell to take part in the Ball being held shortly for the Prince. She is one of the chosen few of Evendell that have received assassin training her whole life and with her eesprind, in the shape of a wolf named Cheta, she and a few select others will be traveling undercover to protect the king Tarren and his son, the heir apparent Eryk.
As the action heats up, one man dies and others are harmed. What chance does Aislynn have against an unseen number of trained assassins who seem to be willing to stop at nothing to remove the king and the prince. Someone knows who she is and now her life is also in danger. Once the killings are stopped who will emerge the ruler of the kingdom?
An interesting read. the story lagged in places and some of the characters lacked depth. As well, the prince's radical change was highly unbelievable and not really in keeping with his character at the start of the novel. I did enjoy the descriptive scenery and the eesprinds where interesting and a nice change. With some improvement of character development I could see myself reading if this series continues.
After a double assassination attempt on both Tarren and Eryk, which results in Rupert, Turren's bodyguard from Evendell, to be stabbed with a poison tipped dagger. As he lies in a comma near death, Tarren knows it is time to send a letter to the Jakob, king of Evendell to inform him of Rupert's imminent demise and to request a replacement bodyguard.
Very few people know of Evendell's pact with Bacovia, started many, many centuries ago. Evendell has trained assassins, born to the job and trained all their lives so that one day they will hopefully be sent into battle. In their pact with Bacovia, they provide bodyguard/assassins for the royal family and in return, Bacovia provides their army in any conflicts with other kingdoms along their borders. It is a pact that is unbreakable, being forged by magic long ago.
Princess Aislynn is sent to Bacovia from Evendell to take part in the Ball being held shortly for the Prince. She is one of the chosen few of Evendell that have received assassin training her whole life and with her eesprind, in the shape of a wolf named Cheta, she and a few select others will be traveling undercover to protect the king Tarren and his son, the heir apparent Eryk.
As the action heats up, one man dies and others are harmed. What chance does Aislynn have against an unseen number of trained assassins who seem to be willing to stop at nothing to remove the king and the prince. Someone knows who she is and now her life is also in danger. Once the killings are stopped who will emerge the ruler of the kingdom?
An interesting read. the story lagged in places and some of the characters lacked depth. As well, the prince's radical change was highly unbelievable and not really in keeping with his character at the start of the novel. I did enjoy the descriptive scenery and the eesprinds where interesting and a nice change. With some improvement of character development I could see myself reading if this series continues.
March 6, 2017
This book isn't great. I don't care. It's amazing to me.
Objectively, the writing was repetitive, the plot slow, the dialogue awkward and the romance forced and disappointing. The world building was almost non-existent and completely told-not-shown.
Characters didn't act accordingly to what the audience is told they are. Like Prince Eryk? Handsome, playboy asshole? Think again. The entire time he was a sappy, desperate lovesick puppy who was completely unaffected by his father's death. He was pathetic. It was sad. Princess Aislynn, the assassin? Ehhh. She was unreasonably skilled. And she was a lax bodyguard at that.
I had no idea where the romance came from. It was one-sided insta-love pretty much all the way to the end. Not aww-worthy. Not hot. Just... meh. It also had an icky and slightly awkward love-triangle that, like, never ends :/
And the pacing! Gosh, it was so not what I was expecting. There were pages and pages of events that I just didn't give a rat's ass about. And the interesting bits (or at least the bits that had some sort of potential) were completely skipped over. There were so many places where this author could've injected romance, or drama, or tension! Spoiler alert-- she didn't. Honestly, the entire thing was just attempted murder, after attempted murder, after successful murder. In fact, that pretty much sums up the ENTIRE book series.
On the bright side, even though I could see the ending coming from a mile away, it was still an interesting read. This writer was different. She didn't go about things the same way as other authors, she remade the wheel. Besides, Aislynn could be a total badass sometimes, and I loved how the mean girl wasn't even in with a chance.
I mean, I had a lot of issues with this book. That doesn't really matter though, because I absolutely adored it. I loved the contrived world and the contrary characters. I'm completely addicted.
Recommended to ((all the masochists of the world)) people who can deal with shitty writing and love it anyways.
Objectively, the writing was repetitive, the plot slow, the dialogue awkward and the romance forced and disappointing. The world building was almost non-existent and completely told-not-shown.
Characters didn't act accordingly to what the audience is told they are. Like Prince Eryk? Handsome, playboy asshole? Think again. The entire time he was a sappy, desperate lovesick puppy who was completely unaffected by his father's death. He was pathetic. It was sad. Princess Aislynn, the assassin? Ehhh. She was unreasonably skilled. And she was a lax bodyguard at that.
I had no idea where the romance came from. It was one-sided insta-love pretty much all the way to the end. Not aww-worthy. Not hot. Just... meh. It also had an icky and slightly awkward love-triangle that, like, never ends :/
And the pacing! Gosh, it was so not what I was expecting. There were pages and pages of events that I just didn't give a rat's ass about. And the interesting bits (or at least the bits that had some sort of potential) were completely skipped over. There were so many places where this author could've injected romance, or drama, or tension! Spoiler alert-- she didn't. Honestly, the entire thing was just attempted murder, after attempted murder, after successful murder. In fact, that pretty much sums up the ENTIRE book series.
On the bright side, even though I could see the ending coming from a mile away, it was still an interesting read. This writer was different. She didn't go about things the same way as other authors, she remade the wheel. Besides, Aislynn could be a total badass sometimes, and I loved how the mean girl wasn't even in with a chance.
I mean, I had a lot of issues with this book. That doesn't really matter though, because I absolutely adored it. I loved the contrived world and the contrary characters. I'm completely addicted.
Recommended to ((all the masochists of the world)) people who can deal with shitty writing and love it anyways.
September 2, 2012
this is the first of a trilogy of books about Aislynn and Eryk. Eryk becomes the king and Aislynn is assigned to protect him. she is a trained assassin from a neighboring country that has an agreement with Eryk's land to provide high quality protection in return for trade agreements and protection from their enemies.
February 26, 2012
While all of the editions have been updated, this one was the first to have the corrected version with the fewest editing errors.
June 21, 2012
Icharacters were lacking in personality
June 10, 2013
Good start to the series
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews