Turner, Megan Whalen - A Conspiracy of Kings

[oyceter]

This is the fourth book in the series, the prior three being The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, and The King of Attolia.

As I think I've noted in all my write ups, you don't want to be spoiled for these books, and moreover, the jacket cover for each subsequent book tends to spoil the previous one.

Massive spoilers

I'm not even going to bother with plot description, since I'm guessing everyone reading this has already read the book.

Sadly, I was disappointed in it.

The beginning was promising, and although I did not find Sophos as interesting a character as Gen, the return to first-person POV, as well as Sophos' main memories of Gen being that of the grubby thief, reminded me a great deal of The Thief. I especially like how much Sophos is an anti-Gen: poor at swordsmanship, no guile to speak of, and a large tolerance for being humiliated. I love how Sophos is a terrible slave and how he paradoxically finds freedom in slavery: no one to disappoint, no expectations to fail. (Of course, he gets away with more than most too.)

I also find it interesting that all three times there is first-person narration in the series, it is a narration for Eddis. Gen's is written instead of spoken, but also at her prompting. That said, the first person worked much better for me in the first section; I don't feel Sophos is sneaky enough to be hiding parts of his narrative, especially when he's relating them to Eddis. As both Turner and Gen point out, everything Sophos thinks is reflected on his face, as such, his trying to misdirect or leave out pieces of information feels rather out of character.

My favorite part was the middle of the book, with Sophos in the Attolian court. Most of this is because much as I liked Sophos, my heart belongs with Gen and Irene. I loved Gen's revelation on when he fell in love with Irene, even though I'm not quite sure it works out in the timeline. I feel like his seeing her dancing in her garden was pre-Thief, since that seems like behavior Irene trained herself out of either early on in her reign or before her reign began. Does anyone know? I loved how much of a brat Gen still is and how everyone, Turner included, realizes this. I love Irene making Gen laugh by implying he would be dead the second she wanted it. I love Irene holding Helen's hand when Sophos goes off. I love Gen smashing his goblet in a temper and siccing tailors on Sophos as a form of affection. But even though the book is about Sophos, who is more a friend to Gen than Costis is, the entire book felt so much more distant than King did.

And then came the next part, which I very much disliked. The explanation that rulers must commit violence in order to keep the peace feels too close to the superhero comics explanation of how a few peacekeepers must have the license to use violence to protect the masses, which is never something I've bought. I don't like that both Gen, who hates killing so, and Sophos, who doesn't seem prone to violence himself, couldn't find a way out. And although I love that Attolia is cold and scary and terrifying, I also don't think she's right.

Finally, I'm still not reconciled with Gen becoming annux. I just... he hates it so! Also, I wish we saw more of the two queens ruling, as opposed to getting the detailed story of how two boys become men and kings, even as one of those boys ends up ruling over everyone. I was desperately hoping Turner would think of something else—a treaty, marrying everyone's offspring together, who knows—but it is still Gen as annux. I am not sure I will like the direction the next few books go in if they are like this. I wanted more of Sophos, Gen, Irene, and Helen all plotting together instead of having it seem mostly like Gen.

I am also so sad that the country of Eddis looks like it's about to be destroyed. Especially because I remember Gen and Helen talking about their dream of the volcano in Queen, and I thought Helen assured Gen that it wouldn't happen in their lifetime. As it were, it feels like a bit of a retcon to have Eddis swear fealty to Attolis, because while I can see why Sounis would, Eddis never seemed to have a good reason to, especially after Gen's marriage.

Side question: Why is Attolia the country called "Attolia" and not "Attolis"? It doesn't seem as though the name of the country changes depending on the ruler (Attolia seemed to be called "Attolia" even when Irene's father was king).

Links:
Given the way these books work, assume all reviews are spoilery.
- sartorias' review
- yasaman's review
- rachelmanija's review

Comments

[kate_nepveu]

Oh good, I'm not the only one.

[oyceter]

Definitely not just you! I got to that point and just went, "Bzuh?"